Show ONE NE of the leading features of the yankee comeback tor for those who know his sprightly or tely nature mature is the return journey of one vernon lefty gomez sometimes known as the great goof vernon lefty came to the yankees from san francisco 11 years ago at the tender age of 20 for the greater part of 10 years the thin left bander played one of the main roles in the big yankee act for just one matter of detail he contributed six world series victories without taking a rap but when spring grantland R kice came to florida this year and the yankee camp began warming up there was more than passing doubt that lefty would be hanging around much longer in the losing campaign of 1940 the depressed left hander bander had turned in only three winning games against three defeats most of his mates including joe mccarthy felt bad about this situation since gomez is not only extremely 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 rough fate who refused also to surrender his mirth was lefty himself turning curnin 0 nr back 1 I came here in shape 11 lefty said the first day he landed in camp im going to get in still better shape and im going to stick after all im only 30 years old I 1 wont be 31 until november it if letty lefty grove can keep on winning at 41 why should I 1 be all through when im 10 years younger than he is all present cheered lefty on and backed up his sentiments 1 I had a bad arm and a bad side last season but im 0 K now id like to lay one bet anyway ill bet nobody on this 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 1 I but not too often he still has his share of stuff packed away in his portside portfolio ort follo and hopes to win his seventh world series start this coming fall lefty the sage the gomez sense of humor rarely departs even under dark clouds I 1 asked him what happened when he be seemed deemed 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 LEFTY GOMEZ nobody out also there was a tough itter hitter at bat so I 1 just held the ball all go ahead and pitch the umpire ire said ad that would be a foolish thing to dat do e I 1 answered 11 As long as I 1 hold this ball they cant hurt me but who knows what will happen if I 1 let it go 1 what happened when you finally threw the ball I 1 asked 1 I was right in the first place lefty said gomez should stick around aroun d several more years since he knows how to pitch F form orm lasts a long time heres 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 chows the veteran mr douglas still shows with much pride a letter received from nelson to this effect A good swing never gives out the years cant 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 start out to win six world series games without a defeat when the yankees were at their old peak a few years back when they were mopping up by 12 or 15 92 games mes each season bucky harris of the senators paid lefty this tribute id rate the yankees as the greatest ball club of all time tim e esp especially e when gomez is pitching |