MLB

THE JUICY GOOSEY

Say it ain’t so, Goose!

In a surprising admission, the newest addition to this year’s Hall of Fame class hinted yesterday that he would have become “Juice” Gossage had steroids been prevalent in baseball when he played.

“I would have probably done it,” Goose Gossage said, referring to steroids. “I’m a free spirit. I like to have fun. I was a competitor. Chances are I would have done it too.”

Gossage cited the pressure that would have existed to keep up with other juicing players and potential financial rewards as reasons he would have considered using steroids, but also acknowledged the consequences he would have faced if caught cheating.

To that end, Gossage, speaking to reporters at the Waldorf-Astoria a day after his election into Cooperstown, blasted steroid cheats and voiced his suspicions about former Oakland teammate Mark McGwire, who remains absent from the Hall of Fame largely because of public belief he used steroids. Gossage also discredited Roger Clemens’ assertion during a recent “60 Minutes” interview that steroids do little to improve performance.

“I don’t think you can downplay the significance of performance-enhancing drugs,” Gossage said. “Mark McGwire and [Jose] Canseco, I never saw bat speeds like that on big guys. Obviously Mark did something, because I’d be down on Times Square screaming ‘I did not do it!’ I’d be screaming my lungs out.”

Gossage also seemed amused by the fact that Clemens, a player he deemed as calling too much attention to himself during his career, is now under the microscope as never before, having been named in the Mitchell Report for receiving injections of steroids and HGH.

“The attention [Clemens] is getting now is very difficult on him, and you saw a lot of frustration on the stage that day,” Gossage said, referring to The Rocket’s press conference Monday in Houston, which he ended abruptly. “If this thing works against him, that’s where the frustration comes in: The possibility of not going into the Hall of Fame is tremendous.”

Gossage indicated his drugs of choice were doughnuts and coffee during a 22-year career that ended in 1994. The former reliever surmised that steroids would have been a boon during his final five or six seasons when age finally began catching up with him.

Though there wasn’t much doubt Gossage would wear a Yankees cap on his Hall of Fame plaque, that fact became official yesterday. Gossage will be the first player inducted into the Hall of Fame as a Yankee since Phil Rizzuto in 1994.

But it’s almost a given that Gossage will be joined by Mariano Rivera at some point, giving the Yankees two relievers in Cooperstown. Gossage, who often worked multiple innings for saves, asserts that today’s closers, working one inning, have it easy compared to what he did.

Gossage was then asked who would have the setup role and who would be the closer if he worked in the same bullpen with Rivera.

“I wouldn’t have a problem setting up for Mariano,” Gossage said. “I like the tougher job.”

Gossage spent much of his news conference reminiscing about the 1978 Yankees, who rebounded from a 14-game deficit to snatch the AL East title from the Red Sox in a one-game playoff, and his conversion to a reliever by manager Chuck Tanner, but steroids remained the topic of the day.

“It’s unfortunate, but [their] records can’t stand,” Gossage said, referring to the steroid cheats. “There’s just too much at stake with the history of the game.”

Of course, if steroids were prevalent in his era, Gossage might be singing a different tune. The following is not a public service announcement from MLB.

“I can’t sit here,” Gossage said, “and say I wouldn’t have done it.”

mpuma@nypost.com