#74 Preston Gomez MG - San Diego Padres

Preston Gomez
San Diego Padres
Manager

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  5'11"  Weight:  170
Born:  April 20, 1923, Central Preston, Cuba
Signed:  Signed by the Washington Senators as an amateur free agent before 1944 season
Major League Teams:  Washington Senators 1944

As a Manager:  San Diego Padres 1969-1972; Houston Astros 1974-1975; Chicago Cubs 1980
Died:  January 13, 2009, Fullerton, CA (age 85)

Preston Gomez was a baseball lifer who played professionally for 10 seasons before becoming a highly-respected coach and manager.  Gomez began his playing career in 1944, and appeared in eight games for the Senators as a pinch-hitter and middle infielder, going 2 for 7 with a pair of RBIs in his major league cup of coffee.  He took over as manager of the Mexico City Reds in 1957, and managed in the Reds, Dodgers and Yankees systems between 1959 and 1964.  He managed the Havana Sugar Kings to a 1959 International League title, and the Spokane Indians to a 1960 Pacific Coast League championship.  Gomez joined Walter Alston's (#24) coaching staff with the Dodgers in 1965, serving as the team's third base coach and earning a World Series ring.  He coached with the Dodgers through the 1968 season, and was named as the first manager in Padres' franchise history prior to their inaugural 1969 season.

Gomez managed the Padres through their first three seasons and was fired less than two weeks into the 1972 campaign.  He'd join the Astros as a coach in 1973, and managed the team in 1974 and 1975, following the retirement of Leo Durocher (#147).  Gomez would go on to coach with the Cardinals (1976), Dodgers (1977-1979) and Angels (1981-1984), and began the 1980 season as manager of the Cubs before a slow start led to his dismissal.  His lifetime managerial record was 346-529.  Gomez remained with the Angels organization as a scout and assistant to the general manager between 1985 and his passing in 2009.

Building the Set / Card #124
March 12, 2023 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)

In mid-March, Doug and I attended the Philadelphia Sports Collectors Show, held within the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania.  My main focus for this show was accumulating as many 1969 Topps commons as possible, which I did by adding a grand total of 193 cards to our set.  That's almost 30% of the entire set added in one enjoyable afternoon.  I wrote a full summary of the show in a post over at The Phillies Room, found here.

This is the 47th of the 193 commons and semi-stars purchased, pulled and stacked from the first two neon green binders housing 1969 Topps cards at the multi-table spread of Uncle Dick's Cards from Babylon, New York.  My method was simple - I pulled up a chair, found a card I needed, picked the best of the group from the binder page and set it aside.  After each 100 cards, I'd ask the dealer to tell me how much damage I had done so far.  With a budget in mind, I kept going twice, continuing after card #100 and card #200, and stopping at card #298.  The final amount due was 17% off the sticker price for the pile of 193 cards, with this card costing me $1.25.

The Card / Padres Team Set / Accuracy Index -8

Gomez appeared on a few minor league cards for the Spokane Indians, but this is his "rookie" card.  The former Dodgers' coach is wearing a Dodgers uniform here, and the "LA" logo has been covered over on his hat.  On the back, the Topps cartoonist displays his/her idea of what a third base coach does.

Accuracy Index:  Gomez's card loses five points for the Dodgers uniform, and another three points for the logo-less hat.

1969 Season
The two National League expansion teams, the Padres and Expos, each lost 110 games finishing in last place in their respective divisions.  Gomez's Padres actually began the season with a three-game sweep of the Astros, but then lost nine of their next ten games.  They lost 11 in a row during a dreadful stretch in mid-June and finished 41 games behind the pennant-winning Braves.  Ollie Brown (#149) and Nate Colbert (#408) were bright spots offensively, leading the team with 20 and 24 home runs respectively.  Brown had the highest batting average with a .264 mark.  Clay Kirby (#637) lost 20 games and Joe Niekro (#43)  lost 17, as both pitchers took the ball every fifth day.  Billy McCool (#129) led the bullpen with seven saves.

1970 Topps #513

1971 Topps #737

1972 Topps #637

1974 Topps #31

1980 Topps #381

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1969 Topps #74
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (8):  1969-1975, 1980
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1980 Topps #381
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards:  27 in the Beckett online database as of 9/11/23.

Update Cards

For my 1965 Topps blog, I used the team card posts to come up with five or six candidates per team for an imaginary update series.  With no team cards in the 1969 Topps set, I'll use each manager card for this exercise, and come up with a list of deserving cards to be included in an 8th/update series.

• Chris Cannizzaro (c) - The Padres' most used catcher appears in the set with the Pirates (#131), but I'd give him an update card in my 8th series.
• Joe Niekro (rhp) - Similarly, Niekro is already in the set with the Cubs but he threw over 200 innings for the Padres in his one and only year in San Diego.
• Jack Baldschun (rhp) - I wouldn't make the former Phillies pitcher wait until 1970 for his first Padres card in a Topps set.
• Tommie Sisk (rhp) - Sisk also appears early in the set (#152) with the Pirates.
• John Sipin (2b) - Sipin never appeared on a mainstream baseball card in the U.S.  He played in 68 games for the Padres and then moved to Japan where he found success between 1972 and 1980.
• Van Kelly (3b) - Kelly is almost completely unrepresented in the baseball card world, despite his 73 games as a back-up infielder for the Padres.

If additional cards were needed to fill out the update set's checklist, I'd add a coach card for Sparky Anderson, who coached at the major league level for the Padres before taking over as manager of the Reds in 1970.  I'd also give a solo card to Kirby, who shares a Rookie Stars card with two other Padres.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference - Gomez / Baseball Reference - 1969 Padres / Wikipedia

Beckett Database / The Trading Card Database

#73 Johnny Briggs - Philadelphia Phillies / #75 Luis Aparicio - Chicago White Sox