Bronx, NY - August 13, 2012 - Yankee Stadium: ESPN's Pedro Gomez during a regular season Monday Night Baseball game. (Photo by Allen Kee / ESPN Images)
ESPN reporter Pedro Gomez passed away unexpectedly today. He was 58.
“We are shocked and saddened to learn that our friend and colleague Pedro Gomez has passed away,” said Jimmy Pitaro, Chairman, ESPN and Sports Content. “Pedro was an elite journalist at the highest level and his professional accomplishments are universally recognized. More importantly, Pedro was a kind, dear friend to us all. Our hearts are with Pedro’s family and all who love him at this extraordinarily difficult time.”
A Phoenix-based correspondent for SportsCenter, Baseball Tonight and other shows, Gomez joined ESPN in April 2003 and was best known for his coverage of Major League Baseball. Throughout his career, Gomez covered more than 25 World Series and 22 All-Star Games. He was also a member of the Baseball Writers Association of America and was a voting member for the Baseball Hall of Fame.
In the mid-2000s, Gomez followed Barry Bonds’ quest for Major League Baseball’s home run record amid the swirling steroid controversy. Gomez also covered Game 6 of the 2003 National League Championship Series when Cubs fan Steve Bartman attempted to catch a foul ball over Chicago leftfielder Moises Alou. The son of Cuban refugees, Gomez also reported for ESPN from MLB’s historic return to Cuba in 2016, which was a very personal journey as he took his father’s and brother’s ashes to be left behind in the family’s homeland.
Gomez joined ESPN from the Arizona Republic where he served as a sports columnist and national baseball writer from 1997 until 2003. In 1999 he won first place, sports enterprise, for “Discovering the Home I Never Knew” from the Arizona Associated Press Managing Editors Association. He also won the Arizona Republic’s Silver Ingot Award for outstanding series.
Gomez was the Oakland Athletics beat writer for the Sacramento Bee from 1995-97 and for the San Jose Mercury News from 1990-94. In between covering the A’s, Gomez served as a national baseball writer for the Miami Herald from 1994-95. Prior to that, he wrote for the San Diego Union, and the Miami News from 1988-90 and 1985-88, respectively.
A South Florida native, Gomez attended the University of Miami where he majored in journalism.
Gomez is survived by his wife, Sandra, sons Rio and Dante, and daughter Sierra.
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