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!