Luis Gómez (baseball)

Infobox MLB retired
name=Luis Gómez
position=Shortstop


bats=Right
throws=Right
birthdate=birth date and age|1951|8|19
city-state|Guadalajara|Jalisco, Mexico
debutdate=April 28
debutyear=by|1974
debutteam=Minnesota Twins
finaldate=October 4
finalyear=by|1981
finalteam=Atlanta Braves
stat1label=Batting average
stat1value=.210
stat2label=Home runs
stat2value=0
stat3label=Runs batted in
stat3value=90
teams=
*Minnesota Twins (1974-77)
*Toronto Blue Jays (1978-79)
*Atlanta Braves (1980-81)

Luis "Lou" Gómez (Luis Gómez Sánchez) is a former professional baseball player who played during the 1970s and 1980s. Born in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico in 1951 and raised in the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, CA, he attended and graduated from Nightingale Jr. High, then attended Belmont High School and UCLA.

The 5'9" Gómez played freshman basketball at UCLA with Bill Walton and played on the baseball team for three years ('71-'73) at shortstop. He is listed as having a batting average of .272, 2 HR, and 34 RBI in college. During his senior year, his batting average was .301 in 52 games and 186 at bats.

He started his major league baseball career with the Minnesota Twins in 1974, playing with them until 1977, when he moved to the Toronto Blue Jays, for which he played two seasons before being traded to the Atlanta Braves, playing his two remaining seasons there and retiring in 1982. He set an Atlanta record in 1980 with a .968 fielding percentage at shortstop and strung together 42 consecutive errorless games. He played shortstop, second base, and third base in 609 major league games. In his eight years, he had a .210 batting average with 1251 at bats. No non-pitcher since Bill Bergan retired in 1911 has had as many plate appearances with an OPS no better than .500, which is what his was.

Gómez joined the LDS Church as a result of his association with Dale Murphy and Alan Ashby. [ [http://www.famousmormons.net/baseball2.html Famous Mormons in Baseball Page 2 ] ]

References

* [http://www.baseball-reference.com/g/gomezlu01.shtml Baseball-Reference.com]