Catching Heat with Major League Catcher Yan Gomes
On today’s episode, Sandra and Sandy are joined by professional baseball catcher Yan Gomes of the Chicago Cubs. Yan is one of the best in the game, having spent ten years of his thirteen-year career in the major leagues, including as a world champion with the Washington Nationals in 2019. He kicks off the episode by sharing his journey from growing up in Brazil with a family of athletes to finding his feet in the US through baseball and finally heading to the University of Tennessee before becoming a pro and playing all around the country. Sandra then asks about life behind the plate and the risk inherent in catching, and Yan shares that he loves that risk because it makes him feel involved in the game no matter what. He thinks physical collisions are all part of the job and isn’t a huge fan of rule changes that try to eliminate them.
Of course, it’s not just physical risk that catchers endure, and Yan next discusses the mental processing he does during a game in his role as real-time game manager and leader of the infield. In particular, he talks about the relationship between pitcher and catcher, the differences when dealing with rookies and veterans, and the importance of accepting compromise instead of bullishly insisting on your way. The conversation then shifts to Yan’s time on the World Series-winning Washington Nationals team, and he gives some insight into how they recovered from a pretty miserable record by changing their mentality and learning to have fun while playing. Yan also shares how it felt when he caught the last pitch of the series, securing the win, and the memories that still give him goosebumps to this day. And, to round off the episode, Yan gives his opinion on umpires, his contributions as a hitter, and the routines (not superstitions!) he follows before a game.
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Transcript:
Dr. Sandra Magnus: It lies somewhere between the pit of your stomach, your racing heart, and your brain, somehow trying to keep it all together. It's an area we call The Adrenaline Zone.
I'm retired astronaut Dr. Sandra Magnus.
Sandy Winnefeld: And I'm retired Navy fighter pilot, Admiral Sandy Winnefeld. We're two adrenaline junkies who love spending time with people who are really passionate about pushing their boundaries as far as possible.
I dare you, just try getting down into a squat position and catching a 99-mile-per-hour fastball, or a biting slider that's only 90 miles per hour, but moves two feet at the last second.
Dr. Sandra Magnus: That's what Yan Gomes has done for 13 years as a professional baseball catcher, including 10 years in the major leagues. It's a hot, tired, and dirty game, and Yan is one of the best in the game-
Sandy Winnefeld: -Including as a world champion with the Washington Nationals, in 2019. He now plays for the Chicago Cubs.
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Dr. Sandra Magnus: We caught up with Yan just after the 2022 regular season, and in the middle of the Fall Classic.
Sandy Winnefeld: Yan Gomes, welcome to The Adrenaline Zone. It's really cool to have you on the show, especially as the Fall Classic is just getting underway.
Yan Gomes: Well, thank you, guys. I'm really excited to be here to get to chat with you guys.
Dr. Sandra Magnus: Awesome. You know, Yan, we always like to start with how the guests got started, and how that led to what you're doing now. And so, there are a ton of major league players who began their careers outside the States, especially in Latin America, but it's unusual to find one born in Brazil. So, how did you get from there to professional baseball?
Yan Gomes: So, I grew up in a house full of sports. My parents were both athletes; my mom was a swimmer, my dad was a tennis coach. He ran a couple of tennis programs in Brazil, and it just happened that one of the guys that he was giving lessons to was starting a baseball program, or had a baseball program in a city. We were growing up, and one day, I think my older brother was nine, I was six, and he's like, "Hey, why don't you bring the kids out there, see if they enjoy the game?"
So, we both took a trip out there, the first thing I remember-- I mean, we played stickball in our neighborhood, you know, just almost like a cricket, so we kind of had an idea how to swing, but did not know which way we were supposed to run. We did not know it was a turn-left diamond sort of deal, but I still remember to this day, I would struggle to know which way to run. So, I would hit a ball and like run straight to third base, and then they were like-- you know, I was that kid that you kind of just want to take videos of-
Sandy Winnefeld: -the shortcut.
Yan Gomes: -exactly.
Sandy Winnefeld: You know, they say some people are born on third base, but it sounded like you had to kind of figure out how to get there the regular way.
Yan Gomes: Yeah, I was trying to get straight there, and apparently, you have to go through first, second, before you get the third.
Dr. Sandra Magnus: Go figure.
Sandy Winnefeld: So, how did you get to the States? How did you get up here?
Yan Gomes: A short answer is, really the American dream. A longer answer; so, my parents went to school here, my mom went to school at A&M, she swam at Texas A&M. When she went back home, her older brother stayed here and wanted to start a swimming program. They started a special needs swimming program, and as we were growing up, we would take trips here, and my mom was asked if she would join my uncle in that program. She was asked, I think sometime in June, we were up and running in August, and next thing you know, I'm in fifth grade here in the US. We moved to Miami at the time.
Sandy Winnefeld: You know, when I think of baseball catchers, I think of people like me who like, sink to the bottom of the pool immediately. You know, kind of really muscular guys. Are you a good swimmer?
Yan Gomes: Yeah. I grew up swimming, I grew up competing since I was young. I tried every sport, the only sport that maybe I never played in an actual rec set, or something like that was basketball. But I love sports in general, it's what brings our families together. But yeah, I grew up swimming, I grew up playing tennis. And somehow, you combine those two, and you get a baseball player.
Dr. Sandra Magnus: So, was it hard adjusting as a fifth grader coming into the states, or did you have some English already?
Yan Gomes: Oh, no, no. It was extremely hard, there was a lot of struggles. I mean, I know now, because I have two young kids, that teenage years or early teenage years kids could be kind of mean. You know, they don't understand these things that they're either making fun of each other, or which it comes with it. I mean, you're young, and you're just trying to learn what your role is in this world-- and there's a story that I actually ran away from school one day, and I just wasn't adjusting very well. But then, to kind of loop back around, sports brought us all back together - I had a really good friend of mine that we played baseball with, and they started noticing that I could play baseball, and that's how I adjusted better and started making friends.
Sandy Winnefeld: I would imagine by the time you were a senior in high school, you were probably a pretty accomplished baseball player, and had kind of built a rep there.
Yan Gomes: Yeah. I went to a high school that was mainly all sports. Again, I tried different sports; so, I was trying to play football, I was playing soccer, I tried wrestling. Like, I just enjoyed being around, and staying at school, and just trying different sports. And it wasn't really until my junior year where I started getting a little bit more of attention. I still didn't know anything about the professional world though.
Sandy Winnefeld: Did you go to play baseball in college, or did you go straight into the pros?
Yan Gomes: I went to University of Tennessee, that's actually how I met my wife, and really why we live here.
Sandy Winnefeld: Very cool. I'll have to tell Peyton Manning, who I'm in a conversation with that I talked to you because he probably knows you as a Tennessee athlete.
Yan Gomes: Oh, I hope so.
Sandy Winnefeld: You know, like a lot of players, you've played for a number of organizations, right? It's like you move around all over the place in the major leagues. I think it's at least 6 teams; like the Blue Jays, Cleveland, Nationals, Athletics, and now the Cubs. How does that life feel? I mean, you can pack up all your stuff and move to another team with another culture? Is it just a natural act, or is it like hard every time?
Yan Gomes: It's really hard that first week. So, I was very fortunate-- I was drafted by Toronto, played there from '09 to '12, and then I was traded to Cleveland, and I was in Cleveland from 2012 to 2018. So, I had a long time with one team. But I just remember that transition, it was a lot of young guys on the team, so we all kind of just walked into a school together. It was like we were all new to the team. But then, I remember, and I took this upon me when I started going to different teams where, how it felt for other guys when they came to the team. You know, we were like little elementary kids; we were all kind of like judging each other and sizing each other up, and if that guy is too comfortable, we were like, "Oh no, we don't like this guy."
So, I tried to take little bits and pieces of what it meant to join a team, and how I was going to be received, and just to make sure that they knew like, "Hey man, I'm just here to win ball games. Just let me know what I need to do." And then, you know, your personality could come out when you start feeling guys out.
Sandy Winnefeld: As you got older, did you find, you know, sort of assume leadership role as a veteran? What side of that were you on? Was it sort of taking the new kid, "Hey, you know, you're in a good team here, we're going to take care of you?" Or is it like, "Hey dude, you got to prove yourself?" Or a little bit of both?
Yan Gomes: Definitely a little bit of both. Whenever we signed a new guy, I had this thing with our travel secretary, or whoever it was at the time, to send me their number. You know, I wanted to welcome them on to the team. I felt like whenever somebody did that to me when I went to Cleveland, it felt great. I'm like, "Man, I'm accepted here." Like, "These guys know who I am, and they want me here." And that's how I wanted them to feel. I want guys to feel comfortable, but then when we show up to spring training, that's where we start, you know, getting on each other. Like, "Hey, this is the culture we're trying to build here. This is how we're going to do things, and, you know, you do things the right way, it's going to be a great year, you do things the wrong way, we're going to have to put you in your place - in a good way, not in a bad way.”
Sandy Winnefeld: And the inmates kind of run the asylum, to a certain extent in baseball, I think, more than any other sport, where, you know, it's not like you're getting pep talks every day from the coaches. You're kind of supporting each other.
Yan Gomes: Yeah, definitely not anymore. Not at the professional level anymore.
Dr. Sandra Magnus: Yeah. So, let's talk a little bit about life behind the plate. You know, this is a podcast about people who take risks, and clearly, of all the people on the baseball field, the catcher has the most physical risks, because you have 99 mph-fastballs, you've got foul tips, you've got bats swinging in your vicinity. So, how do you manage all of that?
Yan Gomes: So, I actually came up as a super utility guy, and I just always felt like there could be a whole game where I wasn't even a part of the game. Like, I'd be hiding out in left field, or hiding out at third base, sometimes like a kid.. So, catching to me, was always like, "Man, like no matter what, I'm always involved. No matter what, I could show the bruises that I got in today's game." You know, the whole thing, like “Chicks dig scars”, I was like, "Man, I got them all." And I've always taken pride in that, I try not to show too much pain, just because, you know, as a catcher, going with the asking about leadership, we need to be present at all times. And I know there's going to be some times where you get a foul tip-- you know, my thing is like, if you ever see me take a foul tip before-- you know, unless it really took the wind out of me, I'll be like, "Hey, let's just keep going." it's going to hurt anyways, you might as well just keep it going.
Sandy Winnefeld: Meanwhile, the umpire is dusting off the plate trying to give you a couple of minutes to get your stuff together, and all that. I mean, you guys take some serious hits.
Yan Gomes: Exactly. I'm like, "Hey, let's just keep going." My thing is, just keep going. Like, it's going to hurt, you know, I don't want to sit here and have a trainer come out, I feel like that's one of the more embarrassing things.
Sandy Winnefeld: Well, Sandra mentioned she was a catcher when she was a young girl. And I caught in, you know, little leagues, and Pony leagues, and all that kind of stuff. I was never all that great, but-
Dr. Sandra Magnus: -Yeah, me neither.
Sandy Winnefeld: -I just remember how physically demanding it was. And my, you know, 18-year-old knees were suffering, your knees must be, you know, a chocolate mess. So, how about the endurance? You know, according to: www.baseball-reference.com, did a little research here, you're catching a pitch about 146 times per game, and that doesn't even include warmup pitches and all that. I have a hard time doing 46 squats, much less, you know, 146. And in the middle of the season, you're doing it in really hot and humid weather, that has to add to the risk. How do you take that kind of physical beating? Not just the impact of a fastball or something, but just the daily grind. How do you manage that?
Yan Gomes: To me, it kind of goes with just preparation. You know, this is why I start training earlier than most people, I want my body to stay in shape. I never feel good when I take a day off, just because my body will stiffen up really quickly. But from a catching standpoint, I actually feel more comfortable sitting in a squatted position-- there are times I'll be watching my kids play soccer or something like that, and I'll just be like sitting in a squatted position, and guys are like, "What are you doing, man? Like, aren't you tired doing this?"
Sandy Winnefeld: It’s my office.
Dr. Sandra Magnus: It’s my job.
Yan Gomes: My body just fits better that way. But I take a lot of pride in going into a season as healthy as I can, or just with the preparation that I put into the off-season.
And then as you grow, as a player, and really, no matter what position you play, you'll start to find those things that get you right, you find those things that your body responds well to. For me, it's always-- you know, I love riding bikes or, or we got a cold tub and stuff like that, and I enjoy all of that stuff, just because it helps my body throughout the day.
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Dr. Sandra Magnus: The other physical aspect of being a catcher, of course, is when people are heading to home plate, they're very determined to cross it. And the rules have evolved to protect you a little, you know, as a catcher, from people sliding into home, but there's still some risk there, and I guess there's some other rule changes that baseball has implemented to keep you guys safe. What do you think of how that's all evolving?
Yan Gomes: The rule changes, I've never been a huge fan of them, I'll be honest with you. I always thought that that came with part of the job of, you know, the collisions and stuff like that, that was always, again, another notch on your belt. Like, "Look, man, I took a big hit and look, I'm still in the game," kind of thing. But I understand, you know, whenever you're maybe paying a catcher-- because I think it started going when the Buster Posey collision happened. You know, you're paying a guy a ton of money, and an unfortunate collision happens, maybe we can figure out a way to avoid it. There are ways that the rules have changed that it almost kind of stays the same. As a catcher, you’ve just got to give them a lane to slide in, you know, don't stand in front of it, because then they're just going to go straight through you. But as catchers, we still play a little bit of a game of blocking the plate.
Sandy Winnefeld: I'm sure that when the shoe was on the other foot, and you were, you know, tagging up from third base and heading towards the catcher, there was no slack. It was like, "Dude, I'm coming after you, just like I know you'd come after me the same way-”
Yan Gomes: -exactly.
Sandy Winnefeld: So, you also take a lot of non-physical risk as a catcher, right? I'm sure you're getting plenty of guidance from the dugout, lots of signals and such, but, you know, you really are the real time game manager - the leader of the infield. What are the kinds of things you're managing out there, and how can that go right for you, and go wrong for you behind the plate? You're not just a dude sitting there catching fastballs. You got a lot of mental things going on as well.
Yan Gomes: Well, just the simple things would be, you know, game calling. You have to be really prepared, and what pitches to call, and what a hitter's weakness is, and strength, you’ve got to try to stay away from it, and at the same time, being able to have trust in your pitcher that you're calling the right pitches. I've taken, you know, sometimes the role of trying to like put guys in positions where I want them to be. You know, you said the right and wrong calls; I don't think of it that way, because I have enough confidence that what I was trying to put down was the best pitch at the right time. If it works out, it works out. If it doesn't, you know, we're all professionals in this game, and we’ve got to tip our caps sometimes. And I don't view it in the way of right and wrong, you know, I'm trying to get us through a game as quickly as I can.
Dr. Sandra Magnus: But you still have to deal, I imagine, with experienced pitchers differently than rookies, as far as how you're managing the game, or is that really not a big deal? Or does it change during the season?
Yan Gomes: That's a great question. There's different ways of approaching a rookie, and a veteran. A veteran, you know, the conversations that we have, they're more experienced, so they’ve faced different guys, and they know that from the time they faced Sandy, like, “Sure he doesn't hit sliders well, but man, Sandy has taken me deep two or three times on my sliders, so let's stay away from that.” So, you kind of start adding those kind of things into your game plan. It doesn't mean stay away from throwing a certain pitch, but that game planning is a lot different than it is with a rookie. A rookie, it's mainly like, "Hey, here's what I got. I got a power fastball. I got a power slider, and a really good change up, let's see what happens." And those for me, are a lot easier in a sense the guys with no experience because that lets me control the game plan. It's my game plan in my head, I enjoy that chess match with hitters. You know, I'm calling pitches based on something that I'm going to try to call later, like in the fifth, or sixth, or seventh inning, you know, their third time around. So, I enjoy that. Not to say I don't enjoy it with the veterans, but that game plan is way more of sometimes a shout match in the middle of the dugout to try to figure out where we're going with the game plan.
Sandy Winnefeld: Have you ever felt a little bit like Kevin Costner's character, Crash Davis, in Bull Durham?
Yan Gomes: There's been certain times where I'm like, "You know what, dude? Just throw whatever you want." And then, you know, you get him in the dugout, and you're like, "Hey, if you listen to me, dude, we'll figure this out." Like, I'm not a catcher that, you know, it's my game plan or nothing, I try to compromise. But if you're going to sit there and shake me off on the mound because you want to throw this one pitch that everyone knows you're going to throw, then we've got to figure out a better way to approach it.
Sandy Winnefeld: Yeah. Use your head. So, baseball is not necessarily a fast game for the fans, at least, I know there's times when it's really fast for you, but it's a really complex game. There's a lot going on that a lot of fans don't really understand. Can you think of one thing you wish the fans would understand about the game that they probably don't?
Yan Gomes: Yes, there are a lot of wasted time. There's the extra seconds in between pitches and blah, blah, blah. But this game now has evolved so much that sometimes that step back, that a hitter takes that it maybe will take an extra five seconds, or 10 seconds, that is them showing exactly what they're being taught to do at a young age from the mental side of the game. You know, "Hey, take a step back, take a breather, and slow the game down." Because I mean, you look at the game now, and you look at the game 5, 10 years ago, the average fastball now is like 95, 96, 95 miles an hour. You know, the game is speeding up on its own. So, there are times where guys will take their time to slow the game down, and there are being rules implemented to not slow the game down. So, I think we're just going to have to speed up the mental side of the game now when, you know, you're being taught to maybe gather your mental thoughts quicker.
Dr. Sandra Magnus: Switching gears a little bit, you were on the Washington Nationals team that won the World Series in 2019 after the team came back strong, you know, with a kind of a miserable record in May, and there was some real chemistry in the team that made that happen, right? What would you attribute that to?
Yan Gomes: I'll give you kind of an inside story. So, we were 19 and 31, our first 50 games. At the time, we had the same record as-- I think it was like the Tigers, the Orioles. It was like another team that lost, ended up losing 100 games that year. There was a time I think we lost a series where-- you know, our team, it was a really good team. We had a bunch of high hopes coming in, and there was a meeting that happened in our clubhouse, it was not sugar-coated in any way; so, I'll try to like PG-13 this. It was really like, "Hey, we get it. We all suck. If you guys don't get it together; 1. Everyone is going to be fired. So, all these guys that we're looking at, these coaching staff that we love, you know, Davey Martinez, Bogar, Kevin Long, our hitting coaches, our pitching coaches, we love them all. They're all going to be fired because we stink right now." 2. Everyone is going to be traded to-- none of this history that we thought we were going to have together-- because we were coming off of like a really fun spring training, we were having a really good time. So, it was a very weird thing, and that's when the conversations around our clubhouse started feeling like, "Man, we really really love each other.Like, there's a really special thing here.” You know, guys are saying this like, “Let's not let this pass by,” and then that's where the motto, “Go 1 and 0 today” started. And then, as that trended, started going, we had some tremendous guys in our clubhouse. I think that World Series was the two oldest teams in the league. I think we were either the oldest, I mean, per average age on our team. Even though we had one of the oldest guys in the league, and then we had the youngest guy in the league, in Juan Soto. But it taught us to really just go 1 and 0, worry about what's in front of us right now - what's tomorrow, it's going to come. And that really changed our mindset, and we truly started having a lot more fun, started really truly playing for each other. And that's the recipe for a winning ball club, really.
Dr. Sandra Magnus: You think that change in attitude kind of took the overall stress off of, you could just focus, you know, focusing on just the one thing in front of you kind of gives you a different mental/stress level.
Yan Gomes: Exactly. So, going into it, there was a lot of very high paid players, guys with a lot of potential. And possibly, they felt like that pressure was on them. You know, we had Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg, Pat Corbin-- like we had Anibal Sanchez, we had a very deep starting rotation. I mean, I think Max was having a pretty good year, but none of us were reaching our potential. So, when that conversation happened, it just took the focus from one player, and just focused to the team. I'd say, you know, “Put your numbers aside, if we ended up winning, everyone is going to have a good year, I promise you.” So, then, that just started like, implementing it one another, and we started-- truly, I'm sure Sandy, if you got to watch a lot of those games, our dugout was a mess. Like, it was the most fun I've ever had in our dugout. Like, anytime you got in, like you hit a home run-
Sandy Winnefeld: -And we had ‘Baby Shark’, we had the whole thing going on. As a fan, it was really something to behold, you know, I’ve still got my Finish the Fight t-shirt and all. We just kept believing in this team, and it was remarkable to watch it come back. And as we were talking before we started recording, it looks like in the Phillies dugout, maybe not as powerful in the Phillies dugout, you know, just looking at how they handle a home run, for example, versus how you all did, but pretty amazing to watch.
Now, you were behind the dish for some really good pitching during that series, among other members of the Nationals pitching staff, you had Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg, who was obviously, the MVP of the series. They seemed like very different people. You know, Max is like growling out there on the mound, he's stalcking around and all that kind of stuff, and Steve is a little more controlled and cerebral, but they're both awesome. So, can you compare the personalities and how that translates into getting hitters out?
Yan Gomes: Yeah. You kind of hit the nail on the head - you're dealing with Max, you're dealing with a guy that is-- you just have to try to match his intensity, you have to come out of your shell, and you're barking at a barking dog, is what's happening. You know, he's getting you, you're yelling right back at him.
But with both, their preparation kind of goes with what we were talking about, the young, the rookie, and the veteran. Their preparation was above and beyond the best things that I've ever seen, which goes to show you why there are elite pitchers. Max was very detailed in exactly what he wanted to do. His meetings were very detailed. We really got, you know, from pitch one to pitch whatever-- Like, I had to remember this. I wish I had this kind of memory when I was in school, I think I would've been a better student. But for me, Stephen, in baseball terms, he's nastier. His pitches look different, his curveball is one of the best curveballs in the game, his changeup is one of the best changeups in the game, you just have to figure out how to manipulate those pitches. And Stephen is very methodical - he needs to feel the right way, you need to sequence things the right way with him, even though I could just throw a number down, it's going to be nasty, and who cares? And no one is going to hit it anyway.
But Max, on the other hand, had the intimidation factor as you're facing him. You know, you're looking at him, and he's got two different colored eyes, and he's drooling at the mouth, and I'm sure you've seen plenty of videos, he's, you know, cursing up a storm on the mound, and that's-- and then, I've gotten to face Max when he was in Detroit for a while, and I remember I just faced him this year, and I was like, "Don't stare at him. Don't look at him. I know what he is going to be doing, don't look at him." And-
Sandy Winnefeld: -he's looking right back. Yeah.
Yan Gomes: - you know, he's like lasering in on you.
Dr. Sandra Magnus: I have to ask, you know, you caught the last pitch of the 2019 World Series when Daniel Hudson struck out Michael Brantley of the Astros. How did that feel knowing that it was over, and you won, and that's like the ultimate that you can do in your sport?
Yan Gomes: So, throughout the whole playoffs, every game, like we did not make things easier for ourselves. You know, that whole season, really, I think we had five different elimination games that we had to overcome. So, there goes the stay in the fight motto, the go 1 and 0, and then our celebrations in between those were like, "We cannot believe we're doing this." You know, it was the first time the Nationals had advanced to the NLDS, and then the NLCS, then the next thing you know, you're like, "Oh my goodness, we're in the World Series." You know, we're all still having a good time-- and a funny story, as that game is going on, there's a lot of big moments in that game, you know, Howie Kendrick's home run-
Sandy Winnefeld: - Off the foul pole?
Yan Gomes: -off the foul pole. I mean-
Sandy Winnefeld: -It was dead silent in that stadium, and you could hear it dong against the foul pole. It was amazing.
Yan Gomes: -yeah. And I'm sitting in the dugout-- because I think we went up one or two runs and then we ended up piling in a couple of more runs. And I just remember sitting in the dugout, kind of like, we just celebrated, I’m like kind of in a daze, I'm like, "Oh my goodness, I’ve got to finish this game now. Like, this is it.”I'm like, I'm grabbing all my notes, and I'm like, “We’ve got to finish this though." And then, it's the ninth inning. You know, why not? We get the heart of their lineup. Like, why wouldn't it finish it this way? Daniel Hudson, who was an unbelievable part of our team that year, we're like, "We just got to keep going, throw a strike, pitch one, strike one-- and as it's going, so now we have two outs. You know, we just struck out, Jose Altuve, I remember the umpire comes like right next to me, right in my ear, and he's like, "You got this man. You guys are going to do it." And I literally remember this, and I turned around, and I'm like, "Just shut up and sit down. Just call the pitches."
Sandy Winnefeld: I love it. That's weird.
Dr. Sandra Magnus: It's like, "Dude, don't distract me."
Yan Gomes: Yeah. It was an unbelievable moment. I mean, I could go even deeper, deeper into the parts of the games that-- because like you said, these games, it all reverts back to what you've worked for, why you do what you do, now you're in the biggest stage., Your adrenaline is pumping out of the roof. But the preparation that we put in is really hard to explain how we were all able, I know myself, to think clearly. It was a very interesting moment, which has kind of changed the way I view the game, and see the game from that moment on. And I ended up putting the ball in my pocket, the next thing you know, we're jumping up and down, and it was just like-- the wrong thing to say is that the celebration was less, because it was nowhere near less, but it was just a different type of celebration. Now we're looking at each other and like, "You're a World Series champion. You're a World Series champion." So, it was a moment where-- you know, we had a guy like Ryan Zimmerman, who has been with the Nationals for as long as the Nationals have been there-
Sandy Winnefeld: -He was a rookie.
Yan Gomes: - exactly. And watching the look in his eyes when he's like, "I can't believe it." Like, we've done it, you know, we're all grown men, and we're all in tears. It even gives me goosebumps to even think about it because I remember those moments like it was yesterday.
Dr. Sandra Magnus: So, did you get to keep the ball that you put in your pocket?
Yan Gomes: I think Sandy knows that answer. I do have it, yes.
Dr. Sandra Magnus: Awesome.
Yan Gomes: I do have that ball-
Sandy Winnefeld: -And it's not for sale.
Yan Gomes: No, it's not.
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Sandy Winnefeld: So, you mentioned umpires a minute ago. You interact with an umpire in a couple of ways, right? Both as a catcher and a hitter. I have to ask, you know, what do you say when you walk out with your gear on, right after an ump punched you out on a strike call that you did not agree with? Of course, I'm sure that many of them you didn't agree with, but how does that feel? Like you just move on with the next deal, right?
Yan Gomes: Yes. I somewhat mastered the short-term memory. The way I've tried to like go about this game, every year, it's changed, and I treat umpires like they're humans, as they are. You know, it's almost like treating our bullpen and our starters. Everybody is different, so, you kind of have to- to have a conversation with somebody, you need to understand who they are. You know, I can't just talk to you Sandy the same way I'm going to talk to Sandra. Those kind of things have to-- you know, you have to learn who they are-- and I have been fortunate enough to play this game for a while, and there are some umpires where if they ring you up on a bad call, you can't go over there and talk to them about it, because they take it the wrong way. The same way as somebody rings me up and I'll step back there, and I'll just look at them, and be like, "Dude, what the heck? What is it?" But I feel like I've formed a relationship just based on, you know, treating them like humans. You know, they're going to make mistakes, they're trying to do their best, there are times where, me as a catcher, I will lend a hand. I will be like, "Hey man, those pitches are"-- like, I've taken a look at them-- I try to like really help them out. And then, I'm not trying to like BS them, because they get to look at their own videos, and there's some pitches like if I'm catching, you know, I'll take a look at it, and be like, "Hey, I think that's a strike. I can give you a better look if I move a certain way." And you just try to help them out. Umpires appreciate that, because you are trying to get them to not only be good for you and your pitcher, but really for the rest of your team.
Sandy Winnefeld: And you also kind of move your mitt a little bit sometimes, to try to influence the call, but that's a different art.
Yan Gomes: No, absolutely. And you can't sneak anything by umpires anymore. So, as much as you're trying to make balls look good, you just try to make strikes look strikes, and, you know, those close ones, look like strikes as well.
Sandy Winnefeld: So, let's talk about hitting. Let's say if you fail only seven out of 10 times in your entire career, you might end up in the Hall of Fame, right? So, how about the risks you take as a batter? You know, you see it as a catcher, but I can't imagine what it must be like to hang in there with a, you know, Stephen Strasburg curveball coming at you, or a Major League fastball thrown inside, you know, chin music. You're standing up there with this object being basically thrown at you. How does that feel? There's risk there too.
Yan Gomes: Yeah. No, absolutely. I think there's risk every day when you step on the field, whether you're playing-- like we already talked about catching, when you're playing defense, especially now like you're hitting, you're supposed to protect yourself with a bat and then you have a tiny little helmet on, and that's it. And guys, like I said, are throwing harder and harder every day. But I think as the game evolves, the beauty of baseball and baseball players is that we evolve as well. I can tell you when I first came up, there was no chance I could hit 100 miles an hour. Now, you're seeing it every day, so 100 miles an hour, it's still really fast, but we've been able to slow the game down, and been able to slow down 100 miles an hour. The seven out of 10 times, I mean, as long as you're putting up good at bats, you're doing your thing for your team-- me, as a catcher, I was taught at an early age when I was in Cleveland from Tito, from Terry Francona, that your job is to lead a team, your job is to control the running game - control the game, be a good game manager, if you get extra hits, that's an extra for us. So, just do your thing. And I've really taken that to heart - not to give myself an excuse for being an average hitter, or maybe below average hitter, but it's definitely taken a little bit of the pressure from being, you know, "Oh no, I’ve got to get this done. I’ve got to get this done."
Dr. Sandra Magnus: So, how much do you think being behind the plate helps you with the hitter side? Do you think that helps at all or not? Because you kind of know the psychology of it all, being a catcher, right?
Yan Gomes: That's a very frequently asked question. So, actually, it can help you, and it can hurt you, because at the same time, you're taking guesses. You're taking guesses of what they're going to throw. But then a lot of times, I do feel a trend of where the game is going, and I'm like, "All right, he's going to have to show me a certain pitch at some point." And I will take advantage of that, jump on a pitch, and understand that like, "Okay, he's got to throw a strike here, so let me be more aggressive." But then, there's at the same time where I'm trying to call a game against myself to get myself out.
Sandy Winnefeld: That's what that five seconds is for. When you back out of the batter’s box-
Dr. Sandra Magnus: Over analyzing is bad.
Yan Gomes: Exactly. So, for me, it's always been, "Just do what you do, just put the game in autopilot. You've done all the work that you've done before the game." Don't try to switch something with your hitting because you can't do that stuff during the game. There are guys that are able to, I'm not able to. As long as my mind is clear, I'm on time to hit the ball, I think there's a good chance of at least to be putting the ball in play.
Sandy Winnefeld: So, Yan, there's a lot of crazy superstitions and weird practices in baseball. You watch some of these guys walk up to the plate, and they're doing some kind of jig and it's exactly the same every time they get to the plate. So, we like to ask our guests, and I think asking a baseball player, this is like the best person to ask this question. And that is: do you have any sort of pre-game rituals you go through, or pre-batters box rituals or anything that you do, you know, as part of your approach to the game?
Yan Gomes: It's not a superstition as much as it is a routine. I don't want to say, I hate the word superstition, because, how many times there's a rain out during a game and you know, some of those things don't happen. So, if you can't put those, you're out of luck. Like, you have to create routines, and I definitely have a routine. I come up to the plate, I like to measure myself out. I try -- but again, we're trying to make it quicker. I try to measure myself out, and then draw a line because I want my stride to be straight. It's not to say that if I don't draw that line-- because there's a lot of times where I draw the line, my cleats move it, and they're all crooked. So, for a pre-game thing, I'm a very early guy. I like to make sure that I have everything done very early. So, yes, I will take a second and be really frustrated if something goes on and I'm like in a rush. As a catcher, so, from a seven o'clock game, I'm getting ready, you know, 5:30 to go out and warm up a pitcher. I have to get out there earlier than most guys, early as a pitcher. So, I have to make sure that I have everything set, and I do like to take my time, whether I go and sit out in the bullpen, you know, just take a second to just absorb what's happening, thank God again for every opportunity that I've gotten in this game, and just clear my head, and get ready for another game.
Sandy Winnefeld: Well, it was a remarkable year in 2019, and we in Washington as fans, we're really, really happy when you came to the team, and frankly, we were very sad when you left, but it's baseball, right? It is what it is. You had a really good partnership, I think with Kurt Suzuki that year, who I've met and think the world of, and you know, it's really neat to be able to talk to you today about some of those experiences you've had. I mean, you were like the number one guy in terms of baseball players that I wanted to bring onto the show, just because of your experience with Washington, and your reputation.
So, thanks for taking time out of your off season. We wish the best for you next year with the Cubs, right? Unless weird things happen and you get traded, you never know. But you're probably a bedrock of that organization right now. But thanks so much for joining us today. It's been really cool.
Dr. Sandra Magnus: Thank you. It's been wonderful.
Yan Gomes: Well, thank you guys. This was an honor to do. I've gotten to listen to some of the podcasts, and I truly enjoy what you guys are doing. So, thank you.
Dr. Sandra Magnus: No, thanks. We're enjoying it too. Just having all these amazing conversations with people. It's been a lot of fun.
Yan Gomes: Well, thank you guys.
Dr. Sandra Magnus: That was Chicago Cubs catcher, and 2019 World Series Champion Yan Gomes.
I'm Sandra Magnus.
Sandy Winnefeld: And I'm Sandy Winnefeld.
Thanks again, to Culligan Water for sponsoring this episode. Your life is about taking risks. Your water shouldn't be. Learn more, at: culligan.com
Dr. Sandra Magnus: And check us out on social media, including our videos of our interview with Yan on TikTok. Our handle is very simple: @theadrenalinezone.
