THE GOOSE IS LOOSE
THE GOOSE IS LOOSE
If you even tangentially follow baseball, by now you probably have heard about Rich “Goose” Gossage’s tirade about the current state of baseball. If you don’t have the time to listen to an old man shouting “get off my lawn”, allow me to provide you with just a handful of highlights:
Goose’s take on front offices:
“The game is becoming a freaking joke because of the nerds who are running it. I’ll tell you what has happened, these guys played Rotisserie baseball at Harvard or wherever the fuck they went and they thought they figured the fucking game out. They don’t know shit”.
Um, sorry, Goose. All evidence is to the contrary. I think the fine folks in New England are pretty happy with Theo Epstein’s Yale education and the two rings he brought to Fenway. People in Dallas seem pretty satisfied with the Cornell-educated Jon Daniels. And, just for giggles, the “old school” General Manager of the Mets, a guy who has been in baseball since 1983, Sandy Alderson has degrees from both Dartmouth and Harvard.
(Side note: Of the 30 current GMs, there are 4 Harvard graduates, 2 each from Cornell and Dartmouth, and 1 from each of Princeton and Penn. There are also grads of MIT, Amherst, Georgetown, and Wesleyan, 2 law degrees from Harvard, 2 MBAs from Northwestern, and a Ph.D. from Berkeley. Time will tell how good – or bad – they are at their jobs.)
I guess it is fitting that Goose made these remarks this week, as the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference kicked off today – this is its 10th year. Someone, somewhere, thinks the nerds have something valuable to add to the conversation.
And then Goose took on current players:
“[Jose] Bautista [he of the epic bat flip in Game 5 of the ALDS] is a fucking disgrace to the game” and “he’s embarrassing to all the Latin players, whoever played before him”.
Now, putting aside Goose’s bona fides as a mouthpiece for all Latin players, these are pretty strong words that don’t reflect reality, at least with respect to embarrassing other players. Jose Bautista is well-respected in the baseball community – by players of all nationalities. Apparently, Goose has learned a thing or two from Donald Trump – if you say it, it must be true. But I digress.
And some special vitriol was saved for ESPN The Magazine’s Baseball Preview Edition’s cover story, the reigning NL MVP, one Mr. Bryce Harper. What did ol’ Rich have to say about arguably the best player east of the Mississippi:
“What does this kid know? This kid doesn’t know squat about the game, and [has] no respect for it . . . So let me tell Bryce Harper something: go look at the history, figure it out and quit acting like a fool.”
Well, okay then.
But it wasn’t just players, it was the game itself that Goose has a problem with:
“You can’t slide into second base. You can’t take out the fucking catcher because Posey was in the wrong position and they are going to change all the rules. You can’t pitch inside anymore. I’d like to knock some of these fuckers on their ass and see how they would do against pitchers in the old days.”
Fair point. But if that is what he wants, then he has to get the inverse. I would like to see how Rich would react if Giancarlo Stanton charged the mound after being “knocked on his ass”. Goose was 6’3” and threw hard; but he was about 180 pounds. Stanton rolls out at 6’6” and 240. How about Yasiel Puig? I don’t think he would take too kindly to being brushed back by the ‘stache. How would Goose fare when 6’2” and 255 pounds of Cuban fury came out of the batter’s box at full tilt? But those are the extreme examples. Let’s take a middle infielder – the days of Bucky Dent being prototypical are over. What if Troy Tulowitzki and his 215 pounds looked askance at Goose? I am not saying that Goose wouldn’t throw down – there is no question he would. I am just saying that the outcome may not be too pretty.
Now, for some context. Goose was doing a radio interview and he was asked to respond to comments that Bryce made in said ESPN The Magazine. That is when the Goose got cooked, and Mount Goosuvius erupted. So what, exactly, did Bryce say to cause this type of reaction:
“Baseball’s tired . . . It’s a tired sport, because you can’t express yourself. You can’t do what people in other sports do. I’m not saying baseball is, you know, boring or anything like that, but it’s the excitement of the young guys who are coming into the game now who have flair. If that’s Matt Harvey or Jacob deGrom or Manny Machado or Joc Pederson or Andrew McCutchen or Yasiel Puig – there’s so many guys in the game now who are so much fun.”
He went on to say:
“If a guy pumps his fist at me on the mound, I’m going to go, ‘Yeah, you got me. Good for you. Hopefully I get you next time.’ That’s what makes the game fun. You want kids to play the game, right? What are kids playing these days? Football, basketball. Look at those players – Steph Curry, LeBron James. It’s exciting to see those players in those sports. Cam Newton – I love the way Cam goes about it. He smiles, he laughs. It’s that flair. The dramatic.”
Apparently that was a bridge too far for a guy who played it old school in the ‘70s and ‘80s. But, putting all hyperbole aside, this is just an age-old generational question. I am sure Early Wynn and Warren Spahn would have had a few words to say about Gossage and Guidry.
Which brings us to the big question of the day, and one I have asked in this space enumerable times, especially on generational issues: What about the kids?
With Little League opening days this, or this past, weekend, with high school and college seasons already under way, what do we tell the kids? There has to be some happy medium between sharpening your spikes and drilling guys who “disrespect the game” and guys flipping their bats on flyouts to the warning track? Do pitchers have to be docile when striking out the clean-up hitter with two outs and two on in a one-run game? Do hitters have to simply put their heads down and circle the bases when they hit a game-tying homerun in the bottom of the 8th?
This is a very tricky topic for me because I can see both sides. I like to think that I was taught to play the game the “right way”. What do I mean by that? Well . . .
- Never walk in front of the catcher to get into the batter’s box (always walk behind).
- Never run across the mound on your way off the field.
- Try to run out every ground ball or pop out (admittedly, I wasn’t always successful at that).
- Slide hard into second base, but never with spikes high and always within arm’s reach of the bag.
- As a first baseman, this was even more personal: Never intentionally step on a fielder’s foot or hand.
- I did slap down a hard tag – and would expect the other team to reciprocate (as an aside, and opposing coach once came up to me after a game and said/threatened, “payback’s a bitch”).
- Always bring teammates their glove and hat between innings (and expect them to do the same).
- Because I didn’t hit many homeruns, I never had a bat flip or a Cadillac trot (but, had the moment called for it and it was a no-doubter, I am sure I might have had a little Ricky in me).
- I did show emotion on the field. I was definitely known to slam a helmet or throw a bat – but those were out of frustration, not to show anyone up. It seems that even The Goose would be okay with those infractions.
But I am on the fence because I also recognize that the landscape has changed. Today we have social media (even in Little League games, friends film each other and then immediately post the outcomes on Instagram); we have branding; we have ESPN, Top Plays, and Web Gems. We live in a slam-dunk, chest-thump, fist-pump, bat-flip world, and – regardless of what Goose Gossage (or Oscar Robertson (if you don’t know this reference, Google “Oscar Robertson Stephen Curry”)) have to say – that genie ain’t going back in the bottle.
So, again I ask, what do we tell our kids?
Well, I think we tell them to play the game the right way. We tell them to enjoy the game, and everything associated with it. And we tell them that emotions on the field are okay as long as (a) they are appropriate to the situation, (b) they don’t show up the other team/players, and, most importantly, (c) they are not pre-meditated.
If your kid is practicing his bat flip during BP, nip that in the bud. If your star pitcher is staring down opposing hitters in a pre-season game, give him the hook, pronto.
But if your player just hit the walk-off homerun in front of friends and family on a beautiful Saturday afternoon, let that kid go crazy. And not because Jose, Manny, or Hanley do it, but because – in the moment – his/her emotions took over.
Does Goose begrudge the 1:00 mark of this video:
And if your kid just struck out the other team’s best hitter with the bases loaded on that same Spring day, let him go a little Max Scherzer, a little Jose Fernandez, a little Jonathan Papelbon (okay, maybe just a little Pap).
And the next time ol’ Rich opens his mouth about the “good old days” and “in my day”, ask him about his former teammate Reggie Jackson . . .
(Enjoy Howard Cosell, and then check the reaction at the 1:15 mark)
And then show Goose this clip from 1987:
And then, in the words of Brian Cashman regarding another Yankee legend, tell Goose to “shut the fuck up”.
PLAY BALL!!
