Juan Alejandro "Orlando" Gómez Tossas (born June 24, 1946) is a Puerto Rican former

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

coach and

scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement ** Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom ** Scouts BSA, sect ...

and

minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nort ...

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catc ...

and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

. When he served as the pilot of the Rookie-level GCL Orioles of the Gulf Coast League; it was Gómez' 21st year as a minor league manager, his 12th straight season in the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles (also known as the O's) are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. As one of the America ...

' organization, his second tour of duty (and third season overall) as skipper of the GCL Orioles, and his 53rd consecutive year in

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Moder ...

. Gómez retired from baseball after the 2016 season; his 278 managerial wins set a franchise record for the Frederick Keys, Baltimore's Single A–Advanced farm system affiliate in the

Carolina League The Carolina League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated along the Atlantic Coast of the United States since 1945. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 unti ...

. He managed Frederick for four seasons (2010–12; 2015). Gómez is the father-in-law of former Major League player José Hernández who has also coached in the Orioles organization.

Major League coach for three clubs

Gómez spent seven years as a Major League coach for the Texas Rangers (1991–92), Tampa Bay Devil Rays (1998–2000), and

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. The Mariners compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. The team joined the American ...

(2003–04). He was a member of the first Tampa Bay Major League squad, working under manager Larry Rothschild during the Rays' maiden 1998 season as both

bullpen In baseball, the bullpen (or simply the pen) is the area where relief pitchers warm up before entering a game. A team's roster of relief pitchers is also metonymically referred to as "the bullpen". These pitchers usually wait in the bullpen if ...

and third-base coach. He also served on the MLB staffs of

Bobby Valentine Robert John Valentine (born May 13, 1950), nicknamed "Bobby V", is an American former professional baseball player and manager. He also served as the athletic director at Sacred Heart University. Valentine played for the Los Angeles Dodgers (19 ...

and Bob Melvin. As a scout for the Rangers, assigned to

Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

, Gómez was credited with signing Rubén Sierra and Juan Guzmán. Gómez played 13 seasons (1964–76) in the minor leagues, mostly as a catcher and mostly in the organizations of the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

and

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (frequently referred to as the Oakland A's) were an American Major League Baseball (MLB) team based in Oakland, California from 1968 to 2024. The Athletics were a member club of the American League (AL) American League We ...

. He reached the Triple-A level for 83

games A game is a Structure, structured type of play (activity), play usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an Educational game, educational tool. Many games are also considered to be Work (human activity), work (such as p ...

over four different seasons. He threw and batted

right-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to and causing it to be stronger, faster or more Fine motor skill, dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dext ...

, stood tall and weighed during his active career. In a minor league managerial career that began in 1977, Gómez also managed the Medicine Hat A's, Burlington Rangers, Tulsa Drillers, Waterbury Indians, Buffalo Bisons, Williamsport Bills, Gastonia Rangers,

Everett AquaSox The Everett AquaSox are a Minor League Baseball team in Everett, Washington. The team is a member of the Northwest League and is the High-A affiliate of the Seattle Mariners. The AquaSox play their home games at Funko Field, which has a seatin ...

, Port City Roosters,

Bluefield Orioles Bluefield may refer to: * Bluefield, Virginia, US * Bluefield, West Virginia, US * Nvidia BlueField, a line of computer hardware See also * Bluefields, Nicaragua * Bluefields, Jamaica {{geodis ...

and Delmarva Shorebirds.

References

External links

*
Coach's page from Retrosheet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gomez, Orlando 1946 births Living people Birmingham A's players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) managers Burlington Bees players Chattanooga Lookouts players Fort Lauderdale Yankees players Johnson City Yankees players Iowa Oaks players Leesburg A's players Major League Baseball bullpen coaches Major League Baseball first base coaches Major League Baseball third base coaches Minor league baseball managers People from Juana Díaz, Puerto Rico Salinas Packers players Sarasota Yankees players Seattle Mariners coaches Seattle Mariners scouts Tampa Bay Devil Rays coaches Tampa Tarpons (1957–1987) players Texas Rangers coaches Texas Rangers scouts Tucson Toros players Waterbury Indians players