Gomez Talking

Lefty Gomez

Quotations From & About Lefty Gomez

"A lot of things run through your head when you're going in to relieve in a tight spot. One of them was, "Should I spike myself?"

"He (Jimmie Foxx) has muscles in his hair."

"Hell, Lou (Gehrig) it took fifteen years to get you out of a game. Sometimes I'm out in fifteen minutes."

"I'd rather be lucky than good."

"I'm the guy that made Joe DiMaggio famous."

"I'm throwing as hard as I ever did, but the ball is just not getting there as fast."

"I talked to the ball a lot of times in my career. I yelled, "Go foul. Go foul."

"I've got a new invention. It's a revolving bowl for tired goldfish."

"I want to thank all my teammates who scored so many runs and Joe DiMaggio, who ran down so many of my mistakes."

"I was the worst hitter ever. I never even broke a bat until last year when I was backing out of the garage."

"No one hit home runs the way Babe (Ruth) did. They were something special. They were like homing pigeons. The ball would leave the bat, pause briefly, suddenly gain its bearings, then take off for the stands."

"One rule I had was make your best pitch and back up third base. That relay might get away and you've got another shot at him."

"The secret of my success was clean living and a fast outfield."

"When Neil Armstong 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."

"4-time 20-game winner with NY Yankees; holds World Series record for most wins (6) without a defeat; pitched on 5 world championship clubs in 1930s." - InfoPlease

"Gomez's zaniness set him apart from the decorous Yankees of the 1930s. He once held up a World Series game, exasperating manager Joe McCarthy (as he did with some frequency), to watch an airplane pass by." - Writer Mark Gomez

"It is hard to judge whether Vernon Gomez is better known as the fire-throwing left-hander of the successful Yankees teams of the 1930s, or as the man that made clowning around the diamond famous. 'El Goofo' as he was called in his native tongue, pitched his way into five World Series. He set a record in World Series competition by recording six consecutive victories without a loss. Over his 14-year career, he won 20 games four times, led the league in wins twice, and won the American League strikeout title three times. In 1972, Lefty joined many of his teammates from the Yankees in baseball’s Hall of Fame." - Estate of Lefty Gomez (2003)

Lefty Gomez's National Baseball Hall of Fame Plaque

VERNON LOUIS GOMEZ
"LEFTY"
NEW YORK A.L. 1930-1942
WASHINGTON A.L. 1943
WON 20 OR MORE GAMES FOUR TIMES IN
HELPING YANKEES TO WIN SEVEN
PENNANTS. LED A.L. WITH 26-5 RECORD,
2.33 EARNED RUN AVERAGE IN 1934 AND
WITH 21 VICTORIES AND 2.33 ERA IN
1937. PACED A.L. IN WINNING PCT. TWICE,
STRIKEOUTS THREE TIMES. SET WORLD
SERIES MARK BY WINNING 6 GAMES
WITHOUT A LOSS.

Quotations From & About Lefty Gomez

Fast Facts

Did you know that Lefty Gomez won twenty games four times during his career including a season in 1934 where he went 26-5?

During the 1934 season, Lefty Gomez led the league in wins, winning percentage, complete games, shutouts, innings pitched, earned run average and strikeouts.

'Goofy' Gomez was legendary not only for his skill as a pitcher, but as a fun loving, carefree ballplayer who loved the game and life itself. Once, when the catcher came to the mound for a conference, Gomez said, "I don't wanna throw him nothing, maybe he'll get tired of waiting and leave."