1953 Yankee of the Past: Lefty Gomez

COACH WITH A CURVE
"It was a dining car discussion en route north from St. Petersburg the other spring. Joining in the chatter were Lefty Gomez, one-time great New York Yankee hurler, and his alter ego of those days, Johnny  Murphy, now head of the Boston Red Sox farm system.
'Remember one day,' said Murphy, addressing Gomez, 'I relieved Red Ruffing and got Greenberg out on five fast balls, each one against his fists. He finally popped up.
'The next day I relieved you,'- again indicating Gomez- 'Greenberg was the batter. Coming in from the bullpen Joe DiMaggio called me. 'You got him out on fast stuff yesterday,' Joe said. 'He'll be looking for it today. Better curve him.'
'So after I warmed up the first pitch was a curve ball. Hank hit it upstairs. When we finally got the side out, Joe sat down beside me on the bench and said, 'I guess I'd better stick to center fielding and let you do the pitching.' '
'From the way Greenberg hit me, it would have been better to let Joe do the pitching and me play the outfield,' cracked Gomez.
The train rounded a sharp curve.
Beers, glasses, chairs and talkers careened to one side.
'What a curve!' said Gomez. 'If I had one like that, I'd make a comeback.'"

-Frank Yuetter in the Philadelphia Bulletin (Baseball Digest, January 1953)

SHINE BOY BOOTS ONE
"During the baseball meetings at Phoenix, Lefty Gomez was perched on a shoe-shine chair, with a young man working away on one foot and talking baseball.
'I don't like them Yankees,' he was saying. 'I wish somethin' would happen to those guys. Cry-babies, too, and ...'
The shoe was suddenly jerked from under his hands and he found Lefty standing beside him. 'I used to pitch for the Yankees and I liked them,' cracked Gomez. 'I still like'em. A great team and a great organization. Here ... ' and he handed the guy a quarter and walked off ... one shoe shined, the other not."

-Baseball Digest, February 1953

THE ONE TIME GOMEZ WAS SILENT
"'Know something?' offered Lefty Gomez. 'If I was in charge of the development of a young first baseman who was awkward around that bag, I'd make him take dancing. It's just the thing to develop the footwork that you need for that position. But I'm not always free with advice. There's a kid out West that some big league club signed, a pitcher.
'His high school coach asked me to give him some pointers on motion, delivery, etc. I asked what the kid signed for and the coach said $40,000. I said holy mackerel, $40,000 and he needs to learn about delivery? Suppose I teach him something and he hurts his arm. No, sir, let the outfit that paid $40,000 have somebody teach him. Not me.'"

-Halsey Hall in the Minneapolis Tribune (Baseball Digest, April 1953)