Lefty

February 20, 2012
Vernon “Lefty” Gomez was a stalwart pitcher for the dominant New York Yankee teams of the 1930s. The son of an illiterate rancher from rural California adapted quickly to the city and was “named to New York’s best-dressed list” within two years of joining the Yankees. Although overshadowed by the offensive juggernauts of teammates Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Joe DiMaggio, Gomez was a significant factor in the Yankees’ success. He was the American League’s starting pitcher in five of the first seven All-Star games and was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1972. His daughter, Vernona, relies on testimonials from relatives, friends, teammates, and Lefty himself to produce an anecdotal biography of the man known as “El Goofo.” While paying homage to her father, she doesn’t shy from the darker periods such as her parents highly publicized separation and Lefty’s later bout with alcoholism. Coauthor Goldstone (The Anatomy of Deception) blends the abundant testimonials with biographical data, baseball lore and history, and American history to provide a glimpse of a bygone era through Gomez’s life. Photos.

March 15, 2012
A veteran author teams with the daughter of Vernon "Lefty" Gomez (1908-1989) for a biography of the Yankee legend. One of the game's singular personalities and greatest big-game pitchers, Lefty Gomez entered the Hall of Fame in 1972. In a career cut short by injuries, he nevertheless managed to win 20 games four times, lead the league three times in strikeouts and shutouts and twice in ERA. A fierce competitor, he started and won six of seven World Series games (while losing none), and three of four All-Star games. Daughter Gomez and Goldstone (Inherently Unequal: The Betrayal of Equal Rights by the Supreme Court, 1865-1903, 2011, etc.) dutifully cover the baseball heroics, from Lefty's California boyhood, the town teams and semi-pro ball, his signing with the San Francisco Seals and his storied Yankee career. The narrative's chief delight, though, is the treatment of Lefty the character. For his pranks, eccentricities and high-spirited antics, he acquired the nickname "El Goofo," but the moniker belied a steady character that led teammates to confide in him, a keen native intelligence and ready wit. Sure, he once famously held up a World Series game as he contemplated a passing airplane, but this same man perfectly captured the fearsome slugger Jimmie Foxx by remarking, "He has muscles in his hair." Thanks partly to his marriage to showgirl June O'Dea and his post-playing career as sales rep and goodwill ambassador for Wilson Sporting Goods, Lefty traveled widely and appears to have hung with an endless list of famous friends: sitting in with bandleader Eddy Duchin, chumming with James Michener, dining with Hemingway, fishing with Ted Williams, playing cards with the Babe. Though this largely adoring treatment acknowledges some dark passages--a near-divorce, a midlife bout with alcoholism, the motorcycle death of a beloved son--the overwhelming impression is of a crowded, accomplished life exuberantly lived. An amiable portrait of a baseball great--like Yogi Berra, Dizzy Dean and Satchel Paige--whose outsized personality looms even larger than his considerable athletic achievements.

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February 1, 2012

The quirky and upbeat Hall of Fame pitcher Lefty Gomez was a fan favorite on the 1930-42 Yankees that also featured Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio and Babe Ruth. His daughter, with Goldstone (Inherently Unequal: The Betrayal of Equal Rights by the Supreme Court, 1865-1903), offers a well-written and comprehensive though oddly impersonal story of Gomez's life from his challenging upbringing through his long baseball career, his close friendship with the Bambino, his time as a manager in South America, and his volatile marriage to a headstrong Broadway actress, the author's mother. Gomez was famous for his quips and his ease with his public life, handling celebrity and a tabloid presence with grace. Although his daughter keeps her distance in this biography (e.g., no family lore or mention of him as "Dad"), it is recommended to all golden age baseball fans and anyone seeking insight into life as a Depression-era baseball celebrity.--D.K.

Copyright 2012 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2012
This appears to be the first modern biography of Yankees pitcher Lefty Gomez (18981989), which is surprising since he amassed some fine stats on his way to the Hall of Famea lifetime record of 189102, four 20-win seasons, six World Series titles (his pitching record was 60), league ERA leader twice and strikeout leader three timeswhile also earning fame for his wit; for instance, he coined the immortal I'd rather be lucky than good. The book's content is unconventional, much of it consisting of Gomez quotes from as-told-to conversations with his daughter Vernona, with additional material presumably provided by coauthor Goldstone. If the book is more intimate as a result, it also lacks the tighter continuity and faster pace that a more formal biography might have achieved. As is, though, it's one more great American storywhich includes the likes of Ruth and DiMaggio, both of whom were teammates and close friends of Gomez'sspanning space and time from Gomez's humble California roots to the pinnacle of success, cross-country, in the American century.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)