Lefty Gomez interview
Date1983 April 01
DescriptionFour audio cassettes featuring an interview with Lefty Gomez conducted by Rod Roberts on behalf of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum on April 1, 1983 in Novado, California.
Object numberHF-1994-0001-028
Interviewer
Roberts, Rod
Interviewee
Gomez, Vernon, 1908-1989
Subject
Gomez, Vernon, 1908-1989
Classificationsaudio/visual materials
Library Call NumberCTA 763
Library Call NumberCTA 764
Collection NumberBA RMA 001 Rod Roberts oral history collection
Library Call NumberCTA 762
Library Call NumberCTA 765
Dimensions4 audio cassettes
TrannscriptionCassette 1 Side OneTrack 1 - Born Nov. 26, 1908 in Rodeo, CA, small town with 500 people, his first year was 1928 in Class D ball in the Utah-Idaho League, a lot of players moved up from there, some Hall of Famers; now no more Class D; players used to have a baseball age as born in 1910; grew up on a dairy farm in Rodeo; milked cows, cleaned barns, much different from today's barns; catch the train to Richmond, CA for high school; played baseball in high school; also in winter leagues sponsored by different shoe and gasoline companies, played three games a week, Sundays and Saturdays; played all winter and summer; played all day long; got lunch and expenses, about $3.50 (tape glitches) (00:00:00 to 00:04:10) Track 2 - (Off-mic discussion) Played for Point Reyes, got board and room and $5 a Sunday for pitching; played saxophone for a dance and got an extra $5; our catcher, Bud Farley, had to help him clean out the barn (00:04:10 to 00:05:47) Track 3 - Had four brothers and two sisters, one brother caught in semi-pro ball; he was the youngest; family Spanish, Portuguese and Irish; a writer, Frank Buck O'Neill used to call him Castilian; also called him Goofy Gomez, traveling to Washington to play the Senators by train and Albert Einstein came on the car; Gomez joked that he invented a revolving goldfish bowl; also when he lived in Durham, CT he had license plate GOOF; parents born in California; mother's parents born in County Cork, Ireland; maiden name Herring; father was a rodeo rider; brother rode in rodeos as well; took a long time to get to ball games; used to ride horses at home, never did the rodeo (00:05:47 to 00:10:58) Track 4 - Always a pitcher, was a bad hitter, sometimes played outfield, but mostly pitched; played some basketball and swam in high school (00:10:58 to 00:12:00) Track 5 - On San Francisco Seals in the Pacific Coast League, manager Nick Williams scouted him in Richmond High School, trained in Boyes Springs; signed to a contract in 1928 went to Salt Lake City; led the league in earned runs and strikeouts, won 13 and lost 15; first year in Salt Lake in 39 games, innings pitched 194, won 12, lost 14, gave up 206 hits, 109 runs 75 earned runs, struck out 172, 61 base on balls 3.47 earned run average; next year in the Coast League pitched 267 innings, won 18, lost 11, 277 hits, 140 runs, 102 earned runs, 159 strike outs, 3.43 earned run average; sold in middle of year to Yankees and reported in 1930 (00:12:00 to 00:14:43) Track 6 - Big adjustment going from small town ball to pro ball, a lot of good players in Class D, Ernie Lombardi, Wally Berger, Woody Jensen, Dolph Camilli, Ed Coleman; had never seen a Major League game until he was in one; now, starting in A ball and have much more experience than they did back in D; kids get experience in college; easier to get to the Big Leagues today than back in the day when there was only 16 clubs; in Yankees, when they had Newark, four or five years they played the little World Series, Rizzuto on those teams Tommy Henrich, Atley Donald, Spud Chandler, good players in the minor leagues, Charlie Keller went from college to minors (00:14:43 to 00:19:47) Track 7 - He joined the Yankees with (Babe) Ruth, (Lou) Gehrig, (Tony) Lazzeri, (Bill) Dicky, Earle Combs, (Waite) Hoyt Pennock, (Tom) Zachery, but Gomez knew the Yankees always scored a lot of runs; have to be careful as a rookie pitcher, more so than with a last place club; intimidating to walk into the club with those players, a team you read so much about; first time he met Waite Hoyt, they had a bat boy named Eddie Bennett, and they were training in St. Petersburg and Bennett took him to the coffee shop and introduced him to Hoyt, he didn't look up and said "I meet the bushers out at the ballpark," later became friendly; Major Leaguers didn't pay attention to the rookies; she babysat for Hoyt (00:19:47 to 00:24:56) Track 8 - Lazzeri would help him; Ruth was wonderful, called everyone "kid;" Pennock took him under his wing; Gomez's wife June was an actress on Broadway and Ruth's wife was a former Ziegfeld Follies girl, so they became close (00:24:56 to 00:26:22) Track 9 - Gehrig a great ball player and one of the nicest people in or out of baseball, not as easy to know as Ruth, loved to play bridge with Bill Dickey, Red Rolfe, Jesse Hill; Gehrig a wonderful guy; went to Japan in '34; went on around the world; met wonderful people in and out of baseball, Bobby Jones Jack Dempsey, Rogers Hornsby, Bill Terry, Mel Ott; Gehrig was very quiet, liked the movies; only played day ball so guys did stuff in the evenings (wife comes in and needs the car to move, tape paused, jokes) pitched against Hub in World Series; (Lefty) Grove was an overpowering pitcher, like (Sandy) Koufax, fastest he ever saw, pitched against Feller; in Japan, said to (Connie) Mack who was the fastest (tape runs out) (00:26:22 to 00:30:26.5) Cassette 1 Side Two Track 1 - (Tape picks up in middle of comment) On Rube Waddell; ? (Hub?) had a great screwball; Pennock had great curveball; always cite Sandy Koufax, pitching 500 ball the first five years, but got great control; (Lefty) Grove was something else; Pennock and Hub are finesse pitchers; Waddell would run and jump on the fire truck, pitching for a semi-pro team; never saw (Walter) Johnson pitch a game, saw him pitch batting practice when he was managing Cleveland, best pitch was the fastball; Gomez best pitch the fastball; pitchers used slider, knuckleball, forkball, now the split finger fastball; different terminology today (00:00:00 to 00:03:33) Track 2 - Gomez did fastball, change and curveball, by towards end of his career, Freddie Fitzsimmons taught him the knuckle curve; Burt Hooton of the Dodgers throws it; people threw screwball, (Blaeholder?) Johnny Babich threw the slider; Eddie Rommel threw a good knuckleball; average pitcher comes to big league has a smattering of pitches; better equipped; on throwing the changeup, didn't grip it as tight as the fastball, different delivery; always 8-9 pitchers in the big leagues who had a tremendous move to first base; Bill White, Walter (Mayo?) Gomez had a better move to second; Steve Carlton has a good move; never saw him but Sherry Smith supposedly had a good move; if a new umpire came in the league, he might call your move a balk; Gomez was up in Anchorage for Babe Ruth World Series, Bing Russell, sheriff on Bonanza, bought the Portland Mavericks team, had a pitcher with a tremendous move to second; baseball has changed, equipment different, fields are better, synthetic fields, gloves are bigger; fielders back in the day were better (00:03:33 to 00:09:11) Track 3 - On Honus Wagner, called the greatest shortstop who ever lived; take (Leo) Durocher, (Marty) Marion, Joe Cronin, (Phil) Rizzuto and they are good hitters; so Wagner must have been a tremendous shortstop; Ozzie Smith today covers a lot of ground; Babe Ruth was a great outfielder and people didn't realize it; never threw to the wrong base, good arm, switched between left and right fields; didn't play the sun field, never saw him dogging it, sometimes didn't cover as much ground, he was a winner, wanted to win; Gaylord Perry today is a winner; winning is better (00:09:11 to 00:13:49) Track 4 - Ruth was very intelligent, as a baseball player, called you "kid;" people who write books about Ruth never knew the man; baseball didn't have to compete with other sports in the early days, now basketball and hockey compete with baseball; left-handers think differently, he thinks Ruth was very smart; Ruth and Ted Williams visited a lot of children's hospitals; Ruth misused words, so does Gomez; pronunciations change; Ruth was good to many people, especially with kids; Ruth and other players never cursed in front of kids, only in the clubhouse; maybe "hell," Ruth used to borrow money and pay it back with 6% interest; Ruth's wife used to come on the road with the team; Gomez would do it all over again, wonderful life; played with the Yankees, played in All Star Games, World Series, elected to Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, Bay Area Hall of Fame, went 6-0 in World Series, started five out of first six All Star Games, drove in first run in history of All Star play, caused of the designated hitter rule; don't have a thing today that I don't owe to baseball (contains profanity) (00:13:49 to 00:21:32) Track 5 - Interviewer Roberts talks about Satchel Paige; Gomez got to know Paige very well on speaking engagements; A. Ray Smith had Paige working with him until he died; played 120-130 games a year, traveled by bus; played an Old Timers Game at the Astrodome, Paige was at least 60 and he had gone to Alaska to play; wonderful man; played against some black players and managed black players in Venezuela two winters, Jackie Robinson was there, Sam Jethro, Roy Welmaker; managed in Havana a couple winters with black ball players, last year in Havana a lot of players jumped to Mexican League; too bad some of the black players couldn't have come up in their prime, like great catcher Josh Gibson; played for Bushwicks in Long Island; played the Black Yankees, the Philadelphia Black Giants, Kansas City Monarchs, during War Gene Hermanski played over there, got good crowds (00:21:32 to 00:25:39) Track 6 - On Ben Chapman, came up in 1930, along with Gomez, Dusty Cooke, Jimmie Reese, Lyn Lary went up the year before; Chapman was a fighter, good hustler like Pete Rose; always liked Ben; another guy people thought was nasty was Johnny Allen, great right-handed pitcher; Chapman had a temper but he hustled all the time, a shorter fuse; Billy Martin didn't have great natural ability but made himself a good infielder, a hustler and played hard; admire those guys, Gil McDougald had to work hard, forced himself to become a great ballplayer; took over for Joe Gorton; took over for Bobby Brown at third, then Rizzuto (00:25:39 to 00:28:45) Track 7 - Bill Dickey caught for him, great catcher, used to say "bow your neck" threw the ball like a shot put; also threw to Benny Bengough; Dickey could do it all, drive in runs, not many men stole on him; only saw (Josh) Gibson threw towards end of his career, he might have been better, Gabby Hartnett had a good arm, so did Dickey, Rick Ferrell, Al Lopez (tape runs out) (00:28:45 to 00:30:32) Cassette 2 Side One Track 1 - Bill Dickey had an arm as good as Johnny Bench; (interviewer breaks in for ID) people didn't take liberties on Dickey, Bench or Yogi Berra; Berra got you out; Tony Lazzeri and Charlie Gehringer didn't make sensational plays but they were always right there; today they talk about complete games hurting you, the year he won 26 and lost 5, he pitched 24 complete games, only weighed 158 pounds; first year I won 21 and Yankees sent him to Saratoga, CA to gain weight; put on 8-9-10 pounds and run it off in spring training; year he went 24-7, they said he wasn't big enough; heaviest he ever got was his last year, 168 pounds (00:00:00 to 00:03:34) Track 2 - On Lazzeri making great plays, double plays, "throw the ball to the Dago;" in Detroit, he had a big lead with a man on 1st, Greenberg hit the ball, turned to throw to 2nd, (Frankie) Crosseti crossing the bag, and Lazzeri was way over and I threw it to him, he asked why, Gomez said he didn't know what to do with it; manager (Joe) McCarthy gave him a talking to; tied Mel Harder with six shutouts (contains profanity) (00:03:34 to 00:05:21) Track 3 - (Wife comes back in) On McCarthy as manager, best handler of pitching, uncanny ability to spot pitchers; one theory was hustle; helped him a lot; talked baseball all the time; no shaving in the clubhouse, no music, no eating; had to have your coat on in the hotel lobby, collars buttoned on shirts; talk to you on the train for two or three hours; McCarthy only played double A ball and went on to be a great manager; keeping all those guys talking to one another was something; today, players make 10 times what the managers do; McCarthy $35-$40,000 was making Babe Ruth was making $80,000 (00:05:21 to 00:08:39) Track 4 - On Herb Pennock, lived in Kennett Square outside of Philadelphia; he and his wife June went to visit Pennock when she was in a play there; went to see Pennock on Sunday and he was dressed nicely in spats; Cy Perkins also helped him out; used to switch off with Pennock; he had perfect control (00:08:39 to 00:10:41) Track 5 - On Dutch Ruether, Gomez had similar delivery but not his control; pitched against him in the Coast League; people talk about players, Willie Mays basket catch, Rabbit Maranville and Jimmie Reese did it, so don't know where things come from; Reese was Jewish, Solomon was his original name; with Gomez when he met his wife June at a nightclub; Al Cooper owned the club (Lyn?) Lary and Reese a great double play combo, Lary to Reese to Fenton; Reese hit batting practice with a fungo bat (00:10:41 to 00:13:54) Track 6 - On Red Ruffing, in a wheelchair and in the hospital, had a stroke; nice guy, good hitter, pinch hit a lot (00:13:54 to 00:14:58) Track 7 - On Bubbles Hargrove, came over from the National League, a funny guy, good catcher, had a stutter, his brother caught in the National League; not sure why they called him Bubbles (00:14:58 to 00:15:51) Track 8 - On Joe Sewell, what a guy, played shortstop and then moved to third; struck out five times in 606 times at bat; Gomez struck out five times in one game; a rule change, Sewell was on third, Lou Fonseca laid down a bunt; Sewell said don't touch it and made a trench, ball went into a hole and rolled foul; he claimed he saw the ball hit the bat 90% of time; White Sox had a pitcher, Pat Caraway, who struck out Sewell twice; a true gentleman; goes to the Hall of Fame every year; Gomez going this year, didn't go once because of open heart surgery, another time a kidney stone, something kept him away; (wife comes in for glasses) celebrated 50th wedding anniversary in Scottsdale; had two boys and two girls, seven grandchildren; one daughter a concert pianist played Carnegie Hall when she was nine, boy in real estate, son has four girls, coaches the Bobby Soxers, went to state twice; other son killed in a racetrack accident; kids didn't really like to play baseball; son played basketball; been in home since 1975; still an international director in Babe Ruth baseball; travel for Wilson's Sporting Goods; does a lot of speaking engagements; supposed to throw out first ball at All Star Game because he was the starting pitcher in '33; Old Timers Game at Yankee Stadium, all Hall of Fame players; on Luke Appling hit the ball to left field (00:15:51 to 00:26:42) Track 9 - On Dixie Walker, good outfielder, good hitter, developed more in the National League (00:26:42 to 00:27:32) Track 10 - On Johnny Allen, career ended quick; Allen became an umpire, got in an argument with Ben Chapman; not sure why he left the game (00:27:32 to 00:28:45) Track 11 - On Jumbo Brown, big guy, weighed around 270, had good stuff; he was a heavy guy, couldn't run as much (00:28:45 to 00:30:02) Track 12 - On Johnny Murphy, his "right arm," managing the Mets (tape runs out) (00:30:02 to 00:30:33) Cassette 2 Side Two Track 1 - On when Lou Gehrig first started to get sick; on (Johnny) Murphy being his right arm, his last season won 15, lost 5; relief pitchers different today; Murphy joking around with him, a great guy; on George Uhle throwing a slider; today, everyone throwing some form of slider, losing a couple of inches off the fastball; Johnny (? Montefusco?) rookie of the year with the Giants asked best way to field a line drive hit back at you (00:00:00 to 00:04:11.5) Track 2 - On getting hit, broken finger, broken jaw bone, lost four teeth, broken foot; throwing in batting practice; Waite Hoyt and Herb Pennock used to wear catcher's shin guards; Cronin a great hitter; there was player with Cleveland, "Twitchy" Dick Porter, and we were playing in Detroit, and Bob Shawkey sent Pennock over a day early on the train to check out Porter, Gomez thought he couldn't get around on him but he took over for (George) Pipgras, he threw Porter a fastball and he hit Gomez with a line drive right in the shoulder (00:04:11.5 to 00:06:55) Track 3 - On reflexes, changing stance in the batter's box at the last minute; not sure why batters didn't look for the curve ball more; Pennock had great control; the pitchers, he, Pennock, (Lefty) Grove and (Rube?) Walberg, used to go over the hitters and how they pitched them; Ted Williams could hit Gomez in a tunnel at midnight with the lights out; better luck against right-handed hitters than left-handed hitters; one day in Yankee Stadium a hitter blew one past Lou Gehrig; Gehrig told Gomez to pitch inside; pitching against Jimmie Foxx, guys told him to pitch outside (00:06:55 to 00:09:35) Track 4 - Toughest hitter, (Charlie) Gehringer, Williams, Foxx, Oscar Melillo was amazing; try to hold hitters to singles; told Williams to bunt off him; Williams explains hitting really well (00:09:35 to 00:11:05) Track 5 - More on Foxx, saw him hit a line drive over center field fence in Shibe Park off Danny MacFayden; saw (Babe) Ruth and (Mickey) Cochrane hit over the bleachers in Shibe; Al Simmons a great hitter; Gomez made his first start in June 1931; Joe McCarthy as manager, he beat the Athletics that day, won 21 and lost 9 in that season, good luck against the Athletics: St. Louis Browns used to say "break up the Yankees," they said "break up the Browns; Johnny Beradino, became an actor, Gomez used to call him "chorus boy;" umpire Art Passarella played a double of Karl Malden, and Gomez made a comment; Ernie Orsatti in the outfield had told him; another umpire, Bill Grieve was an New Rochelle assemblyman in Albany, Gomez commented about politicians in baseball; had a lot of fun, on the trains, Tony Lazzeri go through the cars and mix up the shoes, nothing destructive (00:11:05 to 00:16:20) Track 6 - On Frankie Crosetti; great player; Teddy Lyons used to say he could get hit in the fanny with a strike; had chances to manage but stayed to coach; Crosetti not good with the press; McCarthy used to send the players out to bond drives (00:16:20 to 00:17:41) Track 7 - On Burleigh Grimes, came over from the National League; he saved the Detroit game, Goose Goslin in the batting circle, Grimes knocked Goslin down, he hit one against the garage in right field; Lazzeri sitting at locker and Grimes came in angry and Lazzeri asked if he ran out of spit (00:17:41 to 00:19:30) Track 8 - On George Selkirk, toughest job, take over Babe Ruth's place, good ball player, great hustler, good team man, loved to win; to this day, Selkirk swears Gomez dyes his hair, Gomez attributes it to "clean living and a fast friendly outfield" and rather be "lucky than good;" didn't think as much about earned runs as they do today; quoting his statistics, didn't believe in earned runs, or saves; when Giants had (Dave?) Henderson, (Willie) Mays and (Bobby?) Bonds in the outfield, compare them to (Tony?) Oliva, (Harmon?) Killebrew and (Bob?) Allison, they cut off an awful lot of base hits; how the statistics are calculated doesn't reflect the true performance; on measuring defensive success, more double plays, more guys getting on base (00:19:30 to 00:25:22.2) Track 9 - On Blondy Ryan, they became very close, on his wife being a stewardess (00:25:22.2 to 00:25:57) Track 10 - On Joe DiMaggio, roomed together six years, similar to Gehrig, very quiet, people thought he was stuck up, but he wasn't just quiet; Gomez kidding him about being quiet; a good dresser; he didn't have a chance to talk with Gomez as a roommate; McCarthy would put quiet guys with talkers, Johnny Allen with a quiet guy and they got along wonderfully; McCarthy would have been a great success in any business, a great leader; put Bill Dickey and Lou Gehrig, Charlie Ruffing and Tony Lazzeri; players used to call DiMaggio and Frankie "Dago" also; DiMaggio sometimes told jokes when you could get him talking (Tape runs out) (contains profanity) (00:25:57 to 00:30:32) Cassette 3 Side One Track 1 - More on Joe DiMaggio, being a leader; other leaders (Babe) Ruth, (Lou) Gehrig, (Yogi) Berra; got more flak from other players than the manager, someone would say something if you made a mistake; Joe McCarthy didn't have to tell you; DiMaggio being compared to (Tris?) Speaker; playing Detroit and (Hank) Greenberg hit a drive and DiMaggio caught it up in the monuments like a football player catching a pass; DiMaggio not a good driver (wife says she's going to church) Gomez told him he should come in closer; DiMaggio make them forget Speaker; excellent golfer; covered a lot of ground, didn't run as far; Willie Mays one of greatest center fielders ever, beat you with fielding, throwing, hitting and base running; DiMaggio more of a team leader; other good outfielders, Terry Moore, Earl Combs, Mule Haas; DiMaggio had charisma, like Ruth, long loping strides; Bob Meusel and Irish Meusel played same way; Red Rolfe could run 50-yard dash, DiMaggio beat him; (George) Selkirk could run; DiMaggio almost always made it to second when he rounded first (00:00:00 to 00:07:18) Track 2 - On Tommy Henrich, Allie Reynolds and Gomez, Bobby Doerr, Harvey Kuenn and Lou Boudreau, being part of All American Debate, "Who would you rather have in the outfield, Ted Williams or Joe DiMaggio," moderated by George Steinbrenner and he was great; next one is "Sandy Koufax or Bob Feller?" Similar to Sports Challenge, Dick Engberg was master of ceremonies for that show; Williams most underrated outfielder, people talk about (Carl?) Yastrzemski playing the wall, but Williams played the wall; for Williams on some and DiMaggio on some; interviewer Roberts talks about (Leo) Durocher picking an all-star team; Gomez says Durocher an excellent fielder, good hitter, didn't like to lose; Billy Martin a throwback to old-type managers, believes in execution, a smart manager; never know a manager until you play for them (00:07:18 to 00:13:58) Track 3 - On Henrich, "Old Reliable," good outfielder, roomed with him a couple of years, loved baseball, loved talking baseball, loved Big Band music, he was all business, a good clutch ball player, didn't have the speed, but always seemed to be where he needed to be; on Phil Rizzuto, godfather to Gomez oldest boy, one of the best bunters for a base hit; playing against the Dodgers before the season, Gomez pitching, Rizzuto at shortstop and Gomez got in a jam and called Rizzuto over to talk, said his mother would be proud that Gomez asked his advice; Rizzuto in broadcasting for 25 years, "Holy Cow" and "Watch out for the lightning;" Gomez and Myril Hoag were scared of the lightning and Lazzeri told them to close the drapes and turn on the lights; used to put a worm in Rizzuto's glove (00:13:58 to 00:19:16) Track 4 - Used to leave gloves on the field; never saw a ball hit a glove left on the field; people used to throw straw hats out on the field on Labor Day; photographer Izzy Kaplan used to strap the picture on the leg of a pigeon to get it to the newspaper, go out and meet ocean liners to take pictures and send them by pigeon (00:19:16 to 00:22:06) Track 5 - (Interviewer excuses himself) Gomez keeps talking about photos and who signed them; signed photo from Washington D.C. with President Roosevelt; a nun that paints portraits that he has one; umpire decorated a baseball; golf awards; Babe Ruth plaque, autographed picture on President Johnson; photos of dogs (00:22:06 to 00:24:57) Track 6 - On Babe Dahlgren, tough act to follow, replacing Gehrig, they said his arms were too short; good first baseman, a quiet guy; Gomez talking about returning to California after living in the East for 30 years; talking about the weather; born and raised about an hour from current home; can never go home again; his mother's relatives living in Marin County, native Californians; first year he spent the winter back East, he was tickled to death with snow; speaks very little Spanish, used to speak more (tape runs out) (00:24:57 to 00:30:30) Cassette 3 Side Two Track 1 - (picks up in middle of sentence) On sons speaking Spanish; when Gomez went to Venezuela, he picked it up again, enjoyed being there; on his neighborhood; on the neighborhood kids laughing at his glove; on the Bill Doak glove, best glove ever made (00:00:00 to 00:02:53) Track 2 - On playing saxophone, sister in law was in vaudeville and played sax, mother in law played piano, wife played violin; used to walk 4 ½ miles to music lessons (00:02:53 to 00:04:25) Track 3 - On Allie Reynolds, good pitcher, good hitter, a Creek Indian; played together in Rochester for a Kodak benefit for handicapped kids; Reynolds a good golfer, looking for ball in creek and Gomez joked "are you looking for your ancestors?" (contains profanity) (00:04:25 to 00:05:57) Track 4 - On Spud Chandler, a good pitcher, tough loser, was in the Coast League, sent him to Newark; overnight got better; on people being bad or good losers, Gomez never brought a game home; on being competitive, having "guts," a lot of pressure in baseball but a great game; people used to say "Gomez has ice water in his veins," but they didn't know he threw up his breakfast from nerves; he was OK once he got on the mound; Herb Pennock said the day Gomez loses his nerves, the day he was through; hurt his back, got knocked down at first by Heinie Manush and tried to come back too soon and ruined his back; had a chance to go back to the Coast League, knew he wouldn't last so he got out; only pitched five innings in '43; lifetime earned run average was 3.34; went to the doctor about his arm, went to Mayo Clinic, Johns Hopkins University; even now, if he plays catch with the kids, it hurts him to be on the mound (tape glitches, kids come in for autographs) (00:05:57 to 00:16:40) Track 5 - On the elementary school kids coming by every day, asking for Bazooka gum, nicest kids, look at his pictures, Tommy next door kid should grow up to be a politician; Gomez and Roberts talking about their kids (00:16:40 to 00:19:57) Track 6 - On Atley Donald, nickname "Swampy" because he was born in Louisiana; McCarthy used to spot him a lot; a good pitcher; Donald had a tremendous sense of humor; talked to Donald, George Pipgras, Charlie Devens who came out of Harvard, just called guys he hadn't heard from, to talk; Donald was a good guy to have on the ball club, joke around with people and loosen them up; people thought Gomez was a clown; in Detroit, Lou Gehrig announced he wasn't going to play anymore, and he was crying, and Gomez joked him out of his depression; McCarthy sent Gomez to the bullpen and no one wanted to talk to him so he sent him home (00:19:57 to 00:25:22) Track 7 - McCarthy would switch off Gomez and Red Ruffing, give them days off; didn't use them as relief pitchers; Gomez was a bad relief pitcher; not having two workouts a day in spring training; had a guy named Johnny Broaca from Yale, had a Harvard and a Yale man on the same team, belonged to Hasty Pudding Club; switches to talking about Charlie Devens, he had a Boston accent, Tony (Lazzeri) asked him to take them to Fenway, and he said he would "motor by," Yankees sent him to Newark, he went back into banking business (00:25:22 to 00:29:03) Track 8 - On Bump Hadley, had one of the best curve balls, won quite a few games for the Yankees; on players' bad ends, Jimmie Foxx losing his money; Jake Powell committed suicide (tape runs out) (00:29:03 to 00:30:34) Cassette 4 Side One Track 1 - On Joe Gordon, came after (Tony) Lazzeri, spectacular second baseman, good hitter; (Joe) McCarthy told him he was breaking up the double play, told him to take up tumbling lessons and boxing lessons and Gordon did; Gordon had good power and loved to win, would get after players if they weren't hustling; Frankie Crosetti was a bit down, McCarthy told Gordon to knock the ball off Lou Gehrig's hand, and he did, but he needed to get after Crosetti as well; "once a Yankee, always a Yankee," having a sense of tradition and great players (names the lineup) (00:00:00 to 00:04:55) Track 2 - On Charlie Keller, came out of University of Maryland, went to Newark, hit .345 his first year there, came to Yankees and hit .340; been successful breeding trotting horses, all started out with the name "Yankee;" people used to kid Keller, called him "King Kong," a much better outfielder than he got credit for; his brother, Hal Keller, a farm manager for the Seattle Mariners; see Keller at the old-timers games; strong man, nice family, two of his sons played baseball; Yogi Berra a funny guy, smarter than people think, and more successful (00:04:55 to 00:08:06) Track 3 - On Frenchy Bordagaray, Gomez called him; he was with the Gashouse Gang, had a restaurant and they would play instruments; they were playing in Wilmington, Curt Simmons was pitching, bases loaded, so Joe McCarthy sent Frenchy up to pinch hit, asked McCarthy if he wanted him to hit scientifically or straight-away, and hit a line drive and McCarthy said that was scientific enough; pitching to him in Chicago, he hit a line drive and knocked Gomez's glove off, was concerned that he hurt him (00:08:06 to 00:10:40) Track 4 - On George Case, stole 80 bases; McCarthy wanted Gomez to work with a pitcher named Marius Russo; Russo wanted to know how to deal with Case, and Gomez told him to glance at second, throw to third and backup home plate, McCarthy wasn't happy; Case works for the Mariners; only player Gomez ever saw who got on base on a ball, jogged to first, went into full stride and made second standing up; good hitter; Bordagaray raced a horse once but the horse beat him; Cool Papa Bell raced a horse, one year had 200 singles; interviewer Roberts talks about Bell being faster than Jesse Owens (00:10:40 to 00:14:49) Track 5 - On Mickey Vernon; Yankees sold Gomez to the Braves, he went to spring training, but then went to Washington, only pitched one game then retired; Vernon was a good hitter, pitched against "Indian" Bob Johnson, his brother was Roy Johnson, was with Detroit and wound up with the Yankees; Gomez used to call Vernon "Storky" and would tease him about big shoulders; in Washington Mike Martin was trainer and rubbed his right arm, instead of his left; Washington would start eight left-handed batters, Buddy Myer, Goose Goslin, Heinie Manush Ossie Bluege only right-hander; best park for pitchers was Comiskey Park, but he didn't have good luck there, wind was always blowing; Cleveland Stadium, really deep outfield (00:14:49 to 00:19:02) Track 6 - On standardizing ballparks, not really possible; Gomez and wife were invited to 48th anniversary of Japanese baseball; cheering is really loud so they have applause meters, and they have a wind arrow; Yankee Stadium has an arrow, too, but it's a bowl and the wind can hit you in the back and the belly at the same time; Japanese players work hard and train hard (00:19:02 to 00:20:50) Track 7 - On training regimen, pitch one day, run the next day, then loosened up next day; never liked to loosen up or throw the day before a game he pitched; first inning was always toughest for him, tried all different warm-ups, but never seemed to make a difference, he still had a rough first inning; might have been all in his head; knew when he was warm and loose, but can't explain how he knew (00:20:50 to 00:24:04) Track 8 - More on Bob Johnson, a good right-handed hitter, played in the Coast League, a power hitter; played with the As when they were bringing in new players; (Connie) Mack had trouble getting a good team, started to rebuild with Chubby Dean, Eric McNair, Bing Miller; can still see Al Simmons, good outfielder, get all set to catch a safe or something; had (Max) Bishop at second base; Roger Cramer, good outfielder, (? Bowley ?), Jimmy Dykes (Mickey) Cochrane, Cy Perkins, Eddie Rommel throwing knuckleballs. (George) Earnshaw; (Lefty) Grove, (Rube) Walberg, Footsie Marcum, Roger Wolff (00:24:04 to 00:26:40) Track 9 - On pitcher Phil Marchildon, from Canada, was a POW in Germany during WWII and it ruined him; shot down on his first mission (00:26:40 to 00:27:49) Track 10 - On Bobo Newsom, what a pitcher, very superstitious, had a temper, pitched the day his father died; one time at the Chase Hotel, Gomez and DiMaggio were eating dinner and Newsom sent them a bottle of champagne; Newsom got a handicapped boy a pony; a tremendous pitcher; used to fight for his contract; Detroit lost about 80 players in the farm system (tape runs out) (00:27:49 to 00:30:28) Cassette 4 Side Two Track 1 - (Tape picks up in middle of conversation) More on Bobo Newsom, beat Gomez on opening day in Washington with a broken jaw; Ossie Bluege fielded a ball and he hit Newsom in the jaw, broke his jaw and he went nine innings, pitched against him in New York one day, he threw a mean fastball (wrapping up, tape runs out) (00:00:00 to 00:02:09.6)" Public Access NotePlease note that not all works are on view at all times - their availability is subject to change per the discretion of the Museum staff. Only a portion of NBHFM's collection is currently online and the information presented here is subject to updates and additions based on research and imaging activities. The images, titles, and descriptions are products of their time. If you have corrections or additional information about this object, please email research@baseballhall.org to help improve our records. This material is made available for private study, scholarship, and research use. Every effort has been made to accurately determine the rights status of images. Please email us if you have further information on the rights status of an image contrary to or in addition to the information in our records. For more information or access to a high resolution reproduction (some fees may apply), contact: National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, Giamatti Research Center, research@baseballhall.org, 607-547-0330.