The Goose was loose one more time today in Cooperstown as Rich "Goose" Gossage was enshrined in baseball's Hall of Fame. I remember as a kid hearing the Goose is loose and the excitement of him coming in to close a tight game. Gossage proudly went into the hall as a Yankee today and may have been more nervous about todays appearance then his appearances when pitching.
"I woke up early, about 5 a.m., and couldn't sleep worth a darn,"
Gossage said. "I woke up in a sweat and I couldn't find my suit and I
had to go out in front of all those people with sweats that had writing
all over them, had some writing on the seat, and it was very strange
this morning. I woke up and then I went, 'Thank God, it wasn't real. So I'm not sleeping very well. There's a lot of anxiety. I pitched in a lot of good ballgames, but this is over the top."
54 of the 62 living Hall of Famers were on hand for the ceremony and Gossage could not hold back the tears about midway through his speech as he spoke about Larry Sherry, Thurman Munson, and Jim "Catfish" Hunter.
Gossage raised his plaque on high, launched into his speech and easily made it through the first 2 minutes, 30 seconds, talking about his childhood growing up as a Yankees fans and his family. And then he went on from there, finally choking up 10 minutes into his 17-minute talk as he mentioned his late teammates.
"They were my dear friends and added to the fun of my baseball career," Gossage said. "I feel very honored to wear a Yankees cap into the Hall of Fame today and be part of that great Yankees tradition. My career is like a kid getting on his favorite ride at Disney World and not getting off for 22 years. This experience has been overwhelming."
Congratulations Goose! You deserve it!
