Goose Gossage - Career

Career

Gossage led the American League in saves in 1975 (26), 1978 (27) and 1980 (33). On October 2, 1978, he earned the save in the Yankees' one-game playoff against the Boston Red Sox for the AL East title, entering with one out in the seventh inning and a 4-2 lead following Bucky Dent's home run; although he allowed two runs in the eighth inning, he held on to preserve the 5-4 victory, getting Carl Yastrzemski to pop up to third baseman Graig Nettles with two out and two men on base in the ninth inning to clinch the division championship. He was also on the mound five days later when the Yankees clinched the pennant in the ALCS against the Kansas City Royals, entering Game 4 in the ninth inning with a 2-1 lead and a runner on second base; he earned the save by striking out Clint Hurdle and retiring Darrell Porter and Pete LaCock on fly balls. He was on the mound ten days later when they captured the World Series title against the Los Angeles Dodgers for their second consecutive championship, coming on with no one out in the eighth inning of Game 6; he retired Ron Cey on a popup to catcher Thurman Munson to clinch the win.

One of his most impressive performances was on Sept. 3, 1978, in a game vs. the Seattle Mariners. Replacing Sparky Lyle in the top of the 9th with runners on second and third and no outs, he preserved a 4-3 lead by striking out the next three batters in 11 pitches.

He missed some of the 1979 season with the Yankees due to a thumb injury sustained in a locker-room fight with teammate Cliff Johnson. Ron Guidry, the reigning Cy Young Award winner, volunteered to go to the bullpen to replace him. In the first game of a doubleheader on October 4, 1980, Gossage pitched the last two innings of a 5-2 win over the Detroit Tigers, earning his career-high 33rd save as New York clinched another division title. On October 10, George Brett of the Royals hit a tide-turning three-run homer off Gossage into Yankee Stadium's right-field upper deck to lead the Royals to a three-game sweep in the AL Championship Series, after the Yankees had defeated the Royals in three consecutive ALCS from 1976 to 1978. Almost three years later during the regular season, Brett got to the Goose again in the Bronx, blasting a go-ahead two-run home run in the top of the ninth in a game memorialized as the "Pine Tar Game."

Gossage recorded saves in all three Yankee victories in the 1981 AL Division Series against the Milwaukee Brewers, not allowing a run in 6⅔ innings, and he was again the final pitcher when they clinched the 1981 pennant against the Oakland Athletics. In 1983, his last season with the Yankees, Gossage broke Sparky Lyle's club record of 141 career saves; Dave Righetti passed his final total of 150 in 1988. Gossage holds the Yankees' career record for ERA (2.14) and hits per nine innings (6.59) among pitchers with at least 500 innings for the team.

In eight of his first ten seasons as a closer, Gossage's ERA was less than 2.27. Over his career, right-handed hitters hit .211 against him.

In 1984, Gossage clinched another title, earning the save in Game 5 of the NL Championship Series and sending the Padres to their first World Series; after San Diego had scored four runs in the seventh inning to take a 6-3 lead against the Chicago Cubs, Gossage pitched the final two innings, getting Keith Moreland to hit into a force play for the final out. On August 17, 1986, Gossage struck out Pete Rose in Rose's final major league at bat. On August 6, 1988, while with the Cubs, Gossage became the second pitcher to record 300 career saves in a 7-4 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies, coming into the game with two out in the ninth and two men on base and retiring Phil Bradley on a popup to second baseman Ryne Sandberg.

On July 23, 1991, while Gossage was with the Texas Rangers, a statistical coincidence was noted when he recorded his 308th career save to preserve Nolan Ryan's 308th win. On August 4, 1994, Gossage became the third pitcher in major league history to appear in 1,000 games. Pitching for the Seattle Mariners against the California Angels, he entered the game with two out in the seventh inning and runners on second and third base, trailing 2-1; he picked up the win when the Mariners scored three times in the eighth for a 4-2 victory. In his final major league appearance on August 8, he earned a save of three innings – his first save in over 15 months – in the Mariners' 14-4 win over the Rangers, retiring all nine batters he faced; José Canseco hit a fly ball to left field to end the game.

Gossage had a record 112 career blown saves. ESPN.com noted that blown saves are "non-qualitative", pointing out that the two career leaders —Gossage and Rollie Fingers (109)—were both inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Fran Zimniuch in Fireman: The Evolution of the Closer in Baseball wrote, "But you have to be a great relief pitcher to blow that many saves. Clearly, saved many, many more than he did not save." More than half of Gossage's blown saves came in tough save situations, where the tying run was on base when the pitcher entered. In nearly half of those blown tough saves, he entered the game in the sixth or seventh inning. Multiple-inning outings provide more chances for a reliever to blow a save. The pitcher needs to get out of the initial situation and pitch additional innings with more chances to lose the lead.