Auburn another career stop for Brazilian Gomes
By Kristin Kowaleski-Wolford / The Citizen
AUBURN - Yan Gomes is used to being away from home. Born and raised in San Paulo, Brazil, for 11 years, the Auburn Doubledays catcher has played for baseball teams in Tennessee, Florida, Massachusetts and now New York. And those were just for official teams, unlike the kind of baseball he played in Brazil.
“It was different, playing down there,” said Gomes, who turns 22 today. “You never played for a team, like high school or anything like that. It was just like an organized club team. It was still fun though, we got to travel to a lot of different places, like Mexico and all around Brazil.”
At 11 years old, Gomes (rhymes with homes) moved with his family to Miami and quickly learned how different playing baseball in the United States is.
“It was different, because growing up and playing (in Brazil) was different than the kids that play here,” he said. “Down there, it's not so much like, ‘Oh, let's go play and have fun.' It was just something we did, just a sport.”
The sport turned out to be quite fruitful for the Brazilian. Gomes was named a second-team All-SEC selection as a sophomore at the University of Tennessee after earning Freshman All-America status in 2007 after hitting .310 with 47 RBIs.
“It was awesome (at Tennessee),” Gomes said. “My last year there was amazing. It was fun. Being away was tough, even though I had a lot of fun, but being home - I felt more comfortable.”
He transferred to Barry University in Miami Shores for his final collegiate season, where all he did was break the school record for RBIs with 92. He also hit .405, with 21 home runs and finished with a 30-game hitting streak, leading the Buccaneers to a No. 1 national ranking and their first Sunshine State Conference title. For all of this, he was named the Barry University 2009 Male Athlete of the Year and Impact Player of the Year.
“It was definitely fun,” Gomes said of his final year in school. “Being around there and breaking new records. I never knew anything about Barry, so when I got there, it was a great thing. You kind of walked around college the last part of the year and you got the feeling that people really looked up to you and that was cool.”
Not surprisingly, Gomes ended up being a high selection in this year's Major League Baseball amateur draft. Selected in the 10th round by the Toronto Blue Jays, his first call was to one of his best friends, JP Arencibia, who played with him at Tennessee and was an integral part of the 2007 Doubledays New York-Penn League title team and now plays for the club's Triple-A team, the Las Vegas 51s.
“As soon as I got drafted here, he's the first call I made to tell him heads up, I'm coming for him,” Gomes said of Arencibia, also a catcher from Miami. “He just told me to slow it down.”
Hard to do, when Gomes has already made an impact with the Doubledays. Though struggling a bit on the road, the 6-2 player is hitting well over .300 at Falcon Park, with a home run and nine RBIs in his 14 games with the Doubledays.
“(Arencibia) told me that I was going to have a great time here,” Gomes said.
AUBURN - Yan Gomes is used to being away from home. Born and raised in San Paulo, Brazil, for 11 years, the Auburn Doubledays catcher has played for baseball teams in Tennessee, Florida, Massachusetts and now New York. And those were just for official teams, unlike the kind of baseball he played in Brazil.
“It was different, playing down there,” said Gomes, who turns 22 today. “You never played for a team, like high school or anything like that. It was just like an organized club team. It was still fun though, we got to travel to a lot of different places, like Mexico and all around Brazil.”
At 11 years old, Gomes (rhymes with homes) moved with his family to Miami and quickly learned how different playing baseball in the United States is.
“It was different, because growing up and playing (in Brazil) was different than the kids that play here,” he said. “Down there, it's not so much like, ‘Oh, let's go play and have fun.' It was just something we did, just a sport.”
The sport turned out to be quite fruitful for the Brazilian. Gomes was named a second-team All-SEC selection as a sophomore at the University of Tennessee after earning Freshman All-America status in 2007 after hitting .310 with 47 RBIs.
“It was awesome (at Tennessee),” Gomes said. “My last year there was amazing. It was fun. Being away was tough, even though I had a lot of fun, but being home - I felt more comfortable.”
He transferred to Barry University in Miami Shores for his final collegiate season, where all he did was break the school record for RBIs with 92. He also hit .405, with 21 home runs and finished with a 30-game hitting streak, leading the Buccaneers to a No. 1 national ranking and their first Sunshine State Conference title. For all of this, he was named the Barry University 2009 Male Athlete of the Year and Impact Player of the Year.
“It was definitely fun,” Gomes said of his final year in school. “Being around there and breaking new records. I never knew anything about Barry, so when I got there, it was a great thing. You kind of walked around college the last part of the year and you got the feeling that people really looked up to you and that was cool.”
Not surprisingly, Gomes ended up being a high selection in this year's Major League Baseball amateur draft. Selected in the 10th round by the Toronto Blue Jays, his first call was to one of his best friends, JP Arencibia, who played with him at Tennessee and was an integral part of the 2007 Doubledays New York-Penn League title team and now plays for the club's Triple-A team, the Las Vegas 51s.
“As soon as I got drafted here, he's the first call I made to tell him heads up, I'm coming for him,” Gomes said of Arencibia, also a catcher from Miami. “He just told me to slow it down.”
Hard to do, when Gomes has already made an impact with the Doubledays. Though struggling a bit on the road, the 6-2 player is hitting well over .300 at Falcon Park, with a home run and nine RBIs in his 14 games with the Doubledays.
“(Arencibia) told me that I was going to have a great time here,” Gomes said.
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