Pedro Gomez and I first met in The Giants dugout in 2007. He was reporting for ESPN on Bonds breaking Hank Aaron’s. The majority of his reports were negative I felt. It was basically “there’s no joy in Mudville” and nobody cares about Bonds breaking this record....

I was new to this whole media thing and had way more player in me at that point than pre-game show analyst. And Barry was my teammate 8 years earlier and was always good to me. So I walked up to Pedro in the dugout and very unprofessionally asked him what his problem was

I expressed in a very loud and confrontational voice that his reports were erroneous and exaggerated. People in SF were generally excited about this record and he wasn’t painting an accurate picture of the local mood. Those who know me well will not find this shocking at all

Many media members within ear shot heard. He expressed to me that it was accurate. That for the most part people across the country were not rooting for Bonds and he had a job to do and was showing a different side. That I was basically in a SF bubble and Giants fans were the

Only ones that cared. He explained it to me rationally and professionally and passionately. I didn’t deserve a professional response but that’s what I got. Afterwards word had spread that I did this. Reporter after reporter and media member after media member told me what a great

Guy Pedro was and basically that’s just how ESPN is and that that’s the side they thought needed to be told. Suddenly I felt bad out my hot headed approach and knew I had to rectify the situation. So waited until the next day or so and approached him again. I apologized

and he accepted. And then to my surprise couldn’t have been nicer. He went on to explain why he was showing the rest of the world what he was reporting and why. We ended up shaking hands after having a great talk. That was how we met...

Afterwards we talked every day and I suddenly realized what a fantastic human being Pedro really was. How passionate he was about the game. How much he really loved and cared about the game. And as my second career progressed our paths crossed frequently. He’d always come over

To me and chat about this or that. He always went out of his way to say hi with a smile. He would tell me I was doing great and to keep up the good work. Like many people today on Twitter I considered him a friend. He had that Dusty Baker quality where you felt like he was

Your best friend from high school and no time had passed since the last time you saw him. During the Nats World Series run in 2019 we talked every day around the cage. He introduced me to everyone. We laughed we joked and we talked baseball. He was legitimately concerned about

The state of the game and had great points about what he felt needed to change.He hilariously told me I was pronouncing Anibal Sanchez’s first name wrong all year.“It’s Anne like the girls name,knee like your knee and ball like a baseball” and made me repeat it in front of Anibal

Anne-Knee-Ball. We all had a laugh. Anibal said he didn’t care. When the Nats won game 7 he was in the clubhouse. Soaking wet with champagne all the while doing his job. The smile on his face and pure joy he had that night will be my lasting memory of Pedro. He was truly happy

Not that the Nationals had won but based on certain things that had come out about their opponent, that BASEBALL had won. And nobody loved baseball more than Pedro Gomez. Rest In Peace my friend. I will miss you...