"Oh, man. ... damn," Goose said quietly. "I don't get it. I really don't. What did Sutter do that I didn't?" The former Yankee's fury was about to gain momentum, so he wisely cut the phone call short.
"This isn't sour grapes, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed," he said. "I don't understand the voting at all. Today's baseball people are so into numbers and their computers, they just don't remember how the game was played. Or maybe they just don't know, period. Maybe it's not their fault.
"I know I'm repeating myself. I know I keep saying the game has changed - not just for closers, but for everyone. It's like baseball's past is being wiped out, deliberately being forgotten, like Barry Bonds being called the greatest hitter of all time. Give me a break. No one even talks about Hank Aaron anymore."
"I just can't believe Sutter got in before me," Gossage added. "He deserved it. I was hoping Sutter and I could go in together. ... I don't know if I ever will make it."
"You know what, I never hear from these guys who don't vote for me," Gossage said, his voice rising. "But I'll take on any writer, anywhere, on any show, and I will bury him."
"I'm not a campaigner," he said. "I'm just asking questions. The only reason I have ever spoken out is that you hate to see injustices."
Keep talking, Goose. Maybe if you make the writers feel stupid enough, they'll vote you in, I'm sure.
2 comments:
Goose is right....today's writers have no clue as to how the game either WAS played or IS played.
For the time Goose was there, he was feared by hitters and never gave ground. He was as great a closer as ever pitched. Some will ask if that is enough of a roll to allow entrance to the Hall, that it should take more of a stature at any given position to make the Shrine.
All I can say is, "Wait, Goose. You'll be there."
John Allen
Whether the guy's right or wrong, he doesn't have to be a schmuck about it. I don't see Jim Rice or Andre Dawson popping off like this.
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