Sonoma County baseball coaching legend Sam Gomes dies at 60

Sam Gomes, who left an indelible imprint on the baseball culture in Sonoma County, died May 26 at his Santa Rosa home. He was 60 years old.

Gomes had been battling Lou Gehrig's disease, also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, for the last year.

Well known for his seemingly nonstop enthusiasm, Gomes graduated in 1980 from Santa Rosa High School but not before he played the drums in the school’s band, raised and showed sheep for the Future Farmers of America and starred in baseball. Gomes went on to finish his education at Santa Rosa Junior College and Chico State.

To say Gomes absorbed baseball is an understatement. For 30 years, until he was 58, Gomes was a catcher in various local baseball leagues: the Santa Rosa Rosebuds, the Redwood Pirates and the Petaluma Express. He won a 1997-98 World Series title with the Sonoma County Giants.

“Sam was in his 50s and catching both ends of a doubleheader,” said Tom Francois, assistant baseball coach at Santa Rosa Junior College. “He was a workhorse, a Clydesdale.”

It was coaching, however, that made Gomes a legend. He started coaching in the Bay Area in 1990. Gomes had coached for two years at Chico, two years at Napa Junior College and for Santa Rosa, Piner and Windsor high schools. His imprint was most felt at Santa Rosa Junior College. He spent 20 years there coaching the catchers, with at least 50 of them going off to play for four-year schools, according to Francois.

Gomes helped coach the Bear Cubs to three California Community College Athletic Association Final Four appearances. He also was part of the coaching staff that led Santa Rosa Junior College to the state championship in 2016.

“Sam never talked down to players,” Francois said. “I never heard him raise his voice even once. Sam always was respectful. He gave unconditional love.”

According to Francois, the players marveled at Gomes’ commitment to the school’s baseball program. Gomes was with PepsiCo for 31 years, working with the catchers after coming off the night shift.

Chicago White Sox infielder Andrew Vaughn paid tribute to Gomes in a video May 26 on the MLB Network. Vaughn, a Maria Carrillo High School graduate, worked with Gomes at Santa Rosa Junior College.

When they learned of Gomes’ illness last year, two of his Santa Rosa Junior College protegees — Baltimore Orioles Manager Brandon Hyde and the team’s third base coach, Timmy Cossins — decided to honor their former coach. They gathered jerseys from 15 major league teams, each with Gomes’ name stitched on the back with the No. 35, the number worn by ex-MLB star Vida Blue, Gomes’ favorite player.

“That was probably the highlight for Sam this last year,” said Alice Bunting, Gomes’ fiancee and caregiver. “He was really proud that he influenced so many people. Sam wanted to make a difference. Frankly, it was a bit overwhelming to see all the love and support Sam received.”

Less than two months before his death, Gomes was honored April 7 with “Sam Gomes Day” at Santa Rosa Junior College’s Cook Sypher Field. The “Sam Gomes Bullpen” was dedicated in his name. An asphalt walkway behind the dugout was created so Gomes could access the area in his wheelchair.

Stricken with a fatal disease, Gomes never asked for sympathy, much less pity. “Show up; do your job,” Gomes would tell his catchers. “I just wanted to make my guys better.”

So committed to his craft, Gomes would conduct catching camps for kids 8-18 years old. Yet, Gomes would stay in background, Francois said, working without acclaim, quite content with being a facilitator, as opposed to creating a headline.

“Sam would never bring attention to himself,” Francois said. In a sport where a rush to celebrity is common, Gomes went in the other direction. “That’s why the kids loved him. Practice would be over but Sam would be in the bullpen taking fastballs over the face mask. His work ethic was unparalleled.”

Gomes coached until 2020 when health issues forced him to stop.

Gomes is survived by his fiancee, Bunting; his daughter, Taylor Gomes of Sacramento; step-daughter Alicia Cisneros and her daughter, Isabella “Izzy” Mendez of Windsor; ex-wife Donna Gomes of Windsor; sister, Vickie Lakatos of Petaluma; and brother- and sister-in-law, Rick and Paulette Gomes of Santa Rosa.

A date for a celebration of Gomes’ life at Cook Sypher Field has not yet been announced.

In lieu of flowers the family is asking donations in Gomes’ name be given to the Santa Rosa Junior College baseball program, the ALS Association Golden West Chapter at P.O. Box 7082, Woodland Hills, CA 91365, or any baseball organization of their choosing.

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