AL Player of the WeekVernon "Lefty" Gomez
Although he got off to a somewhat slow start, the best pitching performance in both leagues to date has been turned in by Lefty Gomez (22-9, 2.03 ERA in our replay) (HA 67).
Gomez was a mainstay on the NY Yankees rotation from 1930 through 1942, and played one final season in Washington in 1943. He was a seven time All Star and finished in the top 10 for MVP three times. He had many very good years, and three great ones (1931, 1934 and 1937). He has one of the greatest post season records of all time as well (5-0, 2.86 ERA in 5 World Series).
Players of the time consider him to be one of the hardest throwing pitchers of the era despite his slim frame. When told that if he gained 20 pounds he'd make people forget Lefty Grove, he recalled "I gained the 20 pounds and almost made them forget Lefty Gomez").
As that story indicates, Gomez was well known for his humor, and baseball lore is rich with Lefty Gomez stories (when he stopped pitching in the middle of a World Series game to watch an airplane fly overhead, his manager Joe McCarthy asked him if he was trying to lose - Gomez responded that he never saw a pitcher yield a run by not throwing the ball) and witty comments (e.g., "I'd rather be lucky than good," "The secret of my success was clean living and a fast outfield"), which earned him the nickname "El Goofy."
His sense of humor proved a lucrative source of post baseball income as he was an in-demand speaker on the after dinner circuit and he was active for decades after his all days were over. In 1979, after having triple bypass surgery, he told audiences that "it was the only triple I ever had." After being picked off second, his manager asked "what happened there?" Gomez responded "how the hell do I know? I've never been there before." His minor league managerial career was so dismal, he joked, that he had to have victory dinners after the rainouts.
He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1972.
