Carlos Gomez never really lived up to his potential with the Twins when they acquired him in the trade that sent Johan Santana to the New York Mets 10 years ago.
But his two seasons with the Twins was rarely dull, whether it was his excitement over something done well or the plays that sometimes left Twins fans shaking their heads.
Since leaving Minnesota, Gomez has become a journeyman, going to teams in need of an outfielder and starting more often than not. His current home is Tampa Bay, where he's hitting .194 in 42 games.
But there have been two Gomez moments in recent days worth noting. The fun one was when he went out to right field in Oakland and discovered that he needed sunglasses. Nobody in the bullpen could help, so Gomez turned to an A's fan for help -- and rewarded him at the end of the inning.
The more serious side of Gomez showed up when he questioned Major League Baseball's drug testing policies. After Tuesday's game in Oakland, Gomez told reporters he'd been tested for drugs for the sixth or seventh time this season, according to Mark Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times.
"It's not random. They pick names. Tell the truth. Tell the truth to the baseball world," Gomez told Topkin and others. "You're going to tell me this is random? It's not 1930 anymore. People know. You can come any time; I'm available to do a drug test. But don't tell people it's random. That's the only complaint that I have. …
"I have plenty of pee and plenty of blood. But don't say that's random, because it's not. So, tell the truth. It doesn't cost nothing."
MLB responded to Gomez with this statement: "Our Joint Drug Program, which is negotiated with the Players Association, is independently administered and has random testing procedures in place with no regard for a player's birthplace, age, or any other factor. Every aspect of the test selection process is randomized and de-identified, and every player is included each time random selection is conducted. This results in some players being tested more often than others, but, as a whole, MLB players are tested more frequently than any athletes in professional sports."
