Goose Gossage Elected to Baseball's Hall of Fame

Goose Gossage's bushy mustache and on-field demeanor, backed up with a 98-102 mile per hour fastball made Gossage one of the most feared pitchers of his era. "The Goose" is widely regarded with being one of the forefathers of today's version of the bullpen closer or stopper. His pinpoint control put him into many pressure filled situations and all too often the Goose came out on top.

Richard Michael Gossage began his career with the Chicago White Sox in 1972 as a spot starter and relief pitcher. His first few seasons were mediocre and after his playing days were over, Gossage would often say he was nervous about being sent down to the minors during his first few years. Gossage's career took a turn for the better in 1975, when he recorded 9 wins and 26 saves. The White Sox decided to make him a starter in 1976 and he struggled with a 9-17 record. The Goose would never start another game after the 1976 season.

Following Goose's 1976 season, the White Sox traded the hard throwing right-hander to the Pirates in a multi-player deal. Gossage flourished with the Pirates and he began to establish himself as a premier closer, with 11 wins, 26 saves and an impressive 1.62 earned run average (ERA). Gossage parlayed his superb season into a big free agent contract, signing with the World Series champion New York Yankees.

The Yankees already had one of the best closers in the game in Sparky Lyle and the signing was a surprise to many baseball experts. In 1977 Sparky Lyle was the American League's Cy Young Award winner, voted the best pitcher in the league. For the Yankees, Gossage was a shrewd addition and by mid-season, Gossage had assumed the closers role for the Yanks. His 1978 season solidified his position among baseball's elite relief pitchers. Gossage recorded 10 wins and he pitched the fourth highest number of innings on the staff, 134 innings-an unheard of figure for the closers of today. Gossage closed out his season by recording the save in the one game playoff with Boston, along with being the pitcher on the mound when the Yankees clinched the AL championship and the 1978 World Series victories. To go along with his 1978 World Series ring, Gossage was also named the Rolaids relief pitcher of the year for the American League.

Over a seven year span, Gossage dominated hitters like few others before him. Only once during the seven years did his ERA rise above 2.27 (2.62 in 1979) and he had a career best in 1981 with an outstanding 0.77 ERA. Gossage led the league in save 3 times during this span and was the runner-up to the save leader twice.

Gossage left the Yankees after a superb season in 1983, signing with the San Diego Padres. He helped the Padres to their first World series appearance and despite losing in the Fall Classic, Gossage had a fine year with the Padres, winning 10 games and saving 22. It would be the last post season appearance for the Goose.

In all Goose Gossage appeared in 1,002 games, ranking eight all-time for pitchers and his 115 relief victories rank him 3rd all-time for relief pitchers. A nine time All-Star during his celebrated career, Gossage hung on for many mediocre seasons after his stint with the Padres. Many historians of the game discounted Gossage's numbers for quite awhile. Gossage never had a season of over 40 saves and his many years at the end of his career as a set-up man seemed to hold him back from an earlier induction. It's has only been recently acknowledged that his ability to pitch multiple innings for several games in a row, has cost Gossage the big statistics that the relievers of today are judged by.

It became apparent the baseball writers began taken a different approach to relief pitchers after electing Bruce Sutter a few years ago. While it this induction comes a couple years after the passing of his mom, it still was shock when the word came. Welcome to the Hall of Fame, Rich "Goose" Gossage, it's about time you're able to take your seat among baseball's elite.