Hall of Fame hopes for the Goose

MLB.com has been doing stories on the players on the ballot for the National Baseball Hall of Fame as a run up to the voting. Ballots must be turned in by December 31. The new inductees will be announced on January 9.

Earlier this week, I had a little something on Harold Baines.

Today, here is something on another Appleton Baseball Hall of Famer with a shot at Cooperstown, Rich "Goose" Gossage.

Gossage hopes this is his year
Former flamethrower seeks Hall induction as pioneering closer

Rich Gossage is hoping that his eighth year on the Hall of Fame ballot will be sprinkled with some magic. Each year since the Baseball Writers Association of America has had the opportunity to vote for him, Gossage, one of the top relief pitchers in history, has been less and less optimistic about his chances.

"I've felt the best this year, though, about the possibility of going in," Gossage said from his home in Colorado Springs. "I don't know if that's because of the feedback I'm getting from the writers who are calling me or what. The funny thing is, I always hear the good things. Nobody ever calls to tell me why they didn't vote for me. I guess they never would, but I never even hear it through the grapevine."
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The Goose's baseball career line over 23 seasons is a road map of baseball stops around world: Chicago (White Sox), Pittsburgh, New York (Yankees), San Diego, Chicago (Cubs), San Francisco, Yankees again, Fukuoka, Japan, Arlington, Tex., Oakland and Seattle.

Gossage finished 124-107 with 1,502 strikeouts -- nearly one an inning -- and a 3.01 ERA. His 310 saves are 16th on the all-time list, but he never had more than 33 saves in a single season -- reaching that mark in 1980 with the Yankees.
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...[W]hen it comes to closers, Gossage doesn't want to be compared to [Dennis] Eckersley or any other in the recent era, such as the Yankees' Mariano Rivera or the Padres' Trevor Hoffman, who took over the all-time saves lead in 2006.

"We're not even in the same league," said Gossage, who is 54 years old now. "Whether I belong in the Hall or not, I don't even know. I really don't. I guess what I based my hopes on, the reason that I thought I had a good shot, was that Rollie Fingers is in. I don't know what I did that Fingers didn't do. Is there something that I'm missing? I'm even more baffled because he's in the Hall."

Fingers, who was inducted in 1992, had 341 saves and threw 1,701 innings in 17 seasons. Gossage had 31 less saves in 1,809 innings.
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Gossage's star has been rising among that privileged class. In 2006, when Sutter was elected, Gossage's name was penned on 64.2 percent of the ballots, up from 55.2 percent in 2005 and a big rise from the scant 40.7 percent he garnered in 2004. A former player needs to be named on 75 percent of the ballots cast to be elected and has 15 years of eligibility.

Closing was different in the time of the Goose. He would pitch multiple innings throwing his fast ball hitter after hitter. Then along came one inning closers like Dennis Eckersly and Mariano Rivera. What does the Goose think about that?

"Don't even compare me with Dennis Eckersley or Mariano Rivera. I'd love to have been used like them."

HERE are the career stats for Gossage. Take note of his 1971 stats with the Appleton Foxes:
18-2 with a 1.83ERA in 25 games (24 starts) with 15 complete games and 7 shutouts.