Former shortstop Anthony Gomez makes the VandySports 100 at No. 83.
Honors and awards: 2010 Freshman All-American
2010 first team All-Southeastern Conference
2011 All-Nashville Regional
2012 SEC Player of the Week (May 14)
2012 first team All-SEC
2012 All-Raleigh Regional
2012 Vanderbilt team MVP
In the VU record book: Career batting average: fifth (.354)
Career hits: fourth (267)
Single-season hits: tied-sixth (96, 2011)
Single-season at-bats: tied-second (286, 2011)
Most at-bats in a game: 9 (2010)
Before VU: Gomez starred at New Jersey's Don Bosco Prep, where he was a first-team all-state player as a senior for a team that was 33-0 and ended the year ranked No. 1 in the country. Was the MVP of that team and made the New Jersey All-Decade squad.
Freshman (2010): Gomez earned first-team All-SEC and Freshman All-American honors as VU's regular second baseman, fielding .974 with 51 starts while playing in 60 of the team's 66 games. Fielded .974 for the season, and .968 in league regular-season games. Hit .371/.385/.448 with two home runs in SEC games, playing in 27 of the team's 28 league games and starting all but one. Led all SEC freshmen in batting average. Knocked in a season-high three runs with three hits against Indiana and had four four-hit games that season. Went 2-for-3 in the championship game of the Louisville Regional, which VU lost.
Sophomore (2011): Gomez started all 66 games for a 54-12 squad that shared the SEC regular-season championship and made VU's first College World Series appearance. Hit .333/.357/.393 in league regular-season games. Fielded .934 for the season and .937 in league regular-season play. Made his first start at short in Game 11 vs. Brown and became VU's normal starter at that spot the remainder of the season. Had a 29-game hitting streak snapped against LSU, and had a four-hit game the next day.
Junior (2012): Again the team's regular shortstop, Gomez started all 63 games for a 35-28 team that went 16-14 in the league and fell in the finals of the Raleigh Regional, while fielding .948. Was 2-for-4 and drove in three runs in the regional opener vs. UNC-Wilmington. Doubled and drove in two in the title game loss to North Carolina State. Swiped three bases in the ninth, including one of home in the famous triple steal against Florida in the SEC tournament. Went 8-for-17 with three doubles and four RBIs between a mid-week contest with Louisville and the LSU series to earn the league's Player of the Week. Had a 13-game hitting streak that season, and a string of five-straight multi-hit games later in the season.
Post-VU: Gomez played professionally for there seasons, but never made it beyond A-ball.
Final thoughts, and why I ranked him where I did: Few players in any sport at Vanderbilt were steadier across a career than Gomez, who ended his career with 177 straight starts.
Gomez was sort of a "throwback" to another era. Even though his career ended just eight years ago, the game has changed through launch angles and high strikeout rates that players like him barely exist now. He didn't walk much (41 times) but struck out even less (38, making for a career contact rate of an incredible 95 percent). He could run a bit (27 for 38 in steals) and played reasonably well at two premium defensive positions. A few more homers and walks would have been nice, but if you needed a guy to put the bat on the ball in virtually any spot, there are few guys in the history of Vanderbilt baseball you'd choose before Gomez.
Gomez was never a superstar, but he was a respectable-to-good player his entire career, played on three NCAA tournament teams, was a key player on VU's first College World Series team, a tough-minded competitor and fun to watch. He's easily deserving of a spot in our top 100.
