finalyear death_date debutyear statvalue finalteam birth_date hofmethod hofdate death_place finaldate image statlabel debutteam name throws birth_place debutdate bats position article_title
1943 17 february 1989 1930 189 -- 102 3.34 1,468 washington senators 26 november 1908 veterans committee 1972 greenbrae , california may 23 lefty gomez 1936.jpeg win -- loss record earned run average strikeouts new york yankees lefty gomez left rodeo , california april 29 left pitcher lefty gomez

lefty gomez

vernon louis `` lefty '' gomez -lrb- november 26 , 1908 -- february 17 , 1989 -rrb- was an american professional baseball player .
a left-handed pitcher , gomez played in major league baseball -lrb- mlb -rrb- between 1930 and 1943 for the new york yankees and the washington senators .
gomez was a five-time world series champion with the yankees .
he was also known for his colorful personality and humor throughout his career and life .
gomez grew up in california and played for the san francisco seals after high school .
he made his mlb debut with the yankees in april 1930 .
he was selected as an all-star every year between 1933 and 1939 .
he sustained an arm injury in 1940 .
though he rebounded well in 1941 , he pitched his last full season in 1942 , then appeared in one game in 1943 before retiring with the washington senators .
in 1933 , gomez married june o'dea , who had a brief career as a broadway actress .
after his retirement , he became a popular public speaker .
gomez was elected to the national baseball hall of fame by the veterans committee in 1972 .
he made an appearance at yankee stadium in 1987 , when he and whitey ford were honored with plaques at the stadium 's monument park .
he died in california in 1989 .
