Goose Gossage Elected to Hall of Fame

The wait is finally over for Rich "Goose" Gossage. The successful relief pitcher has overcome the stigma of relief pitchers not being worthy of the Hall of Fame and will be enshrined in Major League Baseball's Hall of Fame located in Cooperstown New York. This was Gossage's ninth time on a Hall of Fame ballot. The other eight times Gossage fell painstakingly short of the necessary number of votes required for induction in the hall. Last year Gossage was a mere, twenty-one votes shy of earning induction to the hall. Generally, relief pitchers have not been considered highly in regards to the Hall of Fame. Gossage is just the fifth relief pitcher to be inducted in the history of baseball despite the large number of talented relievers. Hoyt Wilhelm, Rollie Fingers, Bruce Sutter, and Dennis Eckersley are the only other relievers that have had the honor of garnering enough votes to be elected.

Gossage played in the majors for twenty-two years, with a career spanning three decades. His career began in 1972 and lasted until 1994. Gossage is best known for the time spent with the Yankees, one of nine teams he played for in his career. He was a dominant closer that was often asked to pitch two or even three innings unlike present day closers who are required to pitch one inning during most outings.

At the time of his retirement, Goose was third in games pitches, and third in wins from relief with an astonishing 155 wins. Striking out 1,502 batters in his career earned him second on the list of strikeouts by a reliever. During his career, he was named to the all-star team eight times as a reliever and even was an all star once as a starting pitcher.

What made Goose so special is that he was the origins of what is known as the modern day closer. Managers regularly brought in Goose at the end of games with a lead with the expectation of shutting down the opposing hitters. This was one of the first defined closer roles in baseballs history. Since that time, the closer position has been a mainstay on every major league team even in this day. The role has changed slightly, but the basic premise remains the same.

The primary weapon in Gossage's arsenal was the fastball, which could reach speeds of over one hundred miles per hour. This pitch was overwhelmingly relied upon and was a go to pitch. Occasionally changeups and curveballs were mixed in to keep hitters guessing. His stuff was overpowering and his dominating power is what led to his assignment as closer. This dominating style of pitching is still relied upon by the majority of closers today in baseball.

The induction of Rich Gossage had been a long time coming. He was dominating during his career and one of the best pitchers during his time. Additionally, he created the closer role, which has been an important aspect of every team since that time. The voters have finally realized that the reliever role is something that cannot be completely ignored and deserve to be in the Hall of Fame. It took a while, but the correct decision was made.

Sources:

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/hof08/news/story?id=3186626

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=AhICL66c.MOFKV4cgl4OlGk5nYcB?slug=yhoo-inductionisrichlydeserved&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

http://www.baseball-reference.com/g/gossari01.shtml