Pedro Gomez built a legacy with covering baseball and forming relationships

Sportswriter and Broadcaster Pedro Gomez passed away earlier this year. Gomez worked for the Arizona Republic before becoming a nationally-known sports reporter with ESPN. A new book about Gomez and his life was released, it’s titled “Remember Who You Are: What Pedro Gomez showed us about baseball and life.” We spoke with Bill Hill, a close friend of Gomez for more than 20 years, about the bond he shared with his friend. 

What was Gomez’s sportscaster journey?

“He came to Phoenix in 1997 when the Diamondbacks came to town. We needed a national baseball writer and Pedro was the guy. So he only worked at the Republic for six, seven years, before he moved off to ESPN, but it seemed like he was here much longer than that because he had a great impact. And he continued to live here in Ahwatukee,” Hill said.

What makes a good sports journalist?

“I think he would tell you, it all starts with being a good reporter. And then, the key to be a good reporter, especially as a beat reporter and then as a columnist, was building relationships, and that was his forte, I mean, everybody loved Pedro,” Hill said.

Hill said he made connections wherever he went, “It sort of sounds like a cliche to say that he would light up the room when he walked in but he did. Not just because he had this big smile and he always greeted people as if he was really happy to see him, because he genuinely was… even the players. Clubhouse is a tough spot… not for Pedro. Pedro would walk in and the players would want him to come over and talk to them because he could talk to them about their families and everything going on in their lives.”