Goose Gossage doesn’t need to be welcomed at spring training to chime in on the sign-stealing scandal that has rocked baseball.
Gossage, who was banned as a Yankee spring instructor in 2018 for various criticisms of GM Brian Cashman and the team’s analytics department, offered his latest “Get off my lawn” rant this week, including what his response would be to the Astros’ cheating scheme to steal signs via electronics during the 2017 season.
“Guys used to steal signs all the time,” the Hall of Fame closer told the Tampa Bay Times. “Robin Yount and Paul Molitor were a couple of the best at stealing signs from second base, and [catcher Thurman] Munson comes out one day and says, ‘I think they’re stealing our signs.’
“I said, ‘Oh, OK.’ Munson runs back, he didn’t even say anything, we knew what to do. He called a breaking ball and I threw a fastball under Robin Yount’s chin, and I think he saw his life flash before his eyes.’’
Gossage, a member of the Yankees’ 1978 World Series championship team, also dusted off a few of his greatest hits, with shots at Cashman and the analytics craze that has taken over the game in recent years.
“These (stat-driven) workouts are all eyewash. It’s a bunch of bulls–t. It’s like the Democrats are running baseball,” Gossage said. “They’re trying to control something that is uncontrollable. And they’re taking all the beauty out of the game.
Goose GossageCharles Wenzelberg/New York Post“Go ahead, boys, take all the credit — fire up your computer, put in all the information and see what it comes up with. Cashman has 20 of them (guys) running around. He stops and 20 of them bump into each other.”
On the increased importance of launch angles in baseball, Gossage added: “I don’t need a launch angle to tell me George Brett’s ball is going to hit in the upper deck. They’re all really smart, but they have no respect for knowledge of the game. … Swinging for the fences, that uppercut (that’s so common), oh my God, if I pitched today they wouldn’t even sniff a ball.’’
Gossage will appear Monday at a Q&A event hosted by Suzyn Waldman in Clearwater, Fla., featuring members of the 1978 Yankees — including Bucky Dent, Mickey Rivers and Graig Nettles — and former Red Sox Bill Lee, Bernie Carbo and Luis Tiant. Hall of Famer Wade Boggs, a Tampa native who played for both organizations, also will be in attendance.
“We may see (Lee and Nettles) go at it. That would be exciting,” Gossage said, referring to a brawl involving those players in 1976. “That rivalry was really something. Back when we were playing, we hated them, and they hated us.’’
