Jonny Gomes gets it. He just gets it.
While he may not be the most talented baseball player to step foot on a baseball field — he’s far from the most talented left fielder to grace left at Fenway Park even — he knows how to win. Every team he’s been on has been a contender, and the latest team he was on, the 2013 Red Sox, won the World Series on Wednesday night.
Gomes was an integral part of the club, not only because of what he did on the field but what he brought to the clubhouse as well. In a clubhouse that was borderline toxic during 2012, Gomes was one of the biggest reasons for the incredible turnaround. Shortly after the Sox clinched the World Series, Gomes talked about that.
“Character and chemistry is where it starts, but at the end, it’s good ballplayers,” he told NESN’s Jenny Dell moments after the win. “We couldn’t have won too many ballgames with just chemistry. I’m definitely a firm believer [in those], but you have to be a good ballplayer too.”
Adding to that, of course, was the fact that the Red Sox appeared to be playing for than themselves. They embraced the idea of “Boston Strong” in the days, weeks and months following the Boston Marathon tragedy, and Gomes was one of those who bought in the most.
“I don’t think the win-loss record sums up how we care about this city and what we rallied around. don’t think we put Boston on our back,” Gomes added. “I think we jumped on their back. They wouldn’t let us quit.
“This World Series isn’t icing on the cake, I just think it turned into a lifestyle.”
