K.B.'s Baseball Blog

After nine years of being on the ballot, the Hall Of Fame finally called on one of the greatest relievers of all baseball history. Rich “Goose” Gossage received 466 total votes by the Baseball Association of America (BBWAA) who voted him in on last Tuesday. He needed 75 % to get in the HOF and received 85.8%. He became the third closer to get into the HOF, following Dennis Eckersley and Bruce Sutter, the 2006 inductee.

At age 56, Gossage still sports his trademark mustache. He started his career at age 20 with the Chicago White Sox in 1972. He had a 1.84 ERA with them in 1975. His first 5 years were spent with them before being shipped off to Pittsburgh in a trade. In that one and only year with the Pirates, he had a 1.62 ERA with a 11-9 record. He signed off with them and onto the New York Yankees in 1978, starting a 6 year stint with them that staged his Hall of Fame career. He posted a 2.01 ERA in his first year with them and a 0.77 ERA in 32 games in 1981. 1983 was his last year in that stint with the Yankees, and in that year, he had a 13-5 record with a 2.27 ERA. From there, he moved around a lot as he spent 4 years with the Padres, a year with the Cubs, a season split with the Giants and a brief time back with the Yankees, another year with a different team in 1991 with the Rangers, 2 years with the Athletics, and his final year in 1994 with the Seattle Mariners. He had 11 total seasons with an ERA under 3.00 and 4 seasons under 2.00 in his 22 total seasons.

Coming in second place, Jim Rice, who was 16 votes shy of 75% with 72.2%. He received 392 total votes in his 14th year on the ballot. Next year will be his last shot at getting in by the BBWAA before being moved over to the veterans committee.

Rice, who is actually 2 years younger than Gossage at age 54, spent 16 solid seasons in the majors, all with the Boston Redsox. In those seasons, he collected 382 and a .298 batting average. 1978 was his best year, in which he hit 46 homeruns and held a .315 batting average. A year later, he had .325 batting average. He also had a total of 2,452 hits.

In third, Andre Dawson, who got 65.9% with his 358 total votes. After him, Bert Blyleven had 61.9% with 336 votes. Beyond him, nobody received more than 250 votes.

The only first timer on the ballot to receive more than 100 votes was Tim Raines, who collected 24.3%.

On the bottom of the list Brady Anderson and Jose Rijo were last, receiving no votes.

Rod Beck, who was eligible for the HOF because he passed away back early in 2007, received 2 total votes.

Dave Concepcion, who was on the ballot for his 15th and last time time before moving to the veteran’s committee, came in 11th place with 16.2%.

And of course, the Big Mac himself, Mark McGwire, received another disappointing vote percentage of 23.6%. He was on the ballot for the second time. Because of the uncertainty of him using performance enhancing drugs, it is uncertain if he will ever be recognized by the HOF for his incredible 583 homeruns which ranks eighth on the all-time homerun list and his 70 homerun season in 1998.

The induction of Gossage into the Hall Of Fame will take place in July.