Goose Gossage again ruffles some feathers with comments
Former Yankees pitcher Rich "Goose" Gossage #54 throws out the ceremonial first pitch before a game against the Baltimore Orioles at Yankee Stadium on June 22, 2014. Credit: Mike Stobe
TAMPA, Fla. — Looks like Goose Gossage has ruffled some feathers in Yankeeland again.
A week after his comments about bat-flipping and the “nerds” who run baseball earned the Hall of Famer a talking-to from the Yankees, Gossage again took aim at things he doesn’t like. This time it was instant replay, Cam Newton and the supposed “revenge of the nerds” who didn’t like his original comments.
Yankees manager Joe Girardi seemed the most perturbed Wednesday about Gossage’s latest musings. After Gossages’s first series of broadsides, Girardi and Yankees general manager Brian Cashman met with the former closer, who is a special spring training instructor.
Girardi was asked if the Yankees were going to talk to Gossage again or even impose some discipline.
“That’s not up to me,” Girardi said. “We have not talked about anything happening with Goose. I was made aware of his comments again [Tuesday] night and I haven’t talked to Brian about it . . . You know what? I heard a great comment the other day: ‘There’s freedom of speech in our country, but that doesn’t always mean that there’s not freedom of consequences.’ Sometimes you’re going to be judged on what you say. That’s part of life. So we’ll see what happens.”
Gossage was not at Steinbrenner Field on Wednesday night before the Yankees’ exhibition game with Toronto. But he will remain in camp as an instructor, Cashman said.
On Tuesday, Gossage told the New York Post he has “had a lot of people call me and support me” about his original comments lambasting players such as Yoenis Cespedes of the Mets and Jose Bautista of the Blue Jays for bat-flipping and styling on home runs.
“I have not heard one negative thing on my phone,” Gossage said. “It’s a shame, it breaks my heart to see the direction this game is going. What, do we want a bunch of Cam Newtons running around?”
Gossage was referring to the quarterback of the NFC champion Carolina Panthers, who is known for his exuberant end zone celebrations.
On Wednesday, the Panthers put up a statement on their official Twitter page that said: “We love the way this guy runs around” with a GIF of Newton running around and celebrating. It did not mention Gossage.
Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.
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