Lefty Gomez

Vernon Louis Gomez pitched 14 seasons for the New York Yankees, went 6-0 in World Series play, won two pitching Triple Crowns, and started and won the first All-Star Game in 1933. He was also the funniest man in baseball, so consistently and inventively funny that his one-liners survived him as thoroughly as his pitching record. When asked the secret of his success, he said, "Clean living and a fast outfield." At his Hall of Fame induction in 1972, he thanked his teammates and added, "It's only fair. After all, I helped a lot of hitters get in."

Rodeo

Gomez was born on November 26, 1908, in Rodeo, California, a small ranching town in the San Francisco Bay Area. He was the youngest of eight children. His father, a cowboy known as "Coyote," was of Spanish-Portuguese descent. His mother, Lizzie Herring, was Welsh-Irish. He grew up lanky (6-foot-2 and rail-thin at roughly 150 pounds) and attended Richmond High School before signing with the San Francisco Seals of the Pacific Coast League in 1928. The Yankees purchased his contract in August 1929, and he debuted on April 29, 1930, at 21 years old.

He married Broadway actress and dancer June O'Dea on February 26, 1933. They had four children. Their son Duane was killed in a motorcycle accident in August 1973. Gomez had given Duane a $10 bill before the race, and a doctor found it in Duane's pocket afterward. Gomez carried it in his wallet for the rest of his life.

The Yankees

Gomez won 20 or more games four times (1931, 1932, 1934, 1937) and led the American League in wins, ERA, strikeouts, complete games, shutouts, and innings pitched at various points across those seasons. His two best years were 1934 and 1937, when he won the pitching Triple Crown both times, leading the league in wins, ERA, and strikeouts. In 1934 he went 26-5 with a 2.33 ERA, 158 strikeouts, 25 complete games, and six shutouts. In 1937 he went 21-11 with an identical 2.33 ERA and 194 strikeouts. He was one of seven pitchers to win the Triple Crown at least twice, alongside Christy Mathewson, Walter Johnson, Grover Cleveland Alexander, Lefty Grove, Sandy Koufax, and Roger Clemens.

On July 6, 1933, he threw the first pitch in All-Star Game history at Comiskey Park before 47,595 fans. He pitched three scoreless innings, allowed two hits, and singled home Jimmy Dykes in the second inning for the game's first run. The American League won 4-2, and Gomez got the win. He was selected to seven consecutive All-Star Games from 1933 through 1939 and compiled a 3-1 record.

The Yankees won five World Series during his career (1932, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939), and Gomez never lost a Fall Classic game. His World Series line across five appearances reads 6-0 with a 2.86 ERA in 50.1 innings, four complete games, and 31 strikeouts. In 1937, he pitched two complete-game victories against the Giants and allowed three earned runs across 18 innings.

He roomed with Joe DiMaggio when DiMaggio was a rookie in 1936, taught him about big-league fashion, and became a lifelong friend. "I'm the guy that made Joe DiMaggio famous," he said. At his Hall of Fame acceptance, he put it more generously. "I want to thank all my teammates who scored so many runs and Joe DiMaggio, who ran down so many of my mistakes."

When Lou Gehrig pulled himself from the lineup on May 2, 1939, ending his consecutive-games streak at 2,130, Gomez told him, "Hell, Lou, it took fifteen years to get you out of a game. Sometimes I'm out in fifteen minutes."

El Goofy

He was called "El Goofy" and "The Gay Caballero" and earned both nicknames. He once stopped a World Series game to watch an airplane fly overhead. He lit a cigarette lighter at the plate while facing Bob Feller and told the umpire, "I can see him. I just want to make sure that wild man out there can see me." When Jimmie Foxx hit a towering home run off him, Gomez said Foxx "has muscles in his hair." Years later, after the 1969 moon landing, he told an audience, "When Neil Armstrong first set foot on the moon, he and all the space scientists were puzzled by an unidentifiable white object. I knew immediately what it was. That was a home run ball hit off me in 1933 by Jimmie Foxx."

He batted .147 for his career without a single home run and joked about it freely. "I was the worst hitter ever. I never even broke a bat until last year." During a mound conference when a catcher asked what he wanted to throw, Gomez said, "I don't wanna throw him nothing. Maybe he'll get tired of waiting and leave."

After Baseball

A back injury in 1939 diminished his velocity. He rebounded for a 15-5 season in 1941 but won only nine games across the other three years from 1940 through 1943. He pitched his final game for the Washington Senators on May 30, 1943, and later took a USO tour of Africa and Italy with Humphrey Bogart and Joe E. Brown. He managed in the minor leagues, mentoring a young Whitey Ford at Binghamton, and worked as a sales representative for Wilson Sporting Goods for more than 30 years, traveling over 100,000 miles a year and becoming the company's top salesman. He was a sought-after banquet speaker for decades, appearing on "What's My Line" and "The Tonight Show" and charming audiences who came to see a baseball player and discovered a comedian.

In 14 seasons he accumulated 368 games, 189 wins, 102 losses, a 3.34 ERA, 173 complete games, 28 shutouts, and 1,468 strikeouts. The Veterans Committee elected him unanimously to the Hall of Fame in 1972. He underwent triple bypass surgery in January 1977. When he came to, he told the doctors, "Well, that's the first triple I ever got in my life."

He died on February 17, 1989, in Greenbrae, California, at 80. His final words, reportedly to a doctor who asked him to rate his pain on a scale, were "Who's hitting, Doc?"