Saturday, March 12, 2016

On Goose Gossage Getting Steamed

The general reaction to Goose Gossage's off-color, off-topic (he'd initially been asked about Aroldis Chapman) rant about Joey Bats and Bryce Harper and all those disrespectful younger players is "cranky old man yells at damn kids to get off his lawn."

I don't think this is the most accurate way of looking at it.


Rather, I see Goose Gossage, the teammate of a man who was renowned for sitting in cakes (Sparky Lyle), the possessor of utterly ridiculous facial hair and showy facial hair during his heyday, the man who thrived on a reputation of dangerous wildness and intimidation, a man who was teammates with notably subdued introverts Reggie Jackson and Mickey "Gozzlehead" Rivers, who regularly threw to a catcher (Thurman Munson) who once deliberately dropped a series of third strikes so he could pad his assist totals by throwing to first, merely forgot the entirety of his career and the men he played the game with.

The alternative - that he actually meant all that nonsense - is too far fetched to believe.

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