Gonny Jomes is a hypothetical replacement-level player with the hidden power to make whatever team he plays for inexplicably successful. This hidden power is known to no one, not even Gonny himself.
Gonny Jomes was invented by listener Scott in an email question in Episode 720.
In the Facebook group, the term Gonny Jomes can be applied to a player who finds himself on a winning team for several years in a row.
The $15/month Patreon support level was named after Gonny Jomes until 2021.
Gonny Jomes should not be confused with Jonny Gomes, a player often referred to as a "clubhouse leader" (and named as such in Episode 272). Brandon McCarthy attributed 24 additional wins to the ability of Brandon Inge and Johnny Gomes to make rookies more comfortable and less anxious.
Email Question[]
- Scott: "How long do you think that it would take for an MLB team to realize that a particular replacement level player, let's call him Gonny Jomes, has a supernatural power that causes the team that carries him to a) win the World Series; b) reach the playoffs; c) play at a 100-win regular season pace; d) never lose a game? To be clear, Gonny Jomes doesn't need to be in the starting lineup to make use of this power, but he has to be on the active 25-man MLB roster and whenever he plays he puts up exactly replacement level stats."
Episodes[]
- Episode 720: Gonny Jomes is introduced (38:32).
- Episode 722: Viability of a pitcher with a terrible ERA who nevertheless wins every game.
- Episode 1814: Ben notes that every question involving supernatural powers quickly stops being a question about baseball.
- Episode 1841: Ben's Stat Blast looks for Gonny Jomes-like players.
Legacy[]
- The Effectively Wild t-shirt in the Banished to the Pen Team Shop has the name "G. Jomes" on the back.
- The Wiki's resident bot that handles some task automation is named GonnyJomesBot.