TAMPA – Add not-so-instant replay to Goose Gossage’s list of how MLB has gone wrong.
“No manager can run on the field anymore and kick dirt on the umpire,’’ the Hall of Famer told The Post on Tuesday at George M. Steinbrenner Field. “That was exciting. That was part of the game. That woke everybody up and everybody loved it.
“Now you sit there for five minutes and wait for a f—ing replay. And half the time, you can’t even tell.
“Who’s died in the last 100 years because of a bad call? They say, ‘Well, they lost a World Series and the kid lost his perfect game.’ I said, ‘Who died?’ Leave the human element in the game. You cannot take the human element out of baseball because it is the fabric of the game.”
Gossage remains upset with the state of baseball in 2016 because he cares so much about the game.
“They can say all they want to about ‘old school’ and the game has passed me by,’’ Gossage said. “Let me tell you something: The game has not passed me by.”
Gossage ripped the Bat Flip Generation and the “nerds’’ running baseball last week to ESPN and has doubled and tripled down on his comments. After the initial firestorm, he was called into a meeting with Yankees general manager Brian Cashman and manager Joe Girardi. But he wants to make it clear that he is only speaking out because of his love for the game that did so much for him.
“I’ve had a lot of people call me and support me,’’ he said. “I have not heard one negative thing on my phone.
“It’s a shame, it breaks my heart to see the direction this game is going. What, do we want a bunch of Cam Newtons running around?
“So, if no one keeps it in check, which there is no one keeping it in check, first of all, no one wants to bite the hand that fed them or the hand that feeds them today. The only liaison we had was Joe Torre. It’s like Washington DC. Everybody starts out with good intentions. You can’t beat them, join ‘em.’’
Gossage, 64, who is here as a guest instructor, is not joining.
“Never,’’ he said. “I was taught a way to act, and that hasn’t changed in 100 years. And all of a sudden in the last 15 you can do anything you want to do.’’
Gossage knows he is fighting a losing battle, especially when it comes to the analytics portion of the game.
“This is the revenge of the nerds, and they are going to get the last laugh — I know that,’’ Gossage said. “These guys played rotisserie baseball at Harvard or wherever they played it and they were successful, so they think that’s all there is to it. That’s just a little f—ing part of the game.
“Let me tell you, you can’t control this game no matter how hard you try. We gave up a long time ago of trying to figure this s–t out. It has a mind of its own, it has a character of its own. And they are taking that character out of the game.
“It breaks my heart,’’ he added. “I see the lack of fundamentals. Kids are not being taught how to play the game. It’s all about offense. It all just breaks my heart.’’