Everyone traveling Sir Francis Drake Boulevard from Fairfax to West Marin has passed Gomez Field just before climbing over White’s Hill into the San Geronimo Valley. Longtime baseball fans might know who Vernon “Lefty” Gomez was. But for many, the name means little other than it graces a sign beside the road.
Gomez was a Hall of Fame pitcher for the New York Yankees in the decades that spanned the careers of Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Joe DiMaggio. He was also a Bay Area native, Fairfax and Novato resident, and an ardent supporter of youth baseball.
Gomez was born in Rodeo, just across the bay, in 1908. His father Francisco was of Spanish and Portuguese heritage, and his mother Lizzie Herring was Welsh-Irish. The family ran a 1,000-acre cattle ranch in Franklin Canyon, where Vernon and his seven siblings worked from an early age, riding horses and milking cows. Gomez began playing baseball for the local Rodeo sandlot team when he was 13 and within a year, he was pitching in games throughout the Bay Area and Central Valley. His baseball career continued at Richmond High School and upon graduation, Gomez, not yet 19, was signed to a minor league contract with the San Francisco Seals of the Pacific Coast League. In his second season, 1929, he was 18-12 as a starting pitcher with a reputation for throwing a blazing fastball.
The New York Yankees purchased his contract mid-season from the Seals but allowed Gomez to finish out the year with his team. After joining “the Bronx Bombers,” Gomez’ rise to stardom was swift. He won 21 games in 1931 and went on to win 189 games in a Hall of Fame career, where he was voted an All-Star seven straight years, won the pitching triple crown twice and had a career 6-0 record in World Series’ games.
Gomez also earned the nickname Goofy for his irrepressible and self-deprecating humor. Among the many quotes attributed to him are, “I’d rather be lucky than good,” “The secret of my success is clean living and a fast outfield,” “I’m throwing the ball as hard as I ever did, it’s just not getting there as fast” and “When Neil Armstrong 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 homerun ball hit off me in 1933 by Jimmie Foxx.”
After a series of injuries in 1941 and ’42, Gomez hung up his spikes, but his love for the game propelled him to even more achievements and fame. What truly sets Gomez apart was his decades-long support of youth baseball, and his unwavering commitment to coaching and promoting the game around the world, including the United States, Japan, Venezuela and Cuba. His outgoing personality and quick wit earned him a position with the Wilson Sporting Co.’s sales division for 30 years, logging more than 100,000 miles as a representative and banquet speaker.
His awards and honors are too numerous to mention but include recognition from national, international, humanitarian, governmental and baseball organizations. In his later years, Gomez settled in Marin County and was instrumental in supporting local Little League and Babe Ruth teams. He often donated equipment and could always be found throwing out the first pitch on opening days.
Gomez died in 1989 and is buried in San Rafael’s Mt. Tamalpais Cemetery.
History Watch is written by Scott Fletcher, a volunteer at the Marin History Museum, marinhistory.org. Images included in History Watch are available for purchase by calling 415-382-1182 or by email at info@marinhistory.org
