Goose Gossage’s comments prove that he is stuck in his ways

Hall of Fame closer Goose Gossage offered some of his opinions on the current state of baseball, but all they do is prove that he’s stuck in his ways.

Legendary New York Yankees closer Goose Gossage offered ESPN some of his opinions on the current state of baseball, including singling out Jose Bautista for “showing up the opponent” and analytics. It’s unlikely that he has a problem with Bautista in particular, but he didn’t take kindly to his now famous bat flip in Game 5 of last year’s playoffs:

"Bautista is a f–king disgrace to the game. He’s embarrassing to all the Latin players, whoever played before him. Throwing his bat and acting like a fool, like all those guys in Toronto. [Yoenis] Cespedes, same thing."

This reaction comes at an interesting time, as only hours before, Bryce Harper was talking about how many young players show emotion and that it builds excitement. Harper, and a lot of the players that he mentioned, are not ruining the game at all. They are catering towards a younger demographic and getting rid of the narrative that baseball is boring. So what if they show a bit more emotion than some other players? They’re clearly enjoying the moment, and they don’t need guys like Goose Gossage to undermine what they’ve accomplished up until this point.

With regards to Jose Bautista, a part of his reaction to the bat flip is justified – while it was a big moment, it was only in the first round. Plus, Joe Carter’s winning home run came on a bigger stage and he didn’t flip his bat or disrespect the opponent. However, that home run was the biggest moment of Jose Bautista’s career, and it drove in the winning runs in a deciding game. For a franchise that hadn’t made it to the playoffs in 22 years, there was a lot of pent-up frustration from the crowd in the lead-up to that at-bat, and once the ball cleared the stands, he let it all out.

While Gossage has a point about Bautista disrespecting the opponent, it’s not like the Texas Rangers were showing much respect themselves. After the home run, Edwin Encarnacion tried to calm down the crowd but Sam Dyson interpreted that as a way of getting the fans even more riled up. Then, when that crazy inning was all over, Troy Tulowitzki gave Dyson a love-tap and he responded by trying to start a fight.

Bautista is known to have a hot temper, but his actions were dictated by the emotions of the game and the high-pressure situation he was facing. He was heavily influenced by the crowd, and it’s very likely that Encarnacion or Josh Donaldson would’ve flipped their bat too if they had hit that home run. So to call him a disgrace to the game for providing one of the most memorable moments of the playoffs in the last decade is a bit steep. It also comes off as hypocritical considering that Jorge Posada, who wore the same pinstriped uniform as Gossage, did a bit of showboating himself when he tied the game against the Red Sox in the playoffs:

Gossage later turned his attention to analytics in baseball, and while many have believed sabermetrics to be a big step forward for the sport, he derides it as a “bunch of nerds running the game.”

"The game is becoming a freaking joke because of the nerds who are running it. I’ll tell you what has happened, these guys played rotisserie baseball at Harvard or wherever the f— they went and they thought they figured the f—ing game out. They don’t know s—.A bunch of f—ing nerds running the game. You can’t slide into second base. You can’t take out the f—ing catcher because [Buster] Posey was in the wrong position and they are going to change all the rules. You can’t pitch inside anymore. I’d like to knock some of these f—ers on their ass and see how they would do against pitchers in the old days."

It’s pretty ridiculous that he would call baseball soft due to analytics but at the same time get fired up over a bat flip. You can’t have your cake and eat it too, but that’s what Gossage is trying to do here. And who is he to say that sabermetrics are bad for baseball? If he had it while he was playing, he would’ve been in love with it since they’re practically a pitcher’s best friend. At its most basic form, they help point out which part of the park batters hit towards most often which can cause a defensive shift and help prevent more runs.

Moreover, the people who have introduced sabermetrics to baseball should not be called “nerds.” They have not only improved the game by increasing the knowledge we have on players tenfold, but they’ve also brought about a revolution in analytics across the major North American sports. Many of the most successful teams and coaches use analytics – it’s well documented that Steve Kerr and the Golden State Warriors are firm believers in advanced stats. While not everyone can get a firm grasp on advanced stats, it does make sports more interesting to people who previously had no reason to watch it before.

To say that they were negative is putting it lightly, but his opinion would’ve carried a bit more weight if people actually took him seriously. Instead, we have people like Eric Simon who rightly believe that his comments prove that he’s stuck in his ways.

His major beef towards analytics seems to be that he didn’t have it while he was playing, while his criticism towards Bautista seems strangely racist in tone given that he lumped him together with Yoenis Cespedes and “Latin players.”

People shouldn’t get mad at others for being cocky when they have the talent to back it up – it’s what made so much of the Cam Newton criticism tired as well. Conversely, getting mad at a sport because it’s adapted is dumb, too. Times change, and you should never expect baseball, or any other sport, to be played the same way it was while Gossage was active 30 years ago. We should be thankful for the increasing amount of information that has become more readily available to us and acknowledge its role in changing the way players and fans think about baseball.

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