Rich Gossage
With a scowl and an imposing physical presence, Goose Gossage intimidated batters with his blazing fastball as one of baseball's best relievers in the 1970s and 1980s. Originally a starting pitcher, White Sox manager Chuck Tanner made him a closer in 1975, and acquired him in a trade and used him out of the pen in 1977 in Pittsburgh. But the Pirates lost the tall right-hander to the Yankees via free agency after the '77 season, and Goose was on his way. Supplanting Sparky Lyle in the Yanks bullpen, Gossage saved 27 games in 1978 as the Bombers won the World Series. He flourished in New York on the diamond, but bolted after the 1983 season for the Padres, leaving the controversy of Steinbrenner's front office meddling behind. Gossage was never much for playing games or mincing words, and in laid back San Diego he helped the team to their first World Series in 1984. Despite throwing very hard with a motion that seemed to propel his entire body toward the plate, Gossage never suffered a serious arm injury. He managed to save 310 games in a 22-year career, and retired with more than 1,000 games under his belt.
Quotes About Gossage
"If you had Gossage strong, pitching four or five times a week, my goodness, it's scary to think about how good he'd be." — Tony LaRussa
Quotes From Gossage
"It's just very insulting to me that Dennis Eckersley would go in before Bruce Sutter and myself. I mean, it's nothing against Eckersley. He belongs in the Hall of Fame. But Sutter and me, we changed the role of the relief pitcher. Don't even compare what Mariano [Rivera] does to what we used to do. How many times a year does Mariano come in with a man on base? Very seldom. I was brought into tough situations. And you look at my 1,502 strikeouts, and my (1,809) innings. Those were big strikeouts, and those were grueling innings. Don't even insult me by comparing what I used to do to what the relievers do today." — Gossage, quoted in a column by Dan Graziano of the The Star-Ledger, January 9, 2006.
"Don't even compare me with Hoffman or Rivera. I'd love to have been used like them. I went and set up for Dennis at Oakland (in 1992 and 1993), so I know the way he was handled, how pampered he was over there. Not to take anything away from these guys, to compare what I did with what they did. ... It was even a joke with the coaches. We joked with Eckersley all the time."
Played For
Chicago White Sox (1972-1976)
Pittsburgh Pirates (1977)
New York Yankees (1978-1983)
San Diego Padres (1984-1987)
Chicago Cubs (1988)
San Francisco Giants (1989)
New York Yankees (1989)
Texas Rangers (1991)
Oakland Athletics (1992-1993)
Seattle Mariners (1994)
All-Time Rankings
Goose Gossage ranks #4 among the Top 50 all-time at RP. Rankings ⇒
Best Season: 1978
He fanned 122 batters in 134 1/3 IP, and worked more than two innings per outing. In the World Series against the Dodgers, he allowed one hit and zero runs in six innings out of the pen. He had two very good seasons before he went to the Yanks, with the White Sox in 1975, and the Bucs in 1977. With the Yanks, he was essentially the best reliever in the AL for six seasons.
Born
Richard Michael Gossage was born on July 5, 1951, in Colorado Springs, CO.
Batted: Right
Threw: Right
Primary Position: P
Primary Team: NYA
College: Southern Colorado
Major League Debut
April 16, 1972
Nine Other Players Who Debuted in 1972
Dwight Evans
Buddy Bell
Mike Schmidt
Bob Boone
Gary Matthews
Davey Lopes
Goose Gossage
Rick Reuschel
Garry Maddox
Nicknames
Goose
Similar Players
Dick Radatz... Troy Percival had a similar delivery.
Related Players
Kirk Gibson hit a clutch, three-run homer off Gossage in the eighth inning in Game Five of the 1984 World Series. Gossage had convinced Dick Williams that he could strike out Gibson, against whom he had good success previously... In 1983, George Brett hit a monstrous homer off Gossage, which was later ruled an out because of excessive pine tar on his bat. Eventually the homer was allowed in what became known as the Pine Tar Game... Bruce Sutter
| Hall of Fame Voting |
| Year |
Election |
Votes |
Pct |
| 2000 |
BBWAA |
166 |
33.3% |
2001 |
BBWAA |
228 |
44.3% |
2002 |
BBWAA |
203 |
43.0% |
2003 |
BBWAA |
209 |
42.1% |
2004 |
BBWAA |
206 |
40.7% |
2005 |
BBWAA |
285 |
55.2% |
2006 |
BBWAA |
336 |
64.6% |
2007 |
BBWAA |
388 |
71.2% |
|
Post-Season Appearances
1978 American League Championship Series
1978 World Series
1980 American League Championship Series
1981 American League Division Playoffs
1981 American League Championship Series
1981 World Series
1984 National League Championship Series
1984 World Series
Awards and Honors
1978 AL Rolaids Relief
Transactions
June 4, 1970: Drafted by the Chicago White Sox in the 9th round of the 1970 amateur draft; December 10, 1976: Traded by the Chicago White Sox with Terry Forster to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Richie Zisk and Silvio Martinez; October 28, 1977: Granted Free Agency; November 22, 1977: Signed as a Free Agent with the New York Yankees; November 7, 1983: Granted Free Agency; January 6, 1984: Signed as a Free Agent with the San Diego Padres; February 12, 1988: Traded by the San Diego Padres with Ray Hayward to the Chicago Cubs for Keith Moreland and Mike Brumley; March 28, 1989: Released by the Chicago Cubs; April 14, 1989: Signed as a Free Agent with the San Francisco Giants; August 10, 1989: Selected off waivers by the New York Yankees from the San Francisco Giants; November 13, 1989: Granted Free Agency; January 25, 1991: Signed as a Free Agent with the Texas Rangers; October 30, 1991: Granted Free Agency; January 27, 1992: Signed as a Free Agent with the Oakland Athletics; November 6, 1992: Granted Free Agency; December 7, 1992: Signed as a Free Agent with the Oakland Athletics; October 29, 1993: Granted Free Agency; February 15, 1994: Signed as a Free Agent with the Oakland Athletics; March 30, 1994: Released by the Oakland Athletics; April 3, 1994: Signed as a Free Agent with the Seattle Mariners; October 11, 1994: Granted Free Agency.
When he was signed by the Yankees as a free agent in 1977, his new teammate, Lou Piniella, was at his side at the press conference. "He's my kind of pitcher," Lou said, "He's a fastball pitcher and I'm a fastball hitter. The only trouble is, I can't hit his."
All-Star Selections
1975 AL
1976 AL
1977 NL
1978 AL
1980 AL
1981 AL
1982 AL
1984 NL
1985 NL
Replaced
Goose replaced Sparky Lyle as the relief ace for the Yankees. Prior to that, he pitched in the pen with Kent Tekulve in Pittsburgh, and briefly replaced Terry Forster as the White Sox relief ace. When he left Pittsburgh as a free agent follwing the 1977 season, one Pirate executive revealed: "We were worried about one thing, we didn't want him to go to Philadelphia. If he did, we couldn't compete with them."
Replaced By
The Yankees replaced Gossage with converted starter Dave Righetti, after he left via free agency. The Goose's last job as a primary relief ace was with Don Zimmer's Cubs in 1988. After they let him go early in '89, the Cubs used Mitch Williams to fill that role.
Best Strength as a Player
Command of his fastball and tendency to instill fear in the minds of hitters.
Largest Weakness as a Player
In 32 games against the Yankees (two as a starter), Gossage posted a 5.88 ERA with just one save. Of course, much of that came in his days with the ChiSox, before he honed his skills.
Learn More about Rich Gossage
Search Amazon.com for Books about Rich Gossage ⇒
Search for Rich Gossage at Google ⇒
View a map of his hometown at Mapquest ⇒
Sources used for the Rich Gossage Player Page:
"Hoffman's saves trigger comparison" by Barry M. Bloom, mlb.com, September 2006
