Goose Gossage- Waiting Until Next Year

Rich "Goose" Gossage did not make it into the Hall of Fame this past week, missing out by a few votes of the 75 percent needed to make it in. Gossage has been vocal in the past with his criticism of the voters who have kept him out, but this time he was less outspoken. Perhaps it is because Goose Gossage knows now that it will only be a matter of time before he gains admission to Cooperstown. Every player before him that got a similar percentage of votes, in Gossage's case it was 71.2 percent this time around, has eventually gone into the Hall, but Gossage had felt a sense of urgency up until this year, as he had wanted his elderly mother to see him inducted. Thanks to the fickle baseball writers that have the final say, this will not be possible, as Gossage's mother died at the age of 92 this past September.

Gossage has a right to feel bitter, since he should have been in long before this. His numbers do not tell the whole story of how dominant he pitched and how feared he was by the hitters of his day. Rich Gossage was born in Colorado Springs, Colorado in July of 1951. Rich was chosen by the White Sox in the ninth round of the 1970 amateur draft, and the imposing six-foot-three right-hander with a blazing fastball was up with Chicago by Opening Day of 1972. He went 7-1 his first year as a reliever, coming out of the bullpen to compliment another fireballer, lefty Terry Forster, who was the team's closer. Gossage struggled with his control for his next two seasons, as he was what is now known as a set-up man, saving just one game in the two years combined before he was made the closer in 1975 as Forster was injured. Gossage responded with 26 saves in 62 appearances, pitching 141 innings to a 1.84 earned run average!

Chicago got the inspired notion to try the flame throwing Goose in the rotation in 1976, and he struggled to a 9-17 mark in 29 starts, throwing 15 complete games. In December of the year, they sent Gossage and Forster to the Pirates in exchange for slugger Richie Zisk, and the Goose had his best statistical campaign in the game in 1977. He was 11-9 with a 1.62 ERA, striking out 151 in 133 innings of work. Gossage posted 26 saves, a big total back then, and he allowed just 78 base hits. When he became a free agent after the season, the Yankees signed him to be their closer, even though they had Sparky Lyle in the bullpen, the reigning Cy Young Award winner.

Gossage got off to a rocky start in the Bronx but eventually righted the ship. Although he was just 10-11, he saved 27 games and allowed only 87 hits in his134 innings, with a 2.01 earned run average. Gossage frequently was called upon to get the last six out in a game, unlike the closers of today who are required to pitch only the ninth inning in the vast majority of their outings. To compare the two eras, Gossage threw over 80 innings a total of eight times when he was a primary closer for his team, a figure that the best closer of today, Mariano Rivera of the Yankees, has exceeded just once. Gossage got no more important save than the one that gave the Yankees a win over Boston in the one-game playoff on October 2nd of 1978. Coming in for a tired Ron Guidry in the bottom of the seventh inning, Gossage struggled, as he had less than his best stuff. He allowed a run in the eighth and was in deep trouble in the ninth, with men on first and third with two outs as future Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski came to the plate. In today's game, Gossage would have been lifted for Lyle to come in and face such a dangerous lefty, but manager Bob Lemom left the Goose in and he got Yaz to foul out to third to clinch the pennant for New York.

Gossage spent six seasons with New York before he went to the Padres in 1984. In San Diego he had four good years, and then he bounced around from team to team as a situational right-hander, not the powerful closer he once was. He retired after the 1994 season, having appeared in over one thousand Major League Baseball contests, which is tenth best all time. Goose Gossage had 310 saves in 22 seasons, but for nine of those he was not a closer. The most telling number that shows how dominant Gossage was is that in over 1,800 innings pitched, he allowed less than 1,500 hits. His lifetime ERA is 3.01 and Goose fanned more than 1,500 batters. In addition, Gossage had an astounding 114 relief wins, or just six less than the combined totals of Trevor Hoffman and Lee Smith, the pitchers that are one-two on the saves list.

Were Gossage pitching today, he would be a lock for 45 saves a season, especially with the change in pitching philosophy where the closer only goes out for the ninth. As it is, Gossage is 17th on the all time saves roster, with the only two men in the top 27 of this category that retired before he did being Rollie Fingers and Bruce Sutter. Both are in the Hall of Fame for their efforts, as will Gossage be some day, probably next year. It is an unjustifiable shame that it will take so long to honor such a great relief pitcher, one who now will not have the joy of sharing such an accolade with his mother.