Goose Gossage flunks test, assist by Warner Wolf on Imus

Yesterday I started a contest for Goose Gossage, and he failed already. At the end of Jayson Stark's 5/25/07 ESPN piece begging voters not to consider Mariano Rivera's 13 year post season record when evaluating late inning relief pitchers for the Hall of Fame, I posted the following:

• "P.S. CONTEST FOR GOOSE GOSSAGE: Try and define yourself WITHOUT USING THE NAME MARIANO RIVERA."

This morning between 8:15 and 8:30 ESPN 1050's Warner Wolf did one of his regular reports for the Imus radio show approximating the following:

• ESPN's Warner Wolf: Today's the day Goose Gossage will find out if he made it to the Hall of Fame. I asked Gossage how he'd compare himself to Mariano Rivera.

• Gossage via telephone: Well, I don't want to take anything away from Mariano Rivera, but we're in 2 different classes. These guys today never do what I did. He has it easy compared to what I did.

• Imus: So he says he doesn't want to take anything away from Rivera, then he drives a stake through his heart.

• ESPN's Warner Wolf: Right, well he's right, he pitched 3 innings.

• (End of "report." Without the name of Mariano Rivera, there would've been no report).

********* Rivera has pitched 3 innings a number of times in both regular and post season. You wouldn't know this if you relied on ESPN's Jayson Stark for your info, as he wrote a piece yesterday completely eliminating Rivera's 1996 regular season. In that year (regular season) Rivera pitched 3 innings 8 times, 2 or more innings (but less than 3) 27 times. He pitched 107 innings followed by 16 innings in the 1996 post season, total for the year 122IP. In the World Series he pitched 4 of the 6 games, at one point 3 days in a row.

• The point is, Gossage is incapable of defining himself without using the name Mariano Rivera. HE FLUNKED THE TEST.

Gossage did have post season and All Star "opportunities" He just didn't do well with them. He gave up 2 homeruns in the deciding Game 5 of the 1984 World Series.

• One HR was the big one to Kirk Gibson--after his Padres manager held up 4 fingers instructing Gossage to walk Gibson. Gossage decided to go against his manager. Big game pressure isn't for everyone.

That's a stat Jayson Stark, Warner Wolf and most others don't mention.

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