He Was My Idol
Book cover illustration by Mark Ulriksen
She was a teenager in love -- with baseball. She played the game and talked about it endlessly. ESPN’s Pedro Gomez was her role model. So she dropped the glove and picked up the mic
Editor’s Note: This article is one of 62 essays that comprise the stirring book, “Remember Who You Are: What Pedro Gomez Showed Us About Baseball And Life,” edited by Steve Kettmann and published by Wellstone Books, an imprint of the Wellstone Center in the Redwoods. This essay, reprinted here by permission, hits close to home for the National Association of Hispanic Journalists’ sports community, for whom Pedro Gomez was an idol -- a Latino acclaimed for covering sports that thrive on the talents of Latino athletes.
I was a teenager playing baseball in the Bronx when I first saw Pedro Gomez. He was covering baseball on ESPN. He stood out to me. It was the first time I had seen a Latino reporter covering baseball on national television.
Baseball is everything to us Latinos growing up in the Bronx. It was the thing I cried over and got excited about. I wrote speeches for school on the Yankees winning the 1996 World Series. I wrote my college essay on being the only female in my baseball league. I played baseball for 10 years, until I was 17.
It’s why I ultimately applied to go to school at Syracuse. I thought I could be a Latino voice for those baseball players who played the game, just like me. If a reporter like Pedro Gomez could make it, maybe I could too? The Newhouse program bragged about having the best reporters coming out of their school. However, once I got in, I struggled with my identity and felt like I wasn’t good enough.
Sarina Morales, Pedro Gomez and Sinhue Mendoza, talking sports.
That’s why Pedro Gomez was so influential. He was a familiar face on a TV screen that had mostly white men. And yet his on-camera presence made everyone, Latino or other, feel like they were his friend. His amigos.
The next Pedro
He was my idol. I religiously watched him cover baseball. And by the time I made it through my junior year at Syracuse University, I was set to figure out how to be the next Pedro. I helped start the first National Association of Hispanic Journalists school chapter at Syracuse and ultimately became its president in my senior year.
It was the summer heading into my senior year that I met Pedro for the first time. Syracuse sent a handful of the campus NAHJ board members to the national convention. Pedro was standing by the ESPN booth. I recognized him immediately and mustered up the courage to walk up to him. Looking back, I probably could have thought through my “elevator pitch” a bit better, but I think I spilled my life story to him instead. And he listened. I remember I told him I wanted to be a baseball reporter for ESPN and that I played the game for 10 years and that I went to Syracuse. He made me feel like I was the first person to ever tell him I wanted to be a reporter for ESPN. I remember we ended up talking a handful of times that weekend and he was kind enough to connect me with ESPN producers, fellow baseball writers and other media folks.
He made me feel like I was the first person to ever tell him I wanted to be a reporter for ESPN
That was just the beginning. Pedro opened the door for me and he didnít have to. And thinking back to that first weekend I met him, everyone gravitated to Pedro. And yet, he still made me feel special and included me in conversations about baseball and news despite my youth and being a female. I was never included in these conversations before.
Before that weekend ended, I asked Pedro if he would come up and speak to students at Syracuse University one day. It was a big deal to bring up professional speakers. I wasn’t sure he would have the time or ability or interest to come, but he kept his word. I remember picking him up from the airport in my old Saturn. I was slightly embarrassed because my car was old and here I was, picking up “The Pedro Gomez.”
That day was one of my highlights at Syracuse. I ended up conducting the interview with Pedro. He packed an auditorium with students eager to hear his baseball stories and his journey into journalism. Afterwards, he took the time to shake hands and speak to students after the event. The next morning, I had planned to take him back to the airport, but he ordered himself a cab, and flew home without any complaints or bother.
When ESPN calls
That was just the beginning of my relationship with Pedro. I texted him here and there over my journey to becoming a sports reporter. I got even more excited when I saw him cover the World Series. I will never forget him telling me, “When ESPN wants you, they will call you.” He also told me to keep working, keep my head down.
Sarina Morales, on the ESPN SportsCenter AM set.
Then ESPN called. Well, it was an email. But I got called up to the big leagues and who was the first person to reach out? Pedro Gomez. Who was the first person to text me when I anchored SportsCenter? Pedro Gomez. Who texted me when I went to the Super Bowl with the Rams in 2018? Pedro Gomez.
I’ve heard that you never want to meet your childhood heroes because they will disappoint you. Pedro Gomez did anything but disappoint. His actions taught me what was important: kindness, listening, generosity with time and work ethic.
He has set the bar so high for me and my fellow Latino reporters, the next group of us has to take note. He made his work his life, and now we need to make sure we represent him as he has left a huge void in the sports world. He has been very important to me. I hope to never disappoint him.
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Sarina Morales is the Los Angeles Rams Team Reporter. She was a former SportsCenter anchor for ESPN. Sarina was part of the launch of ESPN’s SportsCenterAM morning show. She also worked as a feature reporter covering the NBA Finals as well as MLB’s Opening Day. Prior to ESPN, she was the social media manager for National Geographic.