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Gossage to face ex-Red Sox players at PNC Field
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BY SCOTT WALSH
STAFF WRITER
It was as nerve-racking a situation as you can get.
On Oct. 2, 1978, the New York Yankees were clinging to a one-run lead over the Boston Red Sox in the one-game playoff to decide the American League East Division championship.
There were two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, but the Red Sox had the tying run at third base, the winning run at first base and future Hall of Famer Carl Yazstremski coming to the plate. The 32,925 fans at Fenway Park were going crazy.
Yet strangely, a calm came over Yankees relief pitcher Rich “Goose” Gossage for the first time all day.
“I went to bed thinking I was going to face Yaz, and here it was,” Gossage said in a telephone interview. “I said to myself, ‘Why are you so nervous?’ I always played the game for the fun of it. So when Yaz came up, it was the first time I really relaxed the whole game. I was very nervous the whole game. I had never played in a game of that magnitude before or since. After that game, the playoffs and the World Series seemed like a spring training game.”
Gossage got Yazstremski to pop up to third baseman Graig Nettles to end the game and save the Yankees’ 5-4 victory. It was one of 310 saves in Gossage’s 22-year major-league career, one that will be recognized this afternoon when he is inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y.
On Aug. 16, Gossage is one of the
players who will participate in the Legends Reunion at PNC Field. The event, which is co-sponsored by the Times-Tribune newspapers and the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees, features a team of former Yankees players against a team of ex-Red Sox players in a five-inning exhibition game. Gates open at noon with the game is scheduled to begin at 1:30 p.m.
Whenever fans think about the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry, that 1978 playoff game is usually one of the first things to come to mind.
“That was the biggest game ever played,” Gossage said. “Both teams had tremendous seasons; we were just fortunate to come out one run ahead. But I had a tremendous amount of respect for the Red Sox. They were a great club.”
With the Yankees leading, 4-2 — highlighted by Bucky Dent’s famous three-run home run — Gossage came on for starter Ron Guidry with one out in the seventh inning. In the top of the eighth, Reggie Jackson homered for a 5-4 lead, but Gossage was touched up for two runs and four hits in bootom half of the inning.
Then in the ninth, Gossage retired Dwight Evans before walking Rick Burleson and giving up a single to Jerry Remy. But he got Jim Rice to fly out, then got Yazstremski to end the game.
“We pitched short relief; the word closer wasn’t around yet,” Gossage said. “We didn’t pitch just one inning. We were put into situations that God couldn’t get out of and we had to get out of them. I pitched in a lot of big situations and did it for three-plus innings.”
Pitching in that 1978 playoff game is one of the highlights of Gossage’s Hall of Fame career, but it’s not the only one. He lists the first time he wore a major-league uniform — with the Chicago White Sox on April 16, 1972, against the Kansas City Royals — as a thrill, along with playing in Comiskey Park and winning the World Series in 1978 with the Yankees.
Gossage pitched in two other World Series. In 1981, he saved both the Yankees’ wins in their six-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
In the 1984 World Series, Gossage was with the San Diego Padres, who faced the Detroit Tigers. In the eighth inning of Game 5, with the Padres down, 3-1, in the series and, 5-4, on the scoreboard, the Tigers’ Kirk Gibson came to the plate with runners on second and third and one out. Padres manager Dick Williams wanted to intentionally walk Gibson, but Gossage — who had past success against Gibson — talked Williams out of it.
Gibson wound up hitting a three-run home run, and the Tigers won the game and the series.
“I had tremendous success against Gibby,” Gossage said. “Not to make any excuses, but I hadn’t pitched in eight days. I didn’t have my good stuff, but I still pitched to him.
“I have a tremendous amount of respect for Kirk Gibson. He was a great hitter and a great competitor. He got me that day. I have no regrets. You know, major league players, these guys are good. You have to tip your cap to them sometimes. But I wouldn’t change a thing.”
Another famous home run Gossage allowed was to the Royals’ George Brett on July 24, 1983. That, of course, was the “Pine Tar Game,” where the Yankees appealed Brett’s two-run, go-ahead home run in the ninth inning because the pine tar on his bat was too far up the handle. The umpires agreed and called Brett out, sending him into a meltdown. However, the ruling was later overturned and the teams finished the game weeks later with the Royals winning, 5-4.
“I had so much respect for George Brett,” Gossage said. “It didn’t get any better facing a guy like that. That was one of the most exciting things about being in the big leagues for me — facing the best. And they were going to get my best, so something had to give.
“On those days, Gibby and Brett got me. But I was even proud of the home runs I gave up.”
At the recent All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium, Gossage took part in the pregame on-field ceremony with other Hall of Famers. He also got to throw out the ceremonial first pitch along with other Yankees Hall of Famers Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford and Reggie Jackson.
Nine times Gossage appeared in the All-Star Game, including the last time it was held in Yankee Stadium in 1977 as a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates. He said being there this year is another career highlight.
“That was incredible, being with all those Hall of Famers at Yankee Stadium,” Gossage said. “What a ceremony that was. They did a tremendous job putting it together.
“Being elected to the Hall of Fame and having it come during the last year of Yankee Stadium, my life has been turned upside down. I’m having a tough time comprehending everything. It may never register.”
Contact the writer: swalsh@timesshamrock.com
On Oct. 2, 1978, the New York Yankees were clinging to a one-run lead over the Boston Red Sox in the one-game playoff to decide the American League East Division championship.
There were two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, but the Red Sox had the tying run at third base, the winning run at first base and future Hall of Famer Carl Yazstremski coming to the plate. The 32,925 fans at Fenway Park were going crazy.
Yet strangely, a calm came over Yankees relief pitcher Rich “Goose” Gossage for the first time all day.
“I went to bed thinking I was going to face Yaz, and here it was,” Gossage said in a telephone interview. “I said to myself, ‘Why are you so nervous?’ I always played the game for the fun of it. So when Yaz came up, it was the first time I really relaxed the whole game. I was very nervous the whole game. I had never played in a game of that magnitude before or since. After that game, the playoffs and the World Series seemed like a spring training game.”
Gossage got Yazstremski to pop up to third baseman Graig Nettles to end the game and save the Yankees’ 5-4 victory. It was one of 310 saves in Gossage’s 22-year major-league career, one that will be recognized this afternoon when he is inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y.
On Aug. 16, Gossage is one of the
players who will participate in the Legends Reunion at PNC Field. The event, which is co-sponsored by the Times-Tribune newspapers and the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees, features a team of former Yankees players against a team of ex-Red Sox players in a five-inning exhibition game. Gates open at noon with the game is scheduled to begin at 1:30 p.m.
Whenever fans think about the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry, that 1978 playoff game is usually one of the first things to come to mind.
“That was the biggest game ever played,” Gossage said. “Both teams had tremendous seasons; we were just fortunate to come out one run ahead. But I had a tremendous amount of respect for the Red Sox. They were a great club.”
With the Yankees leading, 4-2 — highlighted by Bucky Dent’s famous three-run home run — Gossage came on for starter Ron Guidry with one out in the seventh inning. In the top of the eighth, Reggie Jackson homered for a 5-4 lead, but Gossage was touched up for two runs and four hits in bootom half of the inning.
Then in the ninth, Gossage retired Dwight Evans before walking Rick Burleson and giving up a single to Jerry Remy. But he got Jim Rice to fly out, then got Yazstremski to end the game.
“We pitched short relief; the word closer wasn’t around yet,” Gossage said. “We didn’t pitch just one inning. We were put into situations that God couldn’t get out of and we had to get out of them. I pitched in a lot of big situations and did it for three-plus innings.”
Pitching in that 1978 playoff game is one of the highlights of Gossage’s Hall of Fame career, but it’s not the only one. He lists the first time he wore a major-league uniform — with the Chicago White Sox on April 16, 1972, against the Kansas City Royals — as a thrill, along with playing in Comiskey Park and winning the World Series in 1978 with the Yankees.
Gossage pitched in two other World Series. In 1981, he saved both the Yankees’ wins in their six-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
In the 1984 World Series, Gossage was with the San Diego Padres, who faced the Detroit Tigers. In the eighth inning of Game 5, with the Padres down, 3-1, in the series and, 5-4, on the scoreboard, the Tigers’ Kirk Gibson came to the plate with runners on second and third and one out. Padres manager Dick Williams wanted to intentionally walk Gibson, but Gossage — who had past success against Gibson — talked Williams out of it.
Gibson wound up hitting a three-run home run, and the Tigers won the game and the series.
“I had tremendous success against Gibby,” Gossage said. “Not to make any excuses, but I hadn’t pitched in eight days. I didn’t have my good stuff, but I still pitched to him.
“I have a tremendous amount of respect for Kirk Gibson. He was a great hitter and a great competitor. He got me that day. I have no regrets. You know, major league players, these guys are good. You have to tip your cap to them sometimes. But I wouldn’t change a thing.”
Another famous home run Gossage allowed was to the Royals’ George Brett on July 24, 1983. That, of course, was the “Pine Tar Game,” where the Yankees appealed Brett’s two-run, go-ahead home run in the ninth inning because the pine tar on his bat was too far up the handle. The umpires agreed and called Brett out, sending him into a meltdown. However, the ruling was later overturned and the teams finished the game weeks later with the Royals winning, 5-4.
“I had so much respect for George Brett,” Gossage said. “It didn’t get any better facing a guy like that. That was one of the most exciting things about being in the big leagues for me — facing the best. And they were going to get my best, so something had to give.
“On those days, Gibby and Brett got me. But I was even proud of the home runs I gave up.”
At the recent All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium, Gossage took part in the pregame on-field ceremony with other Hall of Famers. He also got to throw out the ceremonial first pitch along with other Yankees Hall of Famers Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford and Reggie Jackson.
Nine times Gossage appeared in the All-Star Game, including the last time it was held in Yankee Stadium in 1977 as a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates. He said being there this year is another career highlight.
“That was incredible, being with all those Hall of Famers at Yankee Stadium,” Gossage said. “What a ceremony that was. They did a tremendous job putting it together.
“Being elected to the Hall of Fame and having it come during the last year of Yankee Stadium, my life has been turned upside down. I’m having a tough time comprehending everything. It may never register.”
Contact the writer: swalsh@timesshamrock.com
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