May 15, 2008 12:56 pm
—
By ERIC AHLQVIST
Cooperstown Crier
Don’t mistake Rich ``Goose’’
Gossage’s tears for softness.
The former reliever and lone
2008 baseball writers’ Hall of
Fame electee choked up often
while talking to reporters in the
Hall of Fame Gallery Monday
morning following his orientation
tour of the museum.
``It’s like having an out of body
experience,’’ said Gossage, who
played for nine teams, including
six seasons with the New York
Yankees. ``I’m overwhelmed. I
just can’t quite comprehend it
all.’’
The sight of an emotional Gossage
might surprise some of the
hitters who faced him during his
career, where he had a reputation
as an intimidating flamethrower
who wasn’t afraid to
pitch inside.
``My first manager, Chuck
Tanner, told me if I’m not doing
everything I can to make the batter
uncomfortable then I’m not
doing my job and I might as well
go do something else,’’ Gossage
said. ``I’m old school. This is a
tough game and that’s how I approached
pitching.’’
Gossage accumulated 310 career
saves during a career that
began with the Chicago White
Sox in 1972 and ended with the
Seattle Mariners in 1994. ``Goose’’
began his career as a starter, but
Tanner moved him to the bullpen.
``I didn’t want to go to be honest,’’
Gossage said. ``In those days,
the bullpen was the scrap heap
where guys went who couldn’t
cut it as starters or were nearing
the end of their careers.’’
But Gossage teamed with lefty
Terry Forster to form a formidable
duo out of the pen for the
White Sox, and the role of relievers
began to change drastically in
the year that followed.
``I saw the evolution of the reliever
first hand, and I’ve filled
every role,’’ Gossage said. ``You
can’t compare relievers of my era
to relievers of today, because we
pitched so many more innings.’’
While Gossage was the closer
with the Yankees, he was routinely
called into games in the
seventh inning and was asked to
pitch two plus innings to get a
save, an unheard of practice in
today’s game.
``Our arms were abused, but I
loved the challenge of coming
into challenging situations,’’ Gossage
said. ``I could get out of situations
God couldn’t because I
could strike guys out.’’
Perhaps Gossage’s biggest
save occurred 30 years ago in October,
when he pitched the final
two and two-thirds innings to
earn the save of a one-game playoff
game against the Boston Red
Sox to decide the AL East pennant.
The Yankees won, 5-4, and
went on to win their second consecutive
World Series title over
the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Gossage left the Yankees after
the 1983 season, and helped the
San Diego Padres to their first
World Series appearance in 1984.
Veterans Committee electee Dick
Williams, who will be inducted
with Gossage on July 27, was the
manager of that Padres team.
``Chuck Tanner was the most
innovative manager I played for,
but Dick Williams was the greatest
manager I had,’’ Gossage
said.
Gossage grew up in Colorado a
Yankees fan, and said putting on
the pinstripes for the first time
was the only thing in his career
that compared with touring the
Hall of Fame Monday. Gossage
picked up 150 of his 310 saves
while with New York, and will
enter the Hall with a Yankee
cap.
``My dad (Jack) always told me
I’d be in the major leagues someday,’’
Gossage said, again fighting
back tears. ``And my mom
(Sue) didn’t live to see me get
elected. But I have to believe
she’ll be watching from somewhere.’’
In addition to Gossage and
Williams, four other Veterans
Committee selections will be inducted
on Sunday, July 27 at the
Clark Sports Center.
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