It's an understatement to say that Goose Gossage waited too long to be voted into the Hall of Fame. His invitation to Cooperstown has been one of the few bright spots in Baseball this winter - in fact, it's pretty much been downhill for the national pastime since Cleveland took a 3-games-to-1 lead against Boston last October.
Baseball fans that have come to age in the past twenty years may not realize how hard Gossage worked for those saves, although plenty of online columnists are doing their best to remind them.
After all, Gossage toiled in the era before Tony LaRussa "re-invented" the closer's role by laying down the edict that a team's best reliever would not be used until the 9th inning-no matter what. And that he would be used solely in the 9th to protect 1, 2, or 3 run leads.
Add my name to the long list of people ranting against the absurd notion that one's best reliever should be held out of high-leverage situations in the 7th or 8th - and often be used in much less crucial 9th innings to protect 3-run leads with no one on base. And not be used on the road in the 9th in a tie! (How many times has that killed the Yanks in road games during the Torre era?)
Why Tony LaRussa's mis-management of relief aces was gleefully embraced by baseball is beyond me. But now the damage is done. Closers now don't have the strength to go longer-they've never been asked to in the minors or the majors. Now, prized prospects are babied beyond comprehension. (Cue up the Joba rules.)
Just a quick look at Gossage's G/IP during his heyday is mesmerizing. This is with no starts. He was the "closer."
1977 Pittsburgh: Games: 72 IP: 133 ERA: 1.62 RSAA: 35 Saves: 26
1978 NYY: Games: 63 IP: 134.1 ERA: 2.01 RSAA: 25 Saves: 27
1979 NYY: (see Johnson, Cliff)
1980 NYY: Games: 64 IP: 99 ERA: 2.27 RSAA: 19 Saves: 33
1981 NYY: Games: 32 IP: 46.2 ERA: 0.77 RSAA: 15 Saves: 20
(1981 was a strike-shortened year)
1982 NYY: Games: 56 IP: 93 ERA: 2.23 RSAA: 17 Saves: 30
1983 NYY: Games: 57 IP: 87.1 ERA: 2.27 RSAA: 17 Saves: 22
1984 SDD: Games: 62 IP: 102.1 ERA: 2.90 RSAA: 7 Saves: 25
1985 SDD: Games: 50 IP: 79 ERA: 1.82 RSAA: 16 Saves: 26
Imagine that: 134 1/3 relief innings in 63 games for the 1978 World Champions.
Perhaps the most famous case in point was how Gossage was brought into the 1978 one-game playoff in Boston in the 7th inning…Does any other relief pitcher on the squad keep that lethal lineup at bay? Yes, he gave up some runs. But there is no one else the Yanks wanted to get those 7 outs.
Of Goose's 310 lifetime saves, 52 of them were for seven outs or more. Entering the game in the 7th was no big deal for the Goose. Managers such as Dick Howser, Chuck Tanner, Billy Martin and Bob Lemon would have won a lot less games if they subscribed to the Tony LaRussa theory.
Chuck Tanner was widely criticized when he put the young Goose in the bullpen when Goose came up to the White Sox in 1972. Tanner was a forward-thinker, back then the bullpen was where tired old veterans went as the last stop before retirement. But Tanner helped shape the bullpen as a modern force, both in Chicago and Pittsburgh.
I can't help but wish that some manager in the future will have a strong durable reliever that will be used for multiple innings. In the meantime, I have my memories of Goose's dominant years, when he was the best when it counted most-high-leverage situations with men on base and the game on the line.
As Goose said on Letterman the other night: "The only thing I ever tested positive for was being a flame-throwin' son-of-a-bitch."
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