If I had been old enough during the prime of Goose Gossage, I very likely would have had a secret crush on him-- despite the fact that he's such a big Yankee. He's totally my type of baseball boyfriend: a rough-and-tumble character with a blistering fastball that he would blow past batters with pinpoint accuracy... and a rough attitude to match his appearance. Goose wasn't afraid to peg a batter to keep him in line, a la Nolan Ryan, and he basically helped pioneer the role of a closer in baseball-- but back in the day when closing meant going three innings, not one. Also, there is the matter of his spectacular fu manchu; that alone should earn him Baseball Boyfriend status.

Some of my favorite Goose anecdotes are mentioned in a Time magazine article from 2005:

He once called Yankee owner George Steinbrenner "the fat man upstairs" and another time punched a teammate on the nose during a bathroom brawl. In 1986, after San Diego Padres owner Joan Kroc, the widow of McDonald's founder Ray Kroc, banned beer in the clubhouse, Gossage famously remarked, "She is poisoning the world with her hamburgers, and we can't even get a lousy beer."

Barry Bonds stands up there. When's the last time Barry Bonds was knocked on his ass? Never ... The owners can save millions of dollars--take the pitcher off the mound and put up a tee. 'Cause what they're playing is tee ball. They pitch around him. If I was going to pitch around him, I would have saved four and just put one in his rib cage. You want to go to first? We'll do it easy.

So it's no surprise, really, that Goose hearts him some Josh Beckett and Jonathan Papelbon. In two different newspaper articles, Goose says that Josh is one of the few baseball players he admires -- and that Jonathan is the closer that most resembles his own style.

From the Denver Post:

Rich "Goose" Gossage's stomach turns when he flips on major-league baseball today. Raised in an era when a man took pride in getting his hands dirty, he has watched pitching become the equivalent of shampoo: delicate, soft and a lot of finesse.

Those he admires are few, a list that includes Josh Beckett and Bobby Jenks.

Who resembles Goose Gossage the most of today's closers?

GG: "Don't forget, it's so much different now than it was when I pitched. I was the middle man, setup, and closer all rolled into one. If I pitched one inning, I felt guilty. But in terms of style, I'd say [Jonathan] Papelbon. He's got that high riding fastball that can dominate a hitter. That's the way I was taught. The only thing I don't like about Papelbon is that fist-pumping he does at the end. We were taught to never show up the hitter, and I never did."

Goose has come very close (but no cigar!) to getting into the Hall of Fame over the last few years - but all indications are he'll get in when the inductee(s?) are announced tomorrow.