OCR Text |
Show PP NE of the leading features of the Yankee comeback, for those who know his sprightly or spritely nature, is the return journey of one Vernon Lefty Gome, sometimes known as the Great Goof. Vernon Lefty came to the Yankees from San Francisco 11 years ago at the tender age of ySfc 20- Fr the greater s v ; 4 part of 10 years the fc,.: : m I thin left - hander 1 'j ' Played one of the i" . S main roles in the , big Yankee act For S5SSi Just one matter of 'lmmf&4 detail he contribut- iJVl'i ed 8ix world series r,,: Vp"- -, victories without t takln rap- i& I But when spring ; C.rantland Rice came to Florida j this year and the j Yankee ramp began warming up, there was more than passing doubt I that Lefty would be hanging around 1 much longer. In the losing cam-, cam-, paign of 1940 the depressed left-I left-I hander had turned in only three win-: win-: ning games against three defeats. Most of his mates, including Joe McCarthy, felt bad about this situa-! situa-! tion since Gomez is not only cx-I cx-I tremely popular all around, but also one of the gayer notes in a serious Yankee community. The one fellow who refused to back away from a j roujih fate, who refused also to sur-j sur-j render his mirth, was Lefty himself. 1 urning Bach "I came here In shape," Lefty said the first day he landed in camp. "I'm going to get In still better shape and I'm going to stick. After all I'm only 30 years old. I won't be 31 until November. If Lefty Grove can keep on winning at 41, why should I be all through when I'm 10 years younger than he Is?" All present cheered Lefty on and backed up his sentiments. "I had a bad arm and a bad side last season, but I'm O. K. now. I'd like to lay one bet, anyway. I'll bet nobody on Uiis club works harder." At this spot the Great Goof is still more than holding his own. Now and then he hears the "call of the wild," but not too often. He still has his share of stuff packed away In his portside portfolio and hopes to win his seventh world scries start this coming fall. Lefty the Sage The Gomel sense of humor rarely departs, even under dark rlouds. I asked him what happened when he seemed to be holding up a game in a debate with the umpire. "It was this way." Gomez said. "The bases were full and there was j u 'J I 'i - J . V a - LEFTY GOMEZ nobody out. Also, there was a tough hitter at bat. So I just held the ball." " 'Go ahead and pitch,' the umpire um-pire said. " 'That would be a foolish thing to do,' I answered. " 'As long as I hold this ball they can't hurt me. But who know what will happen if I let it go.' " "What happened when you finally final-ly threw the ball," I asked. . "I was right In the first place," Lefty said. Gomez should stick around several sever-al more years, since he knows how to pitch. Form lasts a long time. Here's an example. Back around 1898 Findlay Douglas won the amateur golf championship of the United States. Forty-three years later this last winter-he helped Byron Nelson get a draw in one of the main Florida shows. The veteran Mr. Douglas still shows, with much pride, a letter received re-ceived from Nelson to this effect "A good swing never gives out. The years can't touch It." Plenty of Heart The willowy Goof, who is far from being goofy, always had his full share of heart. You need the Big Tick when you skirt out to win six world series games without a defeat. de-feat. When the Yankees were at their old peak a few years back when they were mopping up by 12 or 15 games each season Bucky Harris of the Senators paid Lefty this tribute: trib-ute: "I'd rate the Yankees as the greatest ball club of all time especially espe-cially when Gomel is pitching. |