in 1940, gomez suffered an arm injury, which left him up for grabs by another team, but in 1941 he played fairly well, winning 15 and losing 5. during that season, he was said to be a great starting pitcher, but won through the support of johnny murphy, who relieved him in later innings. after the 1942 season ended, gomez took a job as a dispatcher with the general electric river works, a defense plant in lynn, massachusetts, which only paid $40 a week. then on january 27, 1943, the yankees sold him to the boston braves for $10,000 ($ in current dollar terms).