Generally, when you think of a Hall of Fame player, you think of someone that spent his entire career with one or two teams, three at the most. However, that’s not really the case with pitchers, especially those hurlers who played in the 1970’s and later. Dennis Eckersley pitched for five teams, Fergie Jenkins, four. Gaylord Perry was a frequent traveler, as he was a member of eight teams. The King of the well traveled Hall of Famers is the subject of this week’s Immaculate Grid Superstar, Rich “Goose” Gossage”.
Goose’s career spanned three decades for a total of 22 seasons. He started with the Chicago White Sox where in 1976, the year after he led the American League in saves with 26, he became a starter, going a less than stellar 9-17 with a 3.94 ERA. He did finish with 15 complete games. That was the last year the Goose started a game as he returned to his All Star reliver form in 1977 with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He then became much more recognized nationally beginning in 1978 when he joined the New York Yankees. Gossage registered the final out of the one game playoff, the American League Championship Series and the World Series as the Yankees repeated as champions. He then flew to San Diego and helped the Padres to their first World Series appearance in 1984.
It was after his time with the Padres that Gossage really moved around. He went to five more organizations (including a second Yankee stint) before finally calling it a career after the 1994 season. He finished with 310 saves and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2008. If there was a Hall of Fame for Immaculate Grid, Rich Gossage would be a charter member.
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