1951
Born July 5, 1951
Colorado Springs, CO, USA
Goose Gossage Marquee Hall of Fame 2008
b. July 5, 1951 · Chicago White Sox 1972–1976, Pittsburgh Pirates 1977, New York Yankees 1978–1983, 1989, San Diego Padres 1984–1987, Chicago Cubs 1988, San Francisco Giants 1989, Texas Rangers 1991, Oakland Athletics 1992–1993, Seattle Mariners 1994
Chicago made him a starting pitcher in 1976, his fifth season, and he went 9-17 with fifteen complete games in twenty-nine starts. The White Sox traded him that winter and he never started another game. In Pittsburgh in 1977 he struck out 151 men in 133 innings of relief and finished with a 1.62 earned run average.
The Yankees signed him for 1978. He led his league in saves three times, in 1975, 1978 and 1980, and his earned run average for the 1981 season was 0.77. He was chosen for nine All-Star teams. Of the 1,002 games he pitched, only 37 were starts.
On July 24, 1983, George Brett hit a two-run home run off him with two outs in the ninth. The umpires erased it for pine tar on the bat; the league president put it back four days later. He finished with 1,502 strikeouts and a 3.01 earned run average, and the writers elected him in 2008, on his ninth ballot, with 466 of 543 votes.
Honors
| Award | Times | Years |
|---|---|---|
| All-Star selection | 9 | 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1984, 1985 |
| The Sporting News Fireman of the Year | 2 | 1975, 1978 |
| Pitcher of the Month | 1 | 1979 |
| Player of the Week | 1 | 1978 |
| Reliever of the Year Award | 1 | 1978 |
Batting, season by season
| Year | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 | CHW | 36 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 | .000 |
| 1973 | CHW | 21 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1974 | CHW | 39 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1975 | CHW | 62 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1976 | CHW | 31 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1977 | PIT | 72 | 23 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 0 | .217 |
| 1978 | NYY | 63 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1979 | NYY | 36 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1980 | NYY | 64 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1981 | NYY | 32 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1982 | NYY | 56 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1983 | NYY | 57 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1984 | SDP | 62 | 22 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 0 | .182 |
| 1985 | SDP | 50 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 0 | .000 |
| 1986 | SDP | 45 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | .000 |
| 1987 | SDP | 40 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .000 |
| 1988 | CHC | 46 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| 1989 | NYY/SFG | 42 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| 1991 | TEX | 44 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1992 | OAK | 30 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1993 | OAK | 39 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1994 | SEA | 36 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Career | — | 1003 | 85 | 1 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 37 | 0 | .106 |
Pitching, season by season
| Year | Team | W | L | G | GS | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 | CHW | 7 | 1 | 36 | 1 | 2 | 80.0 | 72 | 38 | 44 | 57 | 4.28 |
| 1973 | CHW | 0 | 4 | 20 | 4 | 0 | 49.2 | 57 | 41 | 37 | 33 | 7.43 |
| 1974 | CHW | 4 | 6 | 39 | 3 | 1 | 89.1 | 92 | 41 | 47 | 64 | 4.13 |
| 1975 | CHW | 9 | 8 | 62 | 0 | 26 | 141.2 | 99 | 29 | 70 | 130 | 1.84 |
| 1976 | CHW | 9 | 17 | 31 | 29 | 1 | 224.0 | 214 | 98 | 90 | 135 | 3.94 |
| 1977 | PIT | 11 | 9 | 72 | 0 | 26 | 133.0 | 78 | 24 | 49 | 151 | 1.62 |
| 1978 | NYY | 10 | 11 | 63 | 0 | 27 | 134.1 | 87 | 30 | 59 | 122 | 2.01 |
| 1979 | NYY | 5 | 3 | 36 | 0 | 18 | 58.1 | 48 | 17 | 19 | 41 | 2.62 |
| 1980 | NYY | 6 | 2 | 64 | 0 | 33 | 99.0 | 74 | 25 | 37 | 103 | 2.27 |
| 1981 | NYY | 3 | 2 | 32 | 0 | 20 | 46.2 | 22 | 4 | 14 | 48 | 0.77 |
| 1982 | NYY | 4 | 5 | 56 | 0 | 30 | 93.0 | 63 | 23 | 28 | 102 | 2.23 |
| 1983 | NYY | 13 | 5 | 57 | 0 | 22 | 87.1 | 82 | 22 | 25 | 90 | 2.27 |
| 1984 | SDP | 10 | 6 | 62 | 0 | 25 | 102.1 | 75 | 33 | 36 | 84 | 2.90 |
| 1985 | SDP | 5 | 3 | 50 | 0 | 26 | 79.0 | 64 | 16 | 17 | 52 | 1.82 |
| 1986 | SDP | 5 | 7 | 45 | 0 | 21 | 64.2 | 69 | 32 | 20 | 63 | 4.45 |
| 1987 | SDP | 5 | 4 | 40 | 0 | 11 | 52.0 | 47 | 18 | 19 | 44 | 3.12 |
| 1988 | CHC | 4 | 4 | 46 | 0 | 13 | 43.2 | 50 | 21 | 15 | 30 | 4.33 |
| 1989 | NYY/SFG | 3 | 1 | 42 | 0 | 5 | 58.0 | 46 | 19 | 30 | 30 | 2.95 |
| 1991 | TEX | 4 | 2 | 44 | 0 | 1 | 40.1 | 33 | 16 | 16 | 28 | 3.57 |
| 1992 | OAK | 0 | 2 | 30 | 0 | 0 | 38.0 | 32 | 12 | 19 | 26 | 2.84 |
| 1993 | OAK | 4 | 5 | 39 | 0 | 1 | 47.2 | 49 | 24 | 26 | 40 | 4.53 |
| 1994 | SEA | 3 | 0 | 36 | 0 | 1 | 47.1 | 44 | 22 | 15 | 29 | 4.18 |
| Career | — | 124 | 107 | 1002 | 37 | 310 | 1809.1 | 1497 | 605 | 732 | 1502 | 3.01 |
On this day & linked events
1972
Major-league debut: Goose Gossage
Goose Gossage made a major-league debut on April 16, 1972.
1983
The Pine Tar Game
Brett's ninth-inning homer is nullified for pine tar past the 17-inch limit; AL president Lee MacPhail later restores it and orders the game resumed.
1994
Final major-league game: Goose Gossage
Goose Gossage played a final major-league game on August 8, 1994.
Image: Philkon Phil Konstantin, public domain