Longtime ESPN baseball correspondent Pedro Gomez dies at 58
By JOE REEDYFebruary 8, 2021 GMT
FILE - In this Saturday, Feb. 16, 2008, file photo, Chicago White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen, right, jokes with ESPN s Pedro Gomez after a news conference during the first day of baseball spring training for pitchers and catchers, in Tucson, Ariz. Gomez, a longtime baseball correspondent for ESPN who covered more than 25 World Series, died Sunday, Feb. 7, 2021. He was 58. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green, File)
FILE - In this Saturday, Feb. 16, 2008, file photo, Chicago White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen, right, jokes with ESPN s Pedro Gomez after a news conference during the first day of baseball spring training for pitchers and catchers, in Tucson, Ariz. Gomez, a longtime baseball correspondent for ESPN who covered more than 25 World Series, died Sunday, Feb. 7, 2021. He was 58. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green, File)
02/08/2021
The sports media and baseball industries are reacting to the tragic news that ESPN reporter Pedro Gomez passed away unexpectedly Sunday afternoon. He was 58 years old.
Word of Gomez’s death was reported and circulated on social media as many of us were watching Super Bowl LV, suddenly reminded of life’s fragility amid one of our culture’s biggest diversions. In light of the news, love for a genuinely kind person and respect for his work were the prevailing sentiments among those expressing shock and condolences.
Pedro Gomez was one of the nicest and warmest people I ever encountered during my time at ESPN. This is just brutal. My heart goes out to his friends, family and loved ones. https://t.co/tDpOwUybFA
January 22, 2021
15 years ago today, on Jan. 22, 2005, Kobe Bryant torched the Toronto Raptors for 81 points in one of the most memorable performances in NBA history.
Famously, many of the Mamba’s buckets came while being “guarded” by Jalen Rose.
However, considering how locked in Bryant was on that unforgettable night at the Staples Center, Rose believes the Raptors actually did a pretty good job on the Los Angeles Lakers legend, according to an excerpt in ESPN’s Jorge Sedano’s article on Bryant’s victimized defenders over the years.
“When people try to tease me, I say, ‘We held him under a hundred, ” Rose said with a laugh.
Then a member of the New Orleans Pelicans, he mulled for two weeks last summer whether to commit to the NBA s restart in Orlando, Florida. In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Holiday s wife, Lauren, was five months pregnant and could sense his discomfort over leaving the family.
So she challenged him: Play, and donate the remainder of his 2019-20 salary to Black-owned businesses, non-profit organizations and initiatives. I felt like I kind of needed a reason to go back and play and my wife just said it. It kind of just hit her, Holiday said. There were other ideas we were thinking about. Obviously, I couldn t go protest my wife was pregnant and in L.A., the pandemic [made it] one of the hardest-hitting places .