It’s time for the baseball Hall of Fame debates to begin. From now until the results are announced, FanIQ will be taking a look at this year’s major candidates. Up next: Goose Gossage.

 

For 22 seasons, everyone knew the big reliever with the great nickname and the Fu Manchu. Rich "Goose" Gossage played for the White Sox, Pirates, Yankees, Padres, Cubs, Giants, Rangers, A's, and Mariners. This is his ninth year on the ballot. Gossage's career stats can be found here.

 

Pros For Induction

Relievers are the most unpredictable animal is baseball. However, Gossage was dominant for a long time. From 1977-1984, nine seasons in all, his highest ERA was 2.90. That includes four seasons with an ERA under 2, and one season with an ERA of 0.77 in 1981.

The save totals don't look all that impressive now, but Gossage finished with top ten in saves eleven years, including three years at #1 (1975, 1978, 1980). Gossage ranked in top five nine of those eleven years. For a closer, this is a long time to be at the top.

The closer role these days is simply a one inning job. He comes in, pitches the ninth (often with a multiple run lead), and leaves with the save. This was not how it was in Gossage's time. Multi-inning saves were the norm, as was being the "fireman," coming into the game to kill the rally in whatever inning needed. Gossage did that, throwing a lot of innings for a reliever, including four years of over 100 innings, and two more of 90 innings. The result is over 1800 career innings with an ERA+ of 126, meaning 26 percent better than the league average of his era.

Cons Against Induction

Gossage hung around for a long time as a set-up man. He pitched seven seasons after no longer being a full-time closer. Although most of them were still above average, they still weren't at his previous level. It allowed his career ERA to finish at 3.01, which seems high for a reliever.

310 saves is perceived as a low total these days. It ranks 17th all-time, behind Roberto Hernandez, Troy Percival, Rick Aguilera, Robb Nen, and the worst of all, Jose Mesa.

The Verdict

Goose Gossage was a dominant reliever for a decade. Not just a closer, but a reliever. While he's been passed by some less than stellar closers in saves, that is mainly a function of how the closer role was evolved and specialized in recent years. While accumulating those saves, Gossage threw for more, higher quality innings than both his peers and most of the current crop. Gossage is a deserving Hall of Fame who should have been in years ago.

Will He Get In?

Probably. Gossage was 21 votes shy last year, and according to Keith Law's continuing ballot count, Gossage is easily above the 75% threshold. I will go on record here and predict that Goose Gossage is the sole writers' election this year.

Now it’s your turn. Discuss Gossage's candidacy in the comments, and be sure to vote in both his individual poll and Seth’s poll encompassing the entire ballot.