John Beverley Gooch (November 9, 1897 – May 15, 1975) was an American professional baseball player, coach, minor league manager and scout.

[1] He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher from 1921 to 1933, most prominently for the Pittsburgh Pirates where he was a member of the 1925 World Series winning team.

[2] Born in Smyrna, Tennessee, Gooch began his professional baseball career in 1916 at the age of 18 with the Talladega Tigers of the Georgia–Alabama League.

[3] It was in Birmingham where Gooch first played with future Baseball Hall of Fame inductee, Pie Traynor, and the two men developed a lifelong friendship.

[1] Gooch had his best season offensively in 1922 when veteran catcher Walter Schmidt, held out for more pay and didn't play until August.

[1] However, they faced the powerful New York Yankees led by Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig in the 1927 World Series and were defeated in four straight games.

[8] In 1928, the Pirates acquired future Baseball Hall of Fame inductee, Burleigh Grimes, who was the last pitcher allowed to throw the spitball in the major leagues.

[9] Pirates manager, Donie Bush chose Gooch to be Grimes' personal catcher, due to his previous experience at catching the tricky spitball.

[10] News reports surfaced in January 1929 that Gooch wasn't happy in Brooklyn after having spent so many years in Pittsburgh, and was contemplating retirement.

[1] After one more season with the Reds where his batting average dropped to .243, he was traded to the Nashville Volunteers in the Southern Association for Joe Cicero.