ESPN’s E:60 on Jonny Gomes: The Man Who Wouldn’t Die

ESPN’s award-winning primetime newsmagazine E:60 goes deep into the life, and near death, of Major League Baseball’s Jonny Gomes in the episode airing Tuesday, May 3, at 7 p.m. ET.

Gomes’ scrappy and grinding style has made him a key part of the Cincinnati Reds’ rise in the National League. His style was a byproduct of a rocky road to the majors that withstood tragedy, deprivation and, almost literally, heartbreak. For E:60, Chris Connelly examines the rollercoaster life of an intense, gritty fan favorite who has never forgotten how lucky he is just to be alive.

Launched in October 2007, ESPN’s E:60 combines investigative reporting, in-depth profiles of intriguing sports personalities and features on emerging star athletes. These stories are presented in a fresh and innovative format that incorporates producer/correspondent meetings.

A preview clip of the Gomes feature can be viewed here.

Boxscore

A day after Edgar Renteria provided a walk-off hit, the Cincinnati Reds were forced to attempt it again. But the comeback-magic wasn’t there this time.

Bronson Arroyo had one of his bad starts, but he changed it up this time. Instead of allowing a heapin’ helpin’ of runs early and leaving the game before the 3rd inning, this time he kept the Reds in the game until the 7th. Over 7 innings, he allowed 5 runs–all earned–and all on home runs. It was a windy day at Great American.

The real kicker came from reliever Nick Masset, though. The 4 runs he allowed in the 8th were really the nails in the coffin.

The offense ended up scoring 5 runs, and were a good hit from Joey Votto away from tying it in the 9th. But like so many games recently, the Reds missed the win by that much.

This team has been tough to watch, but watch I do, continuing to hope for the luck to change. With each loss being so close and due to one pitcher’s bad pitch or one hitter’s bad swing, it feels like the team is damn close to getting on a roll. It just hasn’t happened yet, and the team can’t seem to get above .500, let alone back to really competing for 1st place.

Cincinnati Reds pitcher Mike Leake came out today and provided his side of the story of his arrest earlier this month. And it truly was as boneheaded as the rumors would lead you to believe.

Leake pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor today.

Leake said that on April 2, he went in to purchase six shirts and they did not fit. He went back to Macy’s on April 18 and exchanged them on his own, instead of talking to a clerk. He said he set the six shirts down, got the correct sizes and walked out. Leake then was stopped by store security.

“I realize how boneheaded of a move it was,” Leake said. “It was very wrong and I sincerely apologize. It was a serious lapse of judgment, and for that I will be willing to do anything that I will have to do.”

Given that Leake is just 23, I can see him having that kind of lapse in thinking. How many times has he exchanged things?

Still, it’s good to see the thing over. Leake will have to put in 30 hours of community service and be on good behavior for a bit. I’m hoping he can avoid doing any gas station drive-offs in that time. The price of gas is getting high.

No, he’s not a Pokemon, but Cincinnati Reds fireballer Aroldis Chapman seems to add to his move set the more battles he’s victorious in.

Remember back to Saturday when the Reds beat the St. Louis Cardinals? Chapman got the win in that affair, shutting down the Cardinals in the 7th inning.

Yesterday, Chapman did it again, this time against the Milwaukee Brewers. He was brought in in the bottom of the 8th in a tie game with runners on first and second. He promptly hit the first batter he faced to load them, but after that, the Brewers didn’t have a chance. He struck out Carlos Gomez and then got Ryan Braun to ground weakly to third for the final out.

But he wasn’t done. The game was still tied heading into the bottom of the 9th, so rather than use his closer, Dusty Baker sent Chapman back out. Again, the Brewers didn’t have a chance. He made Prince Fielder look silly, striking him out, got a fly-out from Casey McGehee, and then picked off the one runner he did allow to reach. Oh, and all of this with his fastball consistently north of 100 miles per hour. John Fay described it as Chapman’s best game so far.

Chapman threw 19 pitches, 17 strikes.

“That was the best he’s looked,” Baker said. “He was throwing quality strikes and getting quality hitters out. … They got guys over there who can hit in the clutch.”

Obviously the guy would be more valuable in the starting rotation, but he sure is a nice option to have right now. And until then, he might just be making Baker a better, smarter manager.

Let’s hope he he’s not reached level 100 yet. I’d hate to see him maxed out so early.