ESPN’s Gomez mourned
Baseball world shocked by death of beloved reporter
Pedro Gomez, a longtime ESPN broadcast journalist, died at 58 on Sunday, the network announced. ESPN said he died “unexpectedly” and no cause of death was provided.
Gomez, a mainstay on ESPN’s game productions and studio shows, was particularly beloved in baseball media.
“Pedro was far more than a media personality,” his family said. “He was a dad, loving husband, loyal friend, coach and mentor. He was our everything and his kids’ biggest believer.”
One of his three children, Rio, is a 26-year-old pitcher in the Red Sox system. Tributes flowed from both Gomez’s colleagues in media and several MLB players that he covered.
“He was a trailblazing journalist,” ESPN personality Jorge Sedano said of Gomez, who was the son of Cuban immigrants. “He opened the door for Latinos in sports tv.”
“More than an elite journalist, Pedro Gomez was a good and decent man, so proud of his family, and his heritage,” recently retired ESPNer Bob Ley said. “His loss is a hammer blow to all who knew this life force.”
Gomez was a beat writer covering the Oakland A’s in the 1990s before making the jump to ESPN and SportsCenter in 2003.
“I am heartbroken. I just can’t believe this,” Yankees announcer Michael Kay tweeted. “Pedro was the best.”
Longtime Daily News baseball columnist Bill Madden called Gomez “the consummate pro, a warm and wonderful guy and a credit to the baseball writing profession.”
“He was the absolute best of us,” ESPN’s Jeff Passan wrote. “This is so crushing. Anyone who knew Pedro loved him.”
Dennis Young
KOBE REPORT COMING
In the year since the helicopter carrying Kobe Bryant crashed into a hillside on a foggy morning, killing all nine aboard, there’s been plenty of finger-pointing over the cause of the tragedy.
Bryant’s widow blamed the pilot. She and families of other victims also faulted the companies that owned and operated the helicopter. The brother of the pilot didn’t blame Bryant but said he knew the risks of flying. The helicopter companies said the weather was an act of God and blamed air traffic controllers.
On Tuesday, federal safety officials are expected to announce the long-awaited probable cause of the crash that unleashed worldwide grief for the retired basketball star, launched several lawsuits and prompted state and federal legislation.
Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, and six other passengers were flying from Orange County to a youth basketball tournament at his Mamba Sports Academy in Ventura County on Jan. 26, 2020, when the helicopter encountered thick fog in the San Fernando Valley
north of Los Angeles.
Pilot Ara Zobayan climbed sharply and had nearly broken through the clouds when the Sikorsky S-76 helicopter banked abruptly and plunged into the Calabasas hills below, killing all nine aboard instantly before flames engulfed the wreckage.
There was no sign of mechanical failure, and it was believed to be an accident, the National Transportation Safety Board has said.
The board is likely to make nonbinding recommendations to prevent future crashes when it meets remotely Tuesday.
UCONN WOMEN PREVAIL
Freshman Paige Bueckers scored 31 points, including her team’s final 13, to lead No. 2 UConn to a 63-59 overtime victory over top-ranked South Carolina.
Bueckers scored all of the Huskies’ nine points in overtime, including an improbable 3-pointer with just over 10 seconds left.
The thriller came just hours after the Gamecocks and Huskies earned the top two spots in The Associated Press women’s college basketball poll.