Preston Gómez
Encyclopedia
Preston Gómez was a Cuba
n-born infielder
, manager
, coach
and front-office official in Major League Baseball
best known for managing three major league clubs: the San Diego Padres
(1969–72), Houston Astros
(1974–75) and Chicago Cubs
(1980). He was born Pedro Gómez Martinez in Preston, Cuba, and was given his nickname in U.S. professional baseball from his birthplace.
and second baseman
for the Washington Senators
, hitting
.286 in seven at bat
s with two runs batted in
.
, playing and then, from the mid-1950s onward, managing in the farm systems of the Cincinnati Reds
, Los Angeles Dodgers
and New York Yankees
. His 1959 Havana Sugar Kings
were champion of the International League
and won the Junior World Series
.
pennants and one World Series
title. When Dodger vice president Buzzie Bavasi
became president and part-owner of the expansion Padres, he named Gómez the first skipper in the team's major league history. But, like most expansion teams, the Padres struggled, losing 110 games in , 99 in and 100 more in , finishing last in the NL West Division each season. After 11 games and seven more defeats in , Gómez was fired and replaced by Don Zimmer
.
He returned to baseball the following season as a coach under Leo Durocher
for the Houston Astros
, and succeeded to the manager's post in . That season, the Astros posted an 81-81 record — Gómez' only .500 or better season as a big league manager. But in , when they were last in the NL West after 127 games, Gómez was released in favor of Bill Virdon
. Once again, Gómez took to the coaching lines, for the St. Louis Cardinals
and then back to the Dodgers, where he assisted Tommy Lasorda
and coached in two more World Series — 1977
and 1978
.
The exposure led to one last major league managing job, with the Cubs — but again Gómez met with frustration. The last-place Cubs dropped 52 of their first 90 games, and Gómez was fired again, to be replaced by Joey Amalfitano
. His career managing record, over seven years, was 346 wins, 529 losses (.395) and four last-place finishes.
Highly respected, Gómez remained in baseball from 1981 into the 2008 season as a coach, special assignments scout and assistant to the general manager of the Angels
.
s through eight innings. He did this on July 21, 1970, with the Padres' Clay Kirby
and on September 4, 1974, with the Astros' Don Wilson. Both pitchers were losing their respective games at the time they were pulled. In both cases, the hitting strategy failed, and the games were ultimately lost.
gas station on March 26, 2008. The accident occurred while Gómez was on his way home to Chino Hills, California
from the Angels' spring training
in Arizona. He died from his injuries on January 13, 2009 in Fullerton, California
, aged 85.
The 2009 Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
honored Gómez' memory with a uniform patch in the shape of a black diamond with the name "Preston" written in white.
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
n-born infielder
Infielder
An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field.-Standard arrangement of positions:In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns playing offensive and defensive roles...
, manager
Manager (baseball)
In baseball, the field manager is an individual who is responsible for matters of team strategy on the field and team leadership. Managers are typically assisted by between one and six assistant coaches, whose responsibilities are specialized...
, coach
Coach (baseball)
In baseball, a number of coaches assist in the smooth functioning of a team. They are assistants to the manager, or head coach, who determines the lineup and decides how to substitute players during the game...
and front-office official in Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
best known for managing three major league clubs: the San Diego Padres
San Diego Padres
The San Diego Padres are a Major League Baseball team based in San Diego, California. They play in the National League Western Division. Founded in 1969, the Padres have won the National League Pennant twice, in 1984 and 1998, losing in the World Series both times...
(1969–72), Houston Astros
Houston Astros
The Houston Astros are a Major League Baseball team located in Houston, Texas. They are a member of the National League Central division. The Astros are expected to join the American League West division in 2013. Since , they have played their home games at Minute Maid Park, known as Enron Field...
(1974–75) and Chicago Cubs
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are a professional baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League. They are one of two Major League clubs based in Chicago . The Cubs are also one of the two remaining charter members of the National...
(1980). He was born Pedro Gómez Martinez in Preston, Cuba, and was given his nickname in U.S. professional baseball from his birthplace.
Playing career
A right-handed batter and thrower, Gómez played eight major league games as a shortstopShortstop
Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball fielding position between second and third base. Shortstop is often regarded as the most dynamic defensive position in baseball, because there are more right-handed hitters in baseball than left-handed hitters, and most hitters have a tendency to pull the...
and second baseman
Second baseman
Second base, or 2B, is the second of four stations on a baseball diamond which must be touched in succession by a base runner in order to score a run for that player's team. A second baseman is the baseball player guarding second base...
for the Washington Senators
Minnesota Twins
The Minnesota Twins are a professional baseball team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They play in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. The team is named after the Twin Cities area of Minneapolis and St. Paul. They played in Metropolitan Stadium from 1961 to 1981 and the...
, hitting
Batting average
Batting average is a statistic in both cricket and baseball that measures the performance of cricket batsmen and baseball hitters. The two statistics are related in that baseball averages are directly descended from the concept of cricket averages.- Cricket :...
.286 in seven at bat
At bat
In baseball, an at bat or time at bat is used to calculate certain statistics, including batting average, on base percentage, and slugging percentage. It is a more restricted definition of a plate appearance...
s with two runs batted in
Run batted in
Runs batted in or RBIs is a statistic used in baseball and softball to credit a batter when the outcome of his at-bat results in a run being scored, except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play. The first team to track RBI was the Buffalo Bisons.Common nicknames for an RBI...
.
Minor leagues
He spent the next two decades in minor league baseballMinor league baseball
Minor league baseball is a hierarchy of professional baseball leagues in the Americas that compete at levels below Major League Baseball and provide opportunities for player development. All of the minor leagues are operated as independent businesses...
, playing and then, from the mid-1950s onward, managing in the farm systems of the Cincinnati Reds
Cincinnati Reds
The Cincinnati Reds are a Major League Baseball team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are members of the National League Central Division. The club was established in 1882 as a charter member of the American Association and joined the National League in 1890....
, Los Angeles Dodgers
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers are a professional baseball team based in Los Angeles, California. The Dodgers are members of Major League Baseball's National League West Division. Established in 1883, the team originated in Brooklyn, New York, where it was known by a number of nicknames before becoming...
and New York Yankees
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...
. His 1959 Havana Sugar Kings
Havana Sugar Kings
The Havana Sugar Kings were a Cuban-based minor league baseball team that played in the Class AAA International League from 1954 to 1960 . They were affiliated with Major League Baseball's Cincinnati Reds, and their home stadium was El Gran Estadio del Cerro in Havana, Cuba.-History:The Sugar...
were champion of the International League
International League
The International League is a minor league baseball league that operates in the eastern United States. Like the Pacific Coast League and the Mexican League, it plays at the Triple-A level, which is one step below Major League Baseball. It was so named because it had teams in both the United States...
and won the Junior World Series
Junior World Series
The Junior World Series was the name given to a postseason series between champions of two of the three high-minor baseball leagues, modeled on the World Series of Major League Baseball...
.
Managerial career
In 1965, Gómez became third-base coach of the Dodgers, serving through 1968 and two National LeagueNational League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League , is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional...
pennants and one World Series
1965 World Series
The 1965 World Series featured the National League champion Los Angeles Dodgers against the American League champion Minnesota Twins, who had won their first pennant since 1933 when the team was known as the Washington Senators...
title. When Dodger vice president Buzzie Bavasi
Buzzie Bavasi
Emil Joseph "Buzzie" Bavasi was an American executive in Major League Baseball who played a major role in the operation of three franchises from the late 1940s through the mid-1980s....
became president and part-owner of the expansion Padres, he named Gómez the first skipper in the team's major league history. But, like most expansion teams, the Padres struggled, losing 110 games in , 99 in and 100 more in , finishing last in the NL West Division each season. After 11 games and seven more defeats in , Gómez was fired and replaced by Don Zimmer
Don Zimmer
Donald William "Popeye" Zimmer is a former infielder, manager, and coach in Major League Baseball, currently serving as a senior advisor to the Tampa Bay Rays baseball organization...
.
He returned to baseball the following season as a coach under Leo Durocher
Leo Durocher
Leo Ernest Durocher , nicknamed Leo the Lip, was an American infielder and manager in Major League Baseball. Upon his retirement, he ranked fifth all-time among managers with 2,009 career victories, second only to John McGraw in National League history. Durocher still ranks tenth in career wins by...
for the Houston Astros
Houston Astros
The Houston Astros are a Major League Baseball team located in Houston, Texas. They are a member of the National League Central division. The Astros are expected to join the American League West division in 2013. Since , they have played their home games at Minute Maid Park, known as Enron Field...
, and succeeded to the manager's post in . That season, the Astros posted an 81-81 record — Gómez' only .500 or better season as a big league manager. But in , when they were last in the NL West after 127 games, Gómez was released in favor of Bill Virdon
Bill Virdon
William Charles Virdon is a former outfielder, manager and coach in Major League Baseball. A premier defensive outfielder during his playing days as a center fielder for the St...
. Once again, Gómez took to the coaching lines, for the St. Louis Cardinals
St. Louis Cardinals
The St. Louis Cardinals are a professional baseball team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are members of the Central Division in the National League of Major League Baseball. The Cardinals have won eleven World Series championships, the most of any National League team, and second overall only to...
and then back to the Dodgers, where he assisted Tommy Lasorda
Tommy Lasorda
Thomas Charles Lasorda is a former Major League baseball player and manager. marked his sixth decade in one capacity or another with the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers organization, the longest non-continuous tenure anyone has had with the team, edging Dodger broadcaster Vin Scully...
and coached in two more World Series — 1977
1977 World Series
-Game 1:Tuesday, October 11, 1977 at Yankee Stadium in Bronx, New YorkThe Dodgers drew first blood off Don Gullett in the first when Davey Lopes walked and scored on a Bill Russell triple. Ron Cey made it 2–0 on a sacrifice fly...
and 1978
1978 World Series
-Game 1:Tuesday, October 10, 1978 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, CaliforniaWith Yankee ace Ron Guidry unavailable at least until Game 3, the Dodgers pounded twenty-game winner Ed Figueroa. Figueroa left after two innings, allowing home runs to Dusty Baker and Davey Lopes. Lopes would add a...
.
The exposure led to one last major league managing job, with the Cubs — but again Gómez met with frustration. The last-place Cubs dropped 52 of their first 90 games, and Gómez was fired again, to be replaced by Joey Amalfitano
Joey Amalfitano
John Joseph Amalfitano is a former utility infielder, manager and coach in Major League Baseball . He played a combined ten seasons with the New York/San Francisco Giants , Houston Colt .45s and Chicago Cubs . He managed the Cubs from 1979 to 1981...
. His career managing record, over seven years, was 346 wins, 529 losses (.395) and four last-place finishes.
Highly respected, Gómez remained in baseball from 1981 into the 2008 season as a coach, special assignments scout and assistant to the general manager of the Angels
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim are a professional baseball team based in Anaheim, California, United States. The Angels are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League. The "Angels" name originates from the city in which the team started, Los Angeles...
.
Ongoing no-hitters aborted
On two occasions, Gómez pinch-hit for pitchers who had pitched no-hitterNo-hitter
A no-hitter is a baseball game in which one team has no hits. In Major League Baseball, the team must be without hits during the entire game, and the game must be at least nine innings. A pitcher who prevents the opposing team from achieving a hit is said to have "thrown a no-hitter"...
s through eight innings. He did this on July 21, 1970, with the Padres' Clay Kirby
Clay Kirby
Clayton Laws Kirby Jr. born in Washington, D.C. was a pitcher for the San Diego Padres , Cincinnati Reds and Montreal Expos .Kirby led the National League in losses in 1969....
and on September 4, 1974, with the Astros' Don Wilson. Both pitchers were losing their respective games at the time they were pulled. In both cases, the hitting strategy failed, and the games were ultimately lost.
Death
Gómez sustained major head injuries when he was struck by a vehicle at a Blythe, CaliforniaBlythe, California
Blythe is a city in Riverside County, California, United States, in the "Palo Verde Valley" of the Lower Colorado River Valley region, an agricultural area and part of the Colorado Desert along the Colorado River. Blythe was named after Thomas Blythe, a gold prospector who established primary...
gas station on March 26, 2008. The accident occurred while Gómez was on his way home to Chino Hills, California
Chino Hills, California
Chino Hills is a Los Angeles suburb located in the southwestern corner of San Bernardino County, California, United States. The city borders Los Angeles County on its northwest side, Orange County to its south, and Riverside County to its southeast...
from the Angels' spring training
Spring training
In Major League Baseball, spring training is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for roster and position spots, and gives existing team players practice time prior to competitive play...
in Arizona. He died from his injuries on January 13, 2009 in Fullerton, California
Fullerton, California
Fullerton is a city located in northern Orange County, California. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 135,161.It was founded in 1887 by George and Edward Amerige and named for George H. Fullerton, who secured the land on behalf of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway...
, aged 85.
The 2009 Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
2009 Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim season
The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim' 2009 season is the franchise's 49th season. The Angels began the season as the two-time defending American League West division champions....
honored Gómez' memory with a uniform patch in the shape of a black diamond with the name "Preston" written in white.
External links
- Baseball-Reference.com - managing record
- News report on the life of Preston Gomez
- AP Obituary at The Orange County RegisterThe Orange County RegisterThe Orange County Register is a daily newspaper published in Santa Ana, California. The Register is the flagship publication of Freedom Communications, Inc., which publishes 28 daily newspapers, 23 weekly newspapers, Coast magazine, and several related Internet sites.The Register is notable for its...