| Gomes made his major league debut on September 12, 2003. He spent 2004 back and forth between the Triple-A Durham Bulls and Tampa Bay. He told an MLB.com interviewer that, when he was relegated back to Durham after a brief early stint in Tampa Bay in May 2005, he resolved that he would put up such an offensive onslaught that the Major League team would "get sick of looking at his face on the Tropicana Field scoreboard when the top Minor League performers were shown." He would have a .321 batting average with 14 HR and 46 RBI in 45 games with the Bulls before returning to the Rays for good in July[2].
After his return to Tampa Bay, Gomes became a starter for the club and has become one of the club's most important players. On July 30, he became the first Rays player to hit three home runs in a single game, against the Kansas City Royals. For the year, Gomes hit 21 home runs in only 101 games and 348 at bats. Projected over a full season, Gomes could have hit over 35 home runs. He became a fan favorite, and was known for his all out hustle and long home runs; one went 474 feet and went over the Batter's Eye Restaurant behind the center field wall at Tropicana Field. He finished 3rd in voting for the 2005 American League Rookie of the Year award.
Gomes figures to play a prominent role in the continued rebuilding and long range plans of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. He started 2006 off with a bang by hitting a Rays-record 11 home runs in April. He hit the catwalk rings of Tropicana Field twice during a series with the Toronto Blue Jays in May; one landed in the B ring and rolled off to be caught, while the other hit the C ring and was ruled a home run (see the link to Tropicana Field for its ground rules). He struggled after his hot start, hitting nine home runs during the rest of the season and finishing with a .216 batting average. He attributed most of his problems to an injured shoulder, which hindered his hitting and his usually aggressive baserunning; he played through the injury until electing to have surgery on it in September. In addition to rehabilitating his shoulder, Gomes said in an MLB.com article that he wants to lose weight over the offseason; he is listed at 205 pounds but played the 2006 season weighing 250. He also mentioned possibly playing first base in 2007 for the Devil Rays, who already have Carl Crawford, Rocco Baldelli, and Delmon Young in their outfield.
Gomes, who barely made the Devil Rays 25 man roster out of Spring Training, has not received a great deal of playing time to start the 2007 season.
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