Jonny Gomes

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Jonny Gomes bigraphy, stories - American baseball player

Jonny Gomes : biography

November 22, 1980 –

Jonny Johnson Gomes (born November 22, 1980) is an American professional baseball outfielder for the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB).

Early years

Gomes was born and raised in Petaluma, California. He was an all-league at Casa Grande High School, coached by Dominique Wirtz, in his hometown of Petaluma. As a sixteen-year-old in May 1997, he was a passenger in a car accident that killed his best friend, Adam Westcott. Gomes, who was sitting next to Westcott in the back seat, was only slightly injured. Durham Bulls Press Release, May 13, 2004 Gomes has Westcott’s initials tattooed on his right biceps. Cincinnati.com, February 25, 2009

After graduating in 1999, he went to Santa Rosa Junior College before being selected in the 18th round of the 2001 MLB Draft by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays., , and at and While he was in the rookie leagues, he was certified to become a personal trainer. His older brother, Joey Gomes, currently plays for the Edmonton Capitals, of the Golden Baseball League. The family name "Gomes" is Portuguese in ancestry.

Gomes suffered a heart attack on Christmas Eve 2002, the result of a clogged artery, despite being in playing condition (he reported having 8% body fat at the time). He ignored the symptoms for 27 hours, even sleeping through it one night, before going to the hospital after he briefly blacked out and stopped breathing. His doctors said he would not have survived a second night. As a result of the heart attack, the Rays’ team doctor had to keep nitroglycerin pills on-hand in case Gomes suffered a second heart attack.

MLB career

Tampa Bay Devil Rays/Rays

Gomes made his major league debut on September 12, . He spent back and forth between the Triple-A Durham Bulls and Tampa Bay. He told an MLB.com interviewer that, when he was relegated back to Durham after a brief early stint in Tampa Bay in May , he resolved that he would put up such an offensive onslaught that the Major League team would "get sick of looking at his face on the Tropicana Field scoreboard when the top Minor League performers were shown." He would have a .321 batting average with 14 home runs and 46 RBI in 45 games with the Bulls before returning to the Devil Rays for good in July., MLB.com, May 3, 2006

After his return to Tampa Bay, Gomes became a starter for the club and became one of the club’s most important players. On July 30, he became the first player in the franchise’s history to hit three home runs in a single game, against the Kansas City Royals. For the year, Gomes hit 21 home runs in only 101 games and 348 at-bats. Projected over a full season, Gomes could have hit over 35 home runs. He became a fan favorite, and was known for his all-out hustle and long home runs; one went 474 feet and went over the Batter’s Eye Restaurant behind the center field wall at Tropicana Field. He finished 3rd in voting for the 2005 American League Rookie of the Year award.

Gomes was figured to play a prominent role in the continued rebuilding and long range plans of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. He started off with a bang by hitting a team-record 11 home runs in April. He hit the catwalk rings of Tropicana Field twice during a series with the Toronto Blue Jays in May; one landed in the B ring and rolled off to be caught, while the other hit the C ring and was ruled a home run.This is per the ground rules at Tropicana Field. He struggled after his hot start, hitting nine home runs during the rest of the season and finishing with a .216 batting average. He attributed most of his problems to an injured shoulder, which hindered his hitting and his usually aggressive baserunning; he played through the injury until electing to have surgery on it in September. In addition to rehabilitating his shoulder, Gomes said in an MLB.com article that he wanted to lose weight over the offseason; he was listed at 205 pounds, but played the 2006 season weighing 250. He also mentioned possibly playing first base in for the Devil Rays, who then had Carl Crawford, Rocco Baldelli, and Delmon Young in their outfield.