Miami Native, ESPN Reporter Pedro Gomez Dies Unexpectedly At 58

MIAMI, FLA. — Miami native and longtime ESPN baseball reporter Pedro Gomez died unexpectedly at his Arizona home Sunday night, sending shock waves through the sports media community and around the game Gomez covered for more than two decades.

ESPN announced that Gomez, 58, has died but did not indicate what caused his death. In a statement from his family, Gomez was remembered as “far more than a media personality.”

“He was a dad, loving husband, loyal friend, coach and mentor,” Gomez’s family wrote in the statement released by ESPN Sunday night. “He was our everything and his kids’ biggest believer.”

Gomez is survived by his wife, Sandra and daughter, Sierra, and sons Rio and Dante. Rio Gomez is a pitcher in the Boston Red Sox organization.

Gomez, the won of Cuban parents who came to Miami just before their son’s birth, graduated from the University of Miami after he previously attended Miami-Dade Community College. During his career, Gomez — a graduate of Coral Park High School — worked for newspapers as a baseball beat reporter before he was hired by ESPN in 2003.

Gomez covered more than 25 World Series more than 20 All-Star games and, according to ESPN, counted the Florida Marlins’ stunning win over the Chicago Cubs in Game 6 of the National League Championship Series as his favorite event. He was also at the forefront of ESPN’s coverage of Barry Bonds’ chase to pass Hank Aaron’s all-time home run record.

During a trip to Cuba to cover a visit by the Tampa Bay Rays in 2016, Gomez spoke of the deep connection he has to a country from which his parents came. In an interview with anchor Scott Van Pelt, Gomez spoke of losing not only his brother but his father, who left Cuba in 1962 and vowed never to return as long as the Castro regime remained in power. Gomez said in the interview he had been holding onto their ashes for more than 10 years before he sprinkled them in Cuba during the trip.

Breaking down, Gomez said the experience was emotional because he knew it was his father and brother’s wishes to have it done. “It is homeland in many ways even though I’m very American – don’t get me wrong,” Gomez said during the interview. “But a big part of me is obviously Cuban and to be able to come here…has always meant so much to me because there is a big piece of me that is here always.”

"We are shocked and saddened to learn that our friend and colleague Pedro Gomez has passed away," Jimmy Pitaro, chairman of ESPN and sports content said in a statement issued by the network Sunday night. "Pedro was an elite journalist at the highest level and his professional accomplishments are universally recognized. More importantly, Pedro was a kind, dear friend to us all.”

But as widely recognized as Gomez was for his reporting ability colleagues and others remembered him Sunday night for his humanity.

“His humanity is extolled; his fatherhood; his kindness,” former SportsCenter anchor Keith Olbermann wrote on Twitter. “But what captures him most is the dozens of us who have written the same thing: he treated me as if I were his best friend. What more could one hope to be?”