Baseball community has rallied behind Sox prospect, son of late ESPN broadcaster Pedro Gomez

Jul. 25—PORTLAND, Maine. — There have been times in Rio Gomez's baseball journey where he's felt isolated and alone, and the only person who had his back was his dad.

Pedro Gomez, the longtime ESPN baseball reporter, helped support his son after he was cut from his high school baseball team as a senior, seemingly ending his playing career.

He was there when Rio kept the dream alive by walking on to the Mesa Community College baseball team and subsequently earned a Division 1 opportunity at the University of Arizona.

He was there when Rio was drafted by the Boston Red Sox in 2017, and for all the subsequent highs and lows that come with professional baseball.

When the elder Gomez died unexpectedly of cardiac arrest at age 58 this past February, the news sent shockwaves throughout the larger baseball community, but few were affected like Rio. The 26-year-old pitcher, now with the Portland Sea Dogs, suddenly had to contend with life without his biggest supporter, his mentor, and his baseball rock.

But as devastating as the loss was, Rio quickly understood that he wasn't alone.

Waves of support

Throughout his 35-year career covering baseball Pedro Gomez developed connections across the baseball world. He was close with players, coaches, executives and media members nationwide, and when news broke of his death many reached out to Rio expressing their condolences.

"Within the first 24 hours I received a text from Chris Sale, a really long and heartfelt text, and that was really incredible because I'd never met Chris Sale personally before then," Gomez said before Tuesday's game against the Harrisburg Senators.

"It's one of those where you think these guys don't even know who I am just because I'm in the system, so last spring training I saw him down in Fort Myers and I went up and introduced myself and we've been close since."

Sale wasn't the only one. Gomez said he also heard from Nathan Eovaldi, San Diego Padres pitcher Mike Clevinger and numerous other players and broadcasters who offered encouragement.

"I wasn't expecting any of that," he said. "It was very cool and a very nice feeling to have them share their love and feel how they felt about him too."

The support meant a lot, especially once the season began and Gomez faced the challenge of adjusting to Double-A baseball without the help of his father.

"It was really tough, I know during Father's Day was one of the moments where it really hit him," said Portland Sea Dogs manager Corey Wimberly. "We've just tried to be there for him, he's our brother and we love him and we're just trying to be there for whatever he needs."

Having never previously played above high Single-A, Gomez was called up to the Sea Dogs in early May and initially had a rocky start. He allowed runs in five of his first six appearances with Portland, including three games with three-plus runs, but since June 20 he's emerged as one of Portland's top relievers, allowing only one run in his last nine games heading into Sunday.

Most recently, Gomez pitched four innings of scoreless relief on Friday, allowing just three hits with six strikeouts. Overall he's pitched 22.1 innings in 15 appearances with a 5.64 ERA, 32 strikeouts and six walks with the Sea Dogs.

In his own words

Since Pedro Gomez's death, tributes have come pouring in from those who knew him, and earlier this month Rio offered one of his own, penning a heartfelt essay about his father that was published by The Boston Globe and ESPN. The piece is also among those included in the newly released book "Remember Who You Are," a collection of 62 essays paying tribute to the longtime baseball broadcaster.

In his essay, Rio recounted how his father was often loud and unafraid to voice his opinion. How he always seemed to know exactly what Rio needed to hear, whether he wanted to hear it or not. Most important, how his father was always there to help him through adversity, especially during the times where nobody, "not even another friend, or another teammate," believed in him.

"So many times, my dad was there to talk me off the ledge and to keep me pushing," Gomez wrote. "He'd always tell me that the path to success is a lonely road, and he was right."

Gomez said his essay, and the book, have prompted almost a second wave of encouragement and positive outreach over the past week.

"The biggest thing for me was I didn't realize how far my dad's reach went," Gomez said.

These past few months haven't been easy, but even without his father there by his side, Gomez has found comfort in knowing that he's not alone. Where he once felt like not even his teammates had his back, he now has the entire baseball community behind him.

"That narrative has definitely changed since then," he said. "A lot of those times were more when I was younger, in high school and junior college, but since then the dominos have been falling and you start to feel that support around you."

Email: mcerullo@northofboston.com. Twitter: @MacCerullo. For more information on "Remember Who You Are" visit https://www.thegomezrules.com.

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Learning from the best

Since they first connected following Pedro Gomez's death in February, Rio Gomez and Red Sox ace Chris Sale have developed a bond, and recently Gomez has been able to learn from the big league star up close as Sale has rehabbed in Portland ahead of his upcoming return from Tommy John surgery.

"It's been great, he's the most down to earth big leaguer I've ever come across. He just keeps it simple, treats everyone like a person and he's not more than anyone else or better than anyone else, he sees everyone as this human to human level, and it's been great," Gomez said. "Especially now that we have a little bit of a connection that I've met him beforehand, we've been able to build off of that. He's here these last couple of days, he was here a couple of weeks back rehabbing and throwing, so we've been able to hang out and talk and things like that."