Ex-Yankee Gomez Is Dead at 80 : Hall of Fame Pitcher Was Star on Field and After-Dinner Circuit

Vernon Louis (Lefty) Gomez, who pitched himself into the Baseball Hall of Fame with the powerhouse New York Yankees of the 1930s, then spent the rest of his life making fun of his career, died Friday in Northern California.

He was 80 and had a heart condition for several years, but the cause of death was not immediately disclosed.

A spokesman at Marin General Hospital in San Rafael said Gomez was admitted Feb. 2 for chest pains and died at 3 a.m. Friday. Born in Rodeo, Calif., Gomez lived in Novato at the time of his death.

Gomez was a slender fastball pitcher whose tongue was as sharp as his curveball. He compiled a 189-102 mark in 14 seasons, including his glory years with the Yankees from 1930 through 1942.

Gomez holds the World Series record for most victories--six--by a pitcher without a loss for five Yankee American League pennant winners. He had four 20-victory seasons, and led the league in winning percentage and earned-run average twice each and in strikeouts three times.

As a player, he had a flair for humor and quick repartee that made him a favorite with his more reserved teammates, especially Joe DiMaggio, a former Yankee roommate and one of his closest friends.

He told about the time he and his wife were watching the first walk on the moon in 1969.

“They were walking back and forth picking up pieces of the moon’s surface,” Gomez recalled. “Then they saw a strange white rock, something they couldn’t identify.

“I said to my wife, ‘I know what that is. It’s a ball Jimmie Foxx hit off me.’ ”

And he was a notoriously bad hitter. For Gomez, whose career batting average was .147, the American League’s designated-hitter rule came 40 years too late.

He said that as a hitter he had only one weakness: “A pitched ball.

“When I went to the plate, fans used to yell, ‘Fool ‘em, Lefty. Hit a foul.’ ”

And yet, it was Gomez who drove in the first run in baseball’s first All-Star game in 1933.

“Nothing I did in baseball gave me more satisfaction than getting that base hit,” he said a few years ago. “I only hit .113 that year. When the ball fell in, I think 300 fans fainted in the stands.”

As a representative of a sporting goods company, Gomez remained close to baseball after his retirement and virtually fashioned another career as an after-dinner speaker for sports gatherings.

Longtime friend Bill Rigney said by phone Friday: “I must have attended at least 50 to 100 banquets with Lefty. He was marvelous.”

When Rigney said Gomez “had such a great delivery,” he didn’t mean his pitching form.

“He was always nice to be around,” Rigney said. “He played on those great Yankee teams, and he had a remarkable memory for great stories. I probably heard some of the same stories a hundred times, and each time I enjoyed them again.

“I can’t remember anyone that wasn’t fond of Vernon Lefty Gomez. It will be a big blow to Joe (DiMaggio).”

Gomez is survived by his wife, June, a son Gary, daughters Vernona and Sharon and seven grandchildren. His wife was June O’Dea when Gomez first saw her dancing in the chorus line at the Copacabana night club in New York.

“Over the years he and June would send Christmas cards,” Rigney said. “The last couple years they sent one with a picture of them in their apartment and a note, ‘They said it wouldn’t last,’ and this was 48 years later. She went everywhere with him.

“Gee, there will be a lot of people that will miss that man--and not only his family. For me and everyone that has ever touched bases with Lefty Gomez, it’s a sad day.”

Chuck Stevens of Long Beach, a former player who heads the Assn. of Professional Baseball Players of America, said, “Lefty was as gentle a guy as ever played baseball.”

Gomez was less successful as a manager than he had been as a player but, Stevens said, “The kids loved him. I would imagine he ran a very loose ball club.”

Gomez was elected to the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., in 1972. Hailed as “another Lefty Grove” when he had a 21-9 record in 1931, Gomez’s reputation became even greater when he compiled a 24-7 mark in 1932.

But that year he took the advice of the Yankee front office and put on 15 or 20 pounds. He fell to a 16-10 record in 1933 and remarked, “They told me I’d make the fans forget Grove, but I almost made them forget Gomez.”

Slimmed down to about 160 pounds on a 6-foot, 1-inch frame in 1934, Gomez enjoyed his best season--a 26-5 record, a league-leading 2.33 ERA and 158 strikeouts.

He was a 20-game winner again with a 21-11 record in 1937 when the Yankees were in the midst of winning four consecutive world championships under Manager Joe McCarthy. Gomez began his career with the Yankees of Babe Ruth and Miller Huggins and completed it with the Yankees of Joe DiMaggio and McCarthy.

Gomez won one game in the 1932 World Series against the Chicago Cubs, two each in the 1936 and 1937 Series against the New York Giants and one in the 1938 Series against the Cubs. He made seven Series appearances and had a 6-0 record and a 2.86 ERA.

Gomez developed arm trouble near the end of the 1938 season, adjusted his pitching style and rarely pitched complete games. The Yankees were fortunate in those years to have a star relief pitcher in Johnny Murphy.

Asked how he felt during that period, Gomez often quipped, “I dunno, ask Murphy.”

Arm trouble bothered Gomez until his retirement in 1943 after a brief stint with the Washington Senators.

Lefty also was known as Goofy. He was famous for doing the unusual. He often stopped games to watch an airplane fly over a stadium while he was pitching.

Always ready with a quip, Gomez once walked over to shortstop Phil Rizzuto and stood close to him with head down but saying nothing for 2 minutes during a game.

“I heard your mother and father were in the stands,” he told Rizzuto, “and I wanted them to think the great Gomez was asking their son’s advice.”