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Lefty Gomez
Vernon Louis "Lefty" Gomez (November 26, 1908 – February 17, 1989) was an American professional baseball player. A left-handed pitcher, Gomez played in Major League Baseball (MLB) between 1930 and 1943 for the New York Yankees and the Washington Senators. Gomez was a five-time World Series champion with the Yankees. He was also known for his colorful personality and humor.
Gomez grew up in California and played for the San Francisco Seals after high school. He made his MLB debut with the Yankees in April 1930. He was selected as an All-Star every year between 1933 and 1939. He sustained an arm injury in 1940. Though he rebounded well in 1941, he pitched his last full season in 1942, then appeared in one game in 1943 before retiring with the Washington Senators.
In 1933, Gomez married June O'Dea, who had a brief career as a Broadway actress. After his retirement, he became a popular public speaker. Gomez was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee in 1972. He made an appearance at Yankee Stadium in 1987, when he and Whitey Ford were honored with plaques at the stadium's Monument Park. He died in California in 1989.
Gomez was born in Rodeo, California. His father, Francisco Gomez, had been born in California to a Spanish father, Juan Gomez, and a Portuguese mother, Rita. His mother, Lizzie Herring, was an American of Welsh-Irish descent. He was the youngest out of eight children in his family. His father grew up as a cowboy and was known as “Coyote” most of his life. He managed a 1,000-acre ranch in Franklin Canyon where Lefty and his brothers would ride horses and became hired hands when they were children. They would wake up as early as 4:00 am to milk the cows and clean out the stalls before they headed to school for the day. When he was 6 years old he attended the Panama–Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco and watched the famous pilot Lincoln Beachey crash into the bay while trying to complete a stunt. He was very outgoing and liked to try many different hobbies out. When he was 8 years old, he attended a 4 July parade where he found a new passion to play the saxophone. His brother Earl was a big help in this passion and purchased Lefty his first saxophone on his ninth birthday. Lefty took a job plucking chickens at the local butcher shop to earn money for lessons.
Gomez started playing sandlot baseball for the Rodeo town team when he was only 13 years of age. He excelled right off the bat at the age of 14 and pitched throughout central California. He caught the eyes of a scout for the San Francisco Seals, who told Lefty to reach back out when he put on some weight as he was 6 feet 2 inches (188 cm) but only 125 pounds (57 kg). He then got a summer job at a union oil scraping sludge from the stills at the refinery. He attended Richmond high school because his local school did not have a baseball team. In his senior year of high school, he was offered a scholarship to play baseball at St. Mary's College, a smaller school that was just east of Oakland. However, his father told him to give up baseball and focus on schoolwork to become an engineer like his older brother Milfred.
Although his father was not a fan of continuing baseball, he went ahead and signed the contract for Lefty to play for the Seals at the 1928 spring training camp. He was not off to a hot start, but picked up quickly and was sent to the Utah–Idaho League for the season.
The New York Yankees purchased Gomez from the Seals for an estimated $39,000. He reported in at 6 feet 2 inches (1.88 m) and weighing in at 147 pounds (67 kg). This scared many people that he was not ready for the big leagues. Gomez made his major league debut on April 29, 1930. He pitched in only 15 games and finished the season with a 2–5 win–loss record, a 5.55 earned run average (ERA). Coming into the 1931 season, Gomez had good pitching velocity, but the Yankees were concerned about the pitcher's slender frame of 6 feet 2 inches (1.88 m) and 155 pounds (70 kg). Following a common medical strategy of the time, the team had most of his teeth extracted; they also had him drink 3 US quarts (2,800 ml) of milk daily and gave him an unlimited meal allowance for road games. Gomez registered the second-best ERA in the American League in 1931.
A 20-game winner four times and an All-Star every year from 1933 to 1939, Gomez led the league twice each in wins, winning percentage and ERA; he was a three-time league leader in shutouts and strikeouts. In the first major league All-Star Game (July 6, 1933), Gomez was the winning pitcher for the American League (AL) and drove in the first run of the game. This was out of character for him; he was notorious for poor hitting even by AL standards. Late in life, Gomez commented, "I never even broke a bat until last year when I was backing out of the garage." His career OPS+ of -7 is the fifth-worst in baseball history among players with at least 1,000 plate appearances. Gomez holds the record for the most innings pitched in a single All-Star game (six, in 1934).
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Lefty Gomez
Vernon Louis "Lefty" Gomez (November 26, 1908 – February 17, 1989) was an American professional baseball player. A left-handed pitcher, Gomez played in Major League Baseball (MLB) between 1930 and 1943 for the New York Yankees and the Washington Senators. Gomez was a five-time World Series champion with the Yankees. He was also known for his colorful personality and humor.
Gomez grew up in California and played for the San Francisco Seals after high school. He made his MLB debut with the Yankees in April 1930. He was selected as an All-Star every year between 1933 and 1939. He sustained an arm injury in 1940. Though he rebounded well in 1941, he pitched his last full season in 1942, then appeared in one game in 1943 before retiring with the Washington Senators.
In 1933, Gomez married June O'Dea, who had a brief career as a Broadway actress. After his retirement, he became a popular public speaker. Gomez was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee in 1972. He made an appearance at Yankee Stadium in 1987, when he and Whitey Ford were honored with plaques at the stadium's Monument Park. He died in California in 1989.
Gomez was born in Rodeo, California. His father, Francisco Gomez, had been born in California to a Spanish father, Juan Gomez, and a Portuguese mother, Rita. His mother, Lizzie Herring, was an American of Welsh-Irish descent. He was the youngest out of eight children in his family. His father grew up as a cowboy and was known as “Coyote” most of his life. He managed a 1,000-acre ranch in Franklin Canyon where Lefty and his brothers would ride horses and became hired hands when they were children. They would wake up as early as 4:00 am to milk the cows and clean out the stalls before they headed to school for the day. When he was 6 years old he attended the Panama–Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco and watched the famous pilot Lincoln Beachey crash into the bay while trying to complete a stunt. He was very outgoing and liked to try many different hobbies out. When he was 8 years old, he attended a 4 July parade where he found a new passion to play the saxophone. His brother Earl was a big help in this passion and purchased Lefty his first saxophone on his ninth birthday. Lefty took a job plucking chickens at the local butcher shop to earn money for lessons.
Gomez started playing sandlot baseball for the Rodeo town team when he was only 13 years of age. He excelled right off the bat at the age of 14 and pitched throughout central California. He caught the eyes of a scout for the San Francisco Seals, who told Lefty to reach back out when he put on some weight as he was 6 feet 2 inches (188 cm) but only 125 pounds (57 kg). He then got a summer job at a union oil scraping sludge from the stills at the refinery. He attended Richmond high school because his local school did not have a baseball team. In his senior year of high school, he was offered a scholarship to play baseball at St. Mary's College, a smaller school that was just east of Oakland. However, his father told him to give up baseball and focus on schoolwork to become an engineer like his older brother Milfred.
Although his father was not a fan of continuing baseball, he went ahead and signed the contract for Lefty to play for the Seals at the 1928 spring training camp. He was not off to a hot start, but picked up quickly and was sent to the Utah–Idaho League for the season.
The New York Yankees purchased Gomez from the Seals for an estimated $39,000. He reported in at 6 feet 2 inches (1.88 m) and weighing in at 147 pounds (67 kg). This scared many people that he was not ready for the big leagues. Gomez made his major league debut on April 29, 1930. He pitched in only 15 games and finished the season with a 2–5 win–loss record, a 5.55 earned run average (ERA). Coming into the 1931 season, Gomez had good pitching velocity, but the Yankees were concerned about the pitcher's slender frame of 6 feet 2 inches (1.88 m) and 155 pounds (70 kg). Following a common medical strategy of the time, the team had most of his teeth extracted; they also had him drink 3 US quarts (2,800 ml) of milk daily and gave him an unlimited meal allowance for road games. Gomez registered the second-best ERA in the American League in 1931.
A 20-game winner four times and an All-Star every year from 1933 to 1939, Gomez led the league twice each in wins, winning percentage and ERA; he was a three-time league leader in shutouts and strikeouts. In the first major league All-Star Game (July 6, 1933), Gomez was the winning pitcher for the American League (AL) and drove in the first run of the game. This was out of character for him; he was notorious for poor hitting even by AL standards. Late in life, Gomez commented, "I never even broke a bat until last year when I was backing out of the garage." His career OPS+ of -7 is the fifth-worst in baseball history among players with at least 1,000 plate appearances. Gomez holds the record for the most innings pitched in a single All-Star game (six, in 1934).