Goose Gossage Goes On Wild Rant, Bashes Cespedes And 'Nerds' Ruining Baseball
If you've been wondering how Goose Gossage feels about the current state of Major League Baseball - bat flipping, Sabermetrics, replay review and all - wonder no more. He hates it, and he's not afraid to say it.
In a profanity-laced interview with ESPN.com, Gossage laid into modern day baseball, particularly hitters who celebrate such as Toronto Blue Jays' star Jose Bautista, Mets' slugger Yoenis Cespedes.
"Bautista is a f---ing disgrace to the game," Gossage told ESPN. "He's embarrassing to all the Latin players, whoever played before him. Throwing his bat and acting like a fool, like all those guys in Toronto. [Yoenis] Cespedes, same thing."
Gossage also went in on "nerds who are running" baseball, referring to the new era of sabermetricians and advanced statistics being used by many clubs.
"The game is becoming a freaking joke because of the nerds who are running it. I'll tell you what has happened, these guys played Rotisserie baseball at Harvard or wherever the f--- they went and they thought they figured the f---ing game out. They don't know s---."
When asked about the MLB Hall of Famers' comments, Bautista took the high road and told ESPN, "(Gossage) is a great ambassador for the game. I don't agree with him. I'm disappointed that he made those comments, but I'm not going to get into it with him."
Cespedes also defended his actions, telling ESPN, "Whenever a pitcher strikes someone out they get to celebrate too and have their moment and revel in it. Why can't the batters get a chance to enjoy their success too?"
He added, "I'm not too worried about what anyone says about me. I just go out there and do my job. That's what I'm going to focus on."
On top of that, Gossage also took umbrage with some of the new rules designed to protect players, such as the home plate collision rule instituted after Buster Posey suffered a gruesome injury in 2011 during a play at the plate in a game against the Marlins.
"You can't slide into second base. You can't take out the f---ing catcher because [Buster] Posey was in the wrong position and they are going to change all the rules. You can't pitch inside anymore. I'd like to knock some of these f---ers on their a-- and see how they would do against pitchers in the old days."
Bryan Altman is, for some reason, an unabashed fan of the Rangers, Jets and Mets. If he absolutely had to pick a basketball team it would be the Knicks, but he'd gladly trade them for just one championship for any of his other three teams.
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