Goose Gossage grew up loving baseball and went on to have a Hall of Fame career in the game he adored for most of his life. Now that love for the game seems to be gone and in its place, a hatred for the modernization of the game.
In an interview with The Tampa Bay Times, Gossage went after MLB for how much it has changed in recent years and broken away from what it used to be. At a time when analytics are becoming more popular than ever among teams, Gossage now no longer watches the sport he was a part of for decades.
“I don’t even watch the game anymore,’’ Gossage said. “It breaks my heart that I can’t sit down and watch nine innings of baseball because it’s not the game I was brought up playing and respecting and loving. The strategy of the game — where do we start talking about the differences? It’s all become so computerized.’’
It wasn’t that long ago that Gossage remained involved with the game he loved, even as a fan. But 68-year-old former New York Yankees star has taken exception to the sport adopting analytics and the increased attention placed on launch angle and exit velocity.
“This launch angle — I don’t need a launch angle to tell me George Brett’s ball is going to hit in the upper deck,’’ Gossage said. “They’re all really smart, but they have no respect for knowledge of the game. None.”
Gossage even went after the Yankees and general manager Brian Cashman for bringing more data into the evaluation process and hiring scouts and personnel who use analytics.
“Go ahead boys, take all the credit — fire up your computer, put in all the information and see what it comes up with,” Gossage said. “Cashman has 20 of them running around. He stops and 20 of them bump into each other.”
It’s clear that the Hall of Famer is unlikely to get involved with baseball again anytime soon. As more teams push towards using data to complement scouting and the game itself, Gossage’s feelings toward baseball will likely only grow more intense.
Gossage also weighed in on teams stealing signs and everything that is wrong with MLB.
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