Goose Step Mama

I'm glad that Goose Gossage finally made it to the Baseball Hall Of Fame. He was one of the best pure closers ever, and his induction was long overdue. He joins Hoyt Wilhelm, Rollie Fingers, Dennis Eckersley, and Bruce Sutter as the only relief pitchers to be elected to the Hall of Fame.

Gossage played for nine teams during his 22-year career. I forgot that he spent a couple of seasons in Oakland at the end of his career. This means that three of the five Hall Of Fame relievers (Fingers, Eckersley, Gossage) are former Athletics. Hooray Oakland!



Gossage is also one of the many players who played for both the Oakland A's and the San Francisco Giants. Another thing Gossage has in common with Eckersley is that they both gave up World Series home runs to Kirk Gibson, but Eck's was a little more dramatic.

Gossage was the only player voted in this year, and Jim Rice was the only one close to the 75% necessary for induction. I'm old enough to remember the entire careers of most players on the ballot, so here would be my HoF votes on the remaining eligible players. I don't think Rice is Hall of Fame caliber.

Thumbs Up: Andre Dawson, Bert Blyleven, Tim Raines, Mark McGwire (steroids schmeroids!)
Thumbs Down: Everyone else. Who voted for Todd Stottlemyre? Chuck Knoblauch? or Chuck Finley?

I think Raines belongs in the HoF if only for the stories about how Rock used to slide headfirst when stealing bases so he wouldn't break the coke vials in his back pocket. That's up there with Dock Ellis pitching a no-hitter while tripping as one of my favorite baseball stories ever.

Of course The Man of Steal becomes eligible next year (unless he's planning another comeback at age 50), so Raines and the rest of these guys may have to wait awhile. 2009 is Rickeytime!