Vernona Gomez

I first heard the name Lefty Gomez, while listening with my Dad to a 1956 Yankee-Dodgers World Series game: “Whitey Ford is my favorite Yankee, after Mickey Mantle.” Dad replied, “When I was your age my favorite Yankee was Lefty Gomez, after Lou Gehrig.” I would guess all kids learn about baseball players this way: fathers and sons playing catch and (today) watching games.

Lefty: An American Odyssey (New York : Ballantine Books ; imprint of the Random House Publishing Group, 2012) is show more a book about one of the great New York Yankees pitchers in the 1930s and early 1940s who appeared in seven All-Star games (1933 through 1939) and a member of five New York Yankees World Series championships (1932, 1936 through 1939). Vernon ‘Lefty’ Gomez was a 20-game winner four times. Unlike teammates Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth who were inducted into baseball’s Hall of Fame almost immediately after retirement, Lefty was not inducted until 1972, nearly thirty years following his in 1943. Verona Gomez, Lefty’s daughter, and co-author Lawrence Goldstone, have written an informative and hilarious biography of Vernon ‘Lefty’ Gomez and at the same time a nostalgic review of the America’s national past time for most of the last century.

The book’s Prologue gives the reader a nostalgic look at the August 4th, 1962 Old Timers Game at San Francisco’s Candlestick Park where veterans of the Giants (who had recently in 1958 been in New York) played veterans of the San Francisco Seals of the Pacific Coast League, which Triple-A franchise closed in 1957 to make way for the Giants. The Seals veteran ball players included outfielders Dom, Vince, and ‘Yankee Clipper’ Joe DiMaggio, and pitcher Vernon ‘Lefty’ Gomez. We learn that the taciturn Yankee Clipper roomed with the gregarious Lefty his first six years with the Yankees. Also, that Lefty and his wife June O’Dea, a Broadway actress, a few days after the game were to attend the ‘re-marriage’ of Joe DiMaggio and his wife Marilyn Monroe in Los Angeles. Tragically, Monroe died the next day at home from a drug overdose. During DiMaggio’s grief Lefty would call him twice a week just to talk. “That’s what roomies are for.” This bitter-sweet narrative tone gives Lefty a truth-stranger-than-fiction appeal and moves autobiography firmly into the realm of social history. This is a book not only about a great player until recently forgotten by most fans, but a book that remembers the greatness of the game itself. I highly recommend it to all who love the game. My Dad would have loved Lefty. show less

Vernon "Lefty" Gomez was born in Rodeo, California in 1908. By 1942 he had a lifetime pitching record of 189 - 102. He had won 20 games in a season four times, led the American League in strikeouts three times, led the league in shutouts three times, started seven World Series games for a 6 - 0 record and he was the starting, and winning, pitcher of the first All-Star game as well as hitting in the first run of that game. Beyond these accomplishments, he was also the glue of the Yankee show more clubhouse during the 1930's; a friend and confidant to Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Joe DiMaggio.

What emerges in the book is the man, himself. He learned as a child that if you wanted something you had to work for it. He had been working on his parent's farm since he was a child. At age eight he was milking the cows at 4:00 am. Even at five and six years old, if he wanted money for a candy or ice cream he had to earn it. He entered into everything he wanted to do whole-heartedly with no half-way measures. Being fascinated, as a child, with the sax he earned the money to pay for lessons by lighting streetlights and plucking chickens. He carried the same attitude into becoming a pilot and a baseball player. There was one game the kids played - sandlot baseball - and Lefty became determined to be a big-league pitcher.

The book was a joy to read. Here was a player that didn't get big-headed with success. He didn't make excuses for the times he lost, he didn't whine, he didn't put on airs, he didn't drink, he didn't fight. And while he was great with the one-line quips (which became known as Lefty-isms) and jokes on team mates in the locker room, he was also a serious person who listened to others, didn't gossip and didn't lie.

Here, too, are images of great ball players, free of the publicity, rumor and hype. Babe Ruth, for one, became an entirely different person than the one I had grown up believing him to be. There are stories of Dizzy Dean, Jack Dempsey, and scores of others.

While the book follows the games, the seasons and the big comings and goings of the players and teams, it focuses on the people. It is immensely readable and makes you feel like you've been at the ballpark on a really sunny day, watching the best of the best play ball. show less

I thoroughly enjoyed this terrific biography of baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Vernon (Lefty) Gomez that was written by his daughter. Normally, baseball biographies, especially of old-timers (Lefty quit playing in the 1940s and died in the late 1980s) are dry. Typically, little information is available to the author, outside of statistics, newspaper reports, and teammate remembrances, in rare cases.

However, this terrific biography is chock full of personal anecdotes and family stories. Though show more his nickname was Goofy, Lefty was a smart, interesting guy. He was a good friend of Babe Ruth's and was a long-time friend of Joe DiMaggio's. His wife was a star on Broadway. Lefty loved to travel and had plenty of entertaining stories to tell.

This is a very interesting biography with as much information about his life outside of baseball as it has about his baseball career.

Highly recommended!! show less

I had an advanced copy of this book, which is now in the research library of Jon Dunkle, Baseball Historian.
Vernona Gomez and Lawrence Goldstone hit a home run when they wrote this book. It could be one of the best sports biographies ever written, and a sure bet for the bestseller list.

I knew I would enjoy reading this book because Lawrence Goldstone was one of the authors. I'm familiar with his writing, having read several of the books about book collecting he coauthored with his wife. But show more in this case, I think Goldstone only played a minor part, fine tuning Vernona Gomez's manuscript.

This book is written from the heart –– the heart of Lefty Gomez's daughter, Vernona Gomez's heart. Bleeding through the words is a father's personality as witnessed by his daughter and viewed by the rest of the world.

I had the advance uncorrected proof of this book, but I ordered a hardcover copy as well because the Index is lacking in the uncorrected proof. I want to readily find the many anecdotes regarding Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio and all the other Yankees that fill the pages of this book. A most enjoyable read! Moi recommends! show less