Goose Gossage is still a flamethrower. Even at age 64, many years removed from the mound, the former Yankees closer is throwing heat at hitters, just with his mouth instead of his arm. And true to a hurler’s style, he’s prone to be erratic.
The crotchety broadcaster plunked Toronto Blue Jays slugger Jose Bautista with this one on Thursday: “He’s embarrassing to all the Latin players, whoever played before him. Throwing his bat and acting like a fool, like all those guys in Toronto.”
A bit of backstory: Bautista, nicknamed Joey Bats for his elite power, bookended one of the all-time wildest innings of playoff baseball with a decisive home run against the Texas Rangers last year. The blast arced into the left-field seats, and to Gossage’s chagrin, Bautista’s bat soared nearly as high. After making contact with the pitch and realizing instantly that the ball was bound for glory, the adrenalized hitter flipped his Marucci-branded lumber toward the sky. The moment became an iconic sports photograph, revered and shared by fans and teammates.
Emotional. #TBT @JoeyBats19 pic.twitter.com/8nX3CyJLSt
— Marcus Stroman (@MStrooo6) March 10, 2016
But not by Gossage.
“Bautista is a f***ing disgrace to the game,” he told ESPN.
There are several faults in his full statement. One, it’s nonsense to state that Bautista’s behavior humiliates his Latin-American predecessors. Roberto Clemente was renowned for his charity work; Bautista has been nominated for the award that bears his name, as well as the Branch Rickey Award, which “recognizes professionals in Major League Baseball for exceptional community service.”
And if the topic of conversation is Bautista’s admiration of his own handiwork, let’s not forget precedent. It was Manny Ramirez, after all, who dropped his bat, raised his hands, and watched a game-winning shot travel over Fenway Park’s “Green Monster” in the 2007 American League Divisional Series.
That was OK then, and Bautista was just fine last October. These are moments of peak competitiveness, as well as accomplishment in the cases of these two players. Baseball has many so-called unwritten rules. I’m unaware of one that forbids celebrating achievement.
Gossage had plenty else to say in his ESPN interview, chiding the creation of player safety rules, the prevention of pitcher overuse, and the “bunch of f***ing nerds running the game.”
Those “nerds”, the advanced statistics community, say that Gossage is one of the great relief pitchers in baseball history. There’s no argument here. His numbers don’t lie.
His words don’t, either. They say that Gossage probably isn’t one of the great commentators in the game.
