The Ninth belonged to Gossage

DonS writes:

“How fitting that Rich Gossage was inaugurated in his ninth year of eligibility.
 
  “The Ninth” was always Gossage’s time.”
Very true.  Gossage did say in his interview with Harold Reynolds that his longest stint was probably an 8 inning appearance when he came in the 6th, gave up the tying run then finished the game. 
 
I don’t think he said if he won the game or not.
 
Update:  I believe I found the game he was talking about.  Here is a game between the Red Sox and White Sox where Gossage pitched 7 2/3 innings.  He got the loss on a Carl Yasztremski homerun in the top of the 14th.
 
 

Harold Reynolds interviews Goose Gossage

2008 Hall of Fame inductee Goose Gossage is Harold Reynolds’ guest on MLB.com’s Baseball Channel.  Harold plays a little “This is Your Life” when he surprises the Goose by bringing his former manager Chuck Tanner into the interview. Goose was rather touched it seemed.

Also during the interview, Gossage talked of Dick Allen and how he took him under his wing and was instrumental in teaching Gossage about pitching from a hitter’s point of view. 

I’ve heard a lot of things about Dick Allen but this anecdote gave me a different insight into the man. 

You can access the interview from mlb.com.

The Goose gets in… but others get left out

 

Goose Gossage, top reliever from the 70s and 80s, finally got his due.  In his ninth year of eligibility, he was the lone selection by the writers

Goose is known primarily for his years with the New York Yankees, a stretch of six years where he pitched well enough to even be considered for the MVP and Cy Young (he was third in voting in both in 1980). 

Rich_Gossagebb That said, he did pitch and pitched well for the White Sox and the Padres where he put together strings of five years each.  It was with the Sox in 1976 when he pitched his last start.  That year he started 29 games going 9-17 with a 3.94 ERA.

Since then, he didn’t look back and his role was defined.  Throughout his career he garnered 310 saves, leading the league three times.  He currently is 17th all-time in that category, that record succumbing to the specialization of the bullpen ace.

Like Bruce Sutter who was selected two years before him, Gossage revolutionized the role the bullpen ace.  Stats aside, he was part of baseball’s change of bullpen strategy.  How it approached the late innings. 

The Rest

As much as this story is about Gossage, it also about those who didn’t get in.  I don’t remember a year where so many players were on ballot who many feel could be easily justified entry into the Hall.

The Jim Rice debate has been going on for years.  He missed this year by 16 votes.  Andre Dawson (third in voting this year) has been a favorite of many fans.  I’ve always felt Bert Blyleven deserves a nod but he’s never gotten higher than 53.3% of the vote until this year.  This time around, BB came close(r) with 61.9% of the vote. 

Lee Smith, Dave Concepcion, Dale Murphy, the list goes on.

Then, of course there is Mark McGwire.  I get the feeling that for most people, it’s a hot/cold issue.  Either you throw out any substance issues out the windows and cast your ballot or you don’t.  This year, 128 writers felt he was HOF-worthy and that ain’t gonna cut it. 

Rod “Shooter” Beck garned two post-mortem votes.  But Travis Fryman?

Rijo: First Again

jrijo

This has got to be a first: 

Jose Rijo is considered a first-ballot eligible in the coming Hall of Fame election. 

Again.

Rijo actually received a vote in the 2001 writer’s ballot.  Later that year, Rijo made a comeback and pitched for the Cincinnati Reds and pitched for two additional seasons. 

With five more wins and 94 more innings (his totals for 2001-2002 seasons), we’ll see if he gets TWO votes.

Don’t get your hopes up.  For the record, his career record shows 116-91 won-loss with a 3.24 ERA.

#35 Baseball Zealot Radio- Hot Stove plus Frick Ballot, Veterans Committee HOF Selections

 

Todd and Chuck join me for episode number 35 when we discuss all the baseball that’s been in the news lately.  It’s worth a listen just to hear Chuck do his Ron Santo impression.

Thanks to Todd for the PirateFest link.  He informed me that it still only costs $10/day.  I emailed him back with some smart-a** comment about “you get what you pay for”.

He came back with something about 2 World Series in his lifetime.

Anyway, here are the show notes:

Link to Show #35

Hosts: Tom, Chuck, Todd:

Summary: It’s December but there has been a lot of baseball news lately.  Todd, Chuck and I discuss the Ford Frick ballot, the Veterans Committee selections for the HOF as well as the latest trades and signings in light of the Winter Meetiings.

Links we talked about:

2008 Cubs Convention

2008 PirateFest

2008 SoxFest

Time: 48:35

Date Recorded: 12/9/07

Download via iTunes

Other Baseball Zealot Radio Episodes

Ford Frick Award ballot: King, Morgan and Nuxhall chosen by fans

jnuxhall

Like an episode of “Survivor”. all the others were kicked off the island and three remain. The fans voted for Bill King, Joe Morgan and Joe Nuxhall to join seven others to be on the final ballot of the Ford C. Frick Award for excellence in broadcasting.

Those three will be accompanying Tom Cheek, Ken Coleman, Dizzy Dean, Tony Kubek, Graham McNamee, Dave Niehaus and Dave Van Horne who were selected by a research committee from the Baseball Hall of Fame Museum.

They are all legitimate winners but the voting wasn’t close. The sympathy vote for Joe Nuxhall who passed away in November gave him 82, 304 votes to King’s 7,659 and Morgan’s 6,065.

Ironically, he had my vote before he passed.

Those who want a bio snippet of each of the ten broadcasters up for the Frick Award can go the Baseball Hall of Fame website which gives some details.

The announcement of the 2008 winner of the Frick award will take place on February 19.

08 class missing Marvin Miller

“I congratulate the Hall of Fame for electing five new members. I am particularly pleased that former Commissioner Bowie Kuhn is among those who have received this great honor. Bowie was a close friend and a respected leader who served as Commissioner during an important period in history, amid a time of change.”

– MLB Commissioner Bud Selig

I wish I could share Bud’s enthusiam for Bowie Kuhn’s induction but I can’t. Especially when they didn’t have the foresight to elect Marvin Miller.

Shawn from Squawking Baseball puts it best in his article, The Hall of Fame has Issues when he says that “Kuhn, on the other hand, simply did his best to avoid failure.”

I’m quite disappointed that Miller didn’t make it in and that’s compounded by the fact that Kuhn did.

Danny Murtaugh: Where’s the love?

I’m a little surprised that so far in my super scientific poll which asks “Which manager would you vote to induct into the Hall of Fame?”, that Danny Murtaugh has received nary a vote.  He certainly has some credentials in his vitae.  Daniel Edward Murtaugh was born in 1917 in Chester, PA and even at full … Continue reading “Danny Murtaugh: Where’s the love?”

murtaugh1

I’m a little surprised that so far in my super scientific poll which asks “Which manager would you vote to induct into the Hall of Fame?”, that Danny Murtaugh has received nary a vote.  He certainly has some credentials in his vitae. 

Daniel Edward Murtaugh was born in 1917 in Chester, PA and even at full stature was a small man at 5’9″ and 165 lbs.  He of course, is best known as the manager who led the Pittsburgh Pirates to five first place finishes and two World Series championships.  However, he had a playing career as a secondbaseman for the Phillies, Braves, and Pirates. 

Murtaugh’s prowess with the bat was nothing to write home about.  In his nine years in the majors, he accumulated only 8 homeruns and 219 rbis.  His runs scored (263) and on-base percentage (.331) weren’t much better even if you neutralize them for the time period he played in. 

He did however, placed ninth in the MVP voting in 1948, his first year with the Pirates.  That year, he hit .290 with 71 rbis.  He was also a good fielding secondbaseman leading the league in putouts, assists and double plays that same year. 

But that’s not why he’s on the ballot. 

sport-0261

He’s up for election to the Hall of Fame in 2008 for his managerial ability.  For 15 years, he managed the Pirates to a 1115-950 record.  Of those 15 years, they finished first one-third of the time.  He brought the town of Pittsburgh a World Championship two times separated by 10 years (1960, 1971). 

Thanks in part to the Pirates’ defeat of the Yankees in the World Series of 1960, Murtaugh was named Sport Magazine’s “Man of the Year”. 

Danny Murtaugh died December 2, 1976 in Chester, PA, the same town he was born.

 

O’Neil award a step in a right direction…

…but it’s still not enough. Negro League player, coach and ambassador for the game Buck O’Neil will be honored at the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum with a Lifetime Achievement award. A statue of O’Neil will be erected near the entrance of the museum. (MLB Commisioner Bud) Selig noted that a special committee spent … Continue reading “O’Neil award a step in a right direction…”

…but it’s still not enough.

buck oneil

Negro League player, coach and ambassador for the game Buck O’Neil will be honored at the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum with a Lifetime Achievement award. A statue of O’Neil will be erected near the entrance of the museum.

(MLB Commisioner Bud) Selig noted that a special committee spent 18 months seeking a proper way to pay homage to O’Neil after he was not in the Negro League inductees.

Eighteen months? It took them 18 months to come up with this? Hall of Famer Joe Morgan, who was on the committee, came up with this double speak:

“In some ways it’s going to be bigger than getting a plaque in the Hall of Fame,” Morgan said, denying the move was made to right what many saw as a wrongful exclusion of O’Neil.

Sure, Joe. Easy for you to say. You have your plaque up in the hallowed halls. Morgan continues:

“I don’t think it’s really righting a wrong. I think it’s doing something for someone who was a great amabassador for the game. That’s why you see this.”

Ironically, this isn’t the only time Joe has weighed in on Buck O’Neil.and the Hall of Fame. After Buck was denied induction a year ago, Morgan addressed the situation the most tactful way he could, ” “If you’re asking me, ‘Do we lower our standards to get more people in?’ My answer would be no.”

Forget Joe. Let’s get Buck O’Neil in the Hall of Fame not just the museum.

HOF Speech Audio Links

If you’re interested in listening to Tony Gwynn’s or Cal Ripken’s acceptance speeches at the Hall of Fame ceremonies, MLB.com has it available for download. The text of the speeches (Denny Matthews’ and Rick Hummel’s too)  is available from the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum website.

If you’re interested in listening to Tony Gwynn’s or Cal Ripken’s acceptance speeches at the Hall of Fame ceremonies, MLB.com has it available for download.

The text of the speeches (Denny Matthews’ and Rick Hummel’s too)  is available from the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum website.