Orlando Gomez retires after a 52-year career in baseball

He managed Manny Machado, Jonathan Schoop and the 2011 Frederick Keys to the Single-A Carolina League championship. Now, after a 52-year career in baseball, Orlando Gomez is retiring.

Gomez was named the recipient of the Orioles' Cal Ripken Sr. Player Development Award after leading Frederick to a 80-59 record in 2011. He has worked for the Orioles for 12 years, managing three of the last four seasons as skipper of the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League team.

Gomez managed Frederick from 2010-12 and in 2015. With 278 victories, he is the Keys' all-time wins leader and is the only field leader to eclipse the 200-win plateau. For the Orioles, he also managed at Single-A Delmarva. In 2005-06 he was a batting practice pitcher on the Orioles' major league staff.

A native of Juan Diaz, Puerto Rico, Gomez played for 13 seasons as a minor league catcher with the New York Yankees and Oakland Athletics organizations. He then spent 39 years as a manager, coach and scout. More than 20 of those came as a minor league skipper, where he accumulated more than 1,200 wins.

Gomez managed several current Orioles during their time on the O's farm. In addition to Machado and Schoop, that list includes Kevin Gausman, Dylan Bundy, Donnie Hart and Trey Mancini. Prior to his time with Baltimore, Gomez helped develop Ivan Rodriguez, Ruben Sierra, Jason Varitek, Jay Bell and Wilson Alvarez, as well as current Boston Red Sox manager John Farrell, among others.

Besides his work with the Orioles, Gomez spent time with Texas Rangers, Seattle Mariners and Tampa Bay Rays organizations. This included time on the major league staffs of all three as both a bullpen coach and first base coach. Gomez and his wife, Nylsa, have six children. His son-in-law, Jose Hernandez, is the field coach for the Triple-A Norfolk Tides.

I've had the chance to interview Gomez several times over the years. Anyone that came into contact with him quickly realized what a wonderful gentleman he is and how much he loves the game. Over the years, clearly hundreds and hundreds of players have benefited from his tutelage.