COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Goose Gossage was always one of Jim Rice’s secret admirers, figuring he had a kinship with his fellow intimidator whose presence at the plate put dread into pitchers’ hearts.
The former Yankees pitching great who bullied batters with his imposing stature, steely eyed stare, bushy Fu Manchu mustache and his blazing fastballs, is fired up that the former Red Sox slugger will join him in Cooperstown this summer.
Rice was elected to the Hall of Fame this week along with Rickey Henderson. Rice made it in his 15th and final year of eligibility on the Baseball Writers’ Association of America ballot, and Henderson on his first.
Gossage said the only bummer from his own election a year ago was that Rice didn’t get to go in with him.
“I thought he deserved to go in way before this, but better late than never,” Gossage told The Associated Press today. “I’m really very happy for him. From a pitcher’s standpoint, no one scared me – but he was one of the guys that came the closest.”
Gossage figures he and Rice were cut from the same cloth: no-nonsense individuals who got under opponents’ skin with their passionate, competitive nature, and he counts the matchups against Rice among his best memories.
Rice was 8-for-34 (.235) against Gossage with one home run and nine strikeouts.
“As a challenge for me, it didn’t get any better than that,” Gossage said.
The long, agonizing wait for enshrinement is another part of their shared experience.
“It’s really life-changing,” Gossage said. “Being elected to the Hall of Fame validates everything you accomplished.”
Now, it’s high time for reliever Lee Smith to get in, Gossage suggested.
“I don’t know how you keep Lee Smith out of the Hall of Fame,” Gossage said. “He led the world in saves. He didn’t have a lot of postseason activity, but that’s not his fault. He just wasn’t on the right teams.”
Gossage has been a critic of the Hall voting, suggesting too many deserving players don’t make it and questioning why nobody has been a unanimous pick. Henderson received 94.8 percent of the vote.
“How can a guy not vote for Rickey Henderson?” Gossage said. “There’s never been a greater weapon in the game than Rickey Henderson. How can anyone not vote for him?”
Gossage said another problem is that statistics are skewed: What were great numbers in his day pale in comparison to today’s pumped-up stats, and the game itself has changed, too. So it’s hard to compare across generations.
“I’d like to face Manny Ramirez. I’d like to knock Manny Ramirez on his rump and see if he has the same swing,” Gossage said. “That’s why I think Hank Aaron’s numbers were so great. Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Jose Canseco, all these guys that were just hitting balls eight miles? Well, you didn’t do that back in the day. The next time up you got knocked on your butt.
“There is absolutely zero intimidation anymore. And the smaller ballparks. They tell you they’re not, but the ball is livelier than it ever has been.”
Gossage, who serves as a special instructor at spring training for the Yankees, said he can’t believe how hard and tightly wound baseballs are nowadays.
“And they go farther,” he said. “You had baseballs that felt like softballs when I was playing, loose seams. Now, they’re like a golf ball.”
Gossage said he thinks Rice was kept out of the Hall for so long because he was aloof with the media and those writers got their revenge by making him wait.
“And then you take a guy like Kirby Puckett, first-ballot guy. I’ll never understand that,” Gossage said. “No offense to Kirby, he was a hell of a player. But he played in a joke for a ballpark. Anything hit on the ground was a base hit. Anything hit in the air was a home run. Anything hit into the alleys was a double because it bounced into the stands. He was a darling with the media and Jim Rice was not.”
If his own experience is any indication, Gossage said the next six months will erase any creeping doubts about Rice’s credentials.
Gossage said he no longer has to argue his place in the sport, explaining how much different relief pitching was back when he started out, before setup men, specialists and ninth-inning closers were the norm.
“I had a front-row seat to that whole evolution of the bullpen. So I always took offense that these guys were considered so dominating. I’m talking about Mariano Rivera, who they say is the greatest reliever of all-time. I question that,” Gossage said. “I don’t take anything away from what he’s accomplished, but they’ve got to draw a line in the sand. If I had been used in a one-inning role, it’s no telling what my statistics would have been. I might never have given up a base hit.”
But, really, Gossage doesn’t want to defend himself anymore. He’s just eager to welcome Rice into the exclusive club.
“He’s in for the ride of his life,” Gossage said.