TUPATALK: More than a playing field
Name the ballplayer who took out a government patent for a revolving fish bowl for tired goldfish.
Vernon Louis “Lefty” Gomez should always be remembered as one of baseball’s most endearing humor men — and a heck of an amazing player.
During a 13-plus Major League career, the southpaw pitcher registered a 189-102 record, 3.34 earned run average and 1,468 strikeouts during an era that included DiMaggio, Foxx, Williams, Greenberg and some of the American League’s all-time greatest hitters.
Fortunately, he pitched for the New York Yankees, which meant he never had to pitch against Gehrig and against Ruth, except in batting practice.
Gomez still holds the record for the best career pitching mark (6-0) in World Series competition.
Although his achievements on the diamond are worthy of recollection, it’s his observations that brought a wry, self-effacing humor to the sport that no one else would come close to matching, with the possible exception of Bob Uecker.
What set Lefty apart from Yogi Berra as baseball’s most quotable sources is Lefty often made himself the foil.
I appreciate the Gomez anecdote I once read about his efforts to get a job after his baseball career ended.
The application asked something like “why did you leave your last job?”
Gomez reportedly wrote down: “I couldn’t get anybody out.”
Following are a few well-known Lefty quotes.
“A lot of things run through you head when you’re going to relieve in a tight spot. One of them was ‘Should I spike myself.’”
“I’m throwing as hard as I ever did, but the ball is just not getting there as fast.”
“I was the worst hitter ever. I never even broke a bat until last year when I was backing out of the garage.”
“The secret of my success was clean living and a fast outfield.”
“I talked to the ball a lot of times in my career. I yelled, ‘Go foul. Go foul.’”
Lefty also claimed a baseball found on the moon by Neil Armstrong was a homer someone hit off him in 1933.
Baseball is a richer institution for having had Gomez in its ranks.
This article originally appeared on Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise: TupaTalk column
