28 Facts About Goose Gossage

1. Goose Gossage appeared in the postseason in two other years for the Yankees.

2. Goose Gossage said that the most important people for him in becoming a real pitcher were Tanner, Sain and Allen.

3. Goose Gossage had 15 complete games, seven shutouts, and led the league in ERA and wins.

4. Goose Gossage was 20 years old when he broke into the big leagues on April 16, 1972, with the Chicago White Sox.

5. Goose Gossage was born on Thursday, July 5, 1951, in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

6. Goose Gossage is an avid guitarist, and collaborated on a 2015 album with progressive rock icon Ralph Docker.

7. Goose Gossage has reached baseball's heights despite a boyhood that resembled a Rocky Mountain low.

8. The Red Sox game was a watershed, Goose Gossage says, because it was the one in which he began to relish pitching under supreme pressure.

9. Goose Gossage struck out Carney Lansford and retired Dan Ford and Jason Thompson on weak flies.

10. Goose Gossage has written an autobiography, released in 2000, entitled The Goose is Loose.

11. Goose Gossage owned a hamburger restaurant in Parker, Colorado, called Burgers N Sports.

12. Goose Gossage made nine All-Star appearances and pitched in three World Series.

13. Goose Gossage pitched over 130 innings as a reliever in three different seasons.

14. Goose Gossage signed with the Seattle Mariners for the 1994 season.

15. Goose Gossage signed one-year contracts to pitch for the Oakland Athletics in 1992 and 1993.

16. Goose Gossage signed with the Texas Rangers for the 1991 season.

17. Goose Gossage became a free agent after the 1983 season, and insisted that he would not resign with New York.

18. Goose Gossage became upset with Yankees' owner George Steinbrenner for meddling with the team.

19. Goose Gossage holds the Yankees' career record for ERA and hits per nine innings (6.59) among pitchers with at least 500 innings for the team.

20. In 1983, his last season with the Yankees, Goose Gossage broke Sparky Lyle's club record of 141 career saves; Dave Righetti passed his final total of 150 in 1988.

21. Goose Gossage missed some of the 1979 season with the Yankees with a thumb injury sustained in a locker-room fight with teammate Cliff Johnson.

22. Goose Gossage became a free agent after the 1977 season, and signed with the New York Yankees.

23. Goose Gossage was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2008.

24. Goose Gossage is the career leader in blown saves.

25. At the Hall of Fame induction in 2008, Goose Gossage expressed gratitude to a number of baseball people who had helped him through his career, and several times described his Hall of Fame week experience as "amazing".

26. Goose Gossage lives in his home town, Colorado Springs, Colorado, and is active in the community promoting and sponsoring youth sports.

27. Goose Gossage recorded saves in all three Yankee victories in the 1981 AL Division Series against the Milwaukee Brewers, not allowing a run in 6⅔ innings, and he was again the final pitcher when they clinched the 1981 pennant against the Oakland Athletics.

28. Goose Gossage led the American League in saves in 1975 (26).