Controversies: Goose Gossage is a Cranky Old Man

Pictured: a disgrace to the game FREAKING LEGEND

The sides: Former Yankee pitcher Goose Gossage vs. Jose Bautista and anyone else who likes celebrating.

The background: Today in 'who the heck asked you' news, someone made the very unwise decision to sit down Goose Gossage and let him talk about what he thinks of modern baseball. And, surprise surprise, he thought it was going in the toilet. He also hates nerds, for some reason (as a self-professed nerd, I'm very insulted) but we'll get to that later.

One specific target of his ire - again, no surprise - was our very own Jose Bautista.
Here's that part of the interview:

"Bautista is an [expletive] disgrace to the game. 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."

You can read the rest here, if you feel like tormenting your eyeballs. I'll wait.

My two cents: Obviously, as I have sworn to go to my grave defending Jose, I'm not the most impartial person on this. But I have a couple points to make.

One: Did he ask any of said Latin players what they think about all of this? I feel like if they're really that embarrassed by Bautista, they'd be able to speak for themselves, but that's just me.

Two: I don't know if he noticed, but the majority of the guys 'acting like fools' in Toronto are white. Josh Donaldson is no gentleman when he's fired up, and just today Troy Tulowitzki sent his bat cartwheeling after a walk. But none of them are mentioned by name in this tirade as being an embarrassment, etc., etc.
FYI, Goose: your racism is showing.

Three: I don't even understand where this came from. The random singling-out and attacking of Bautista seems way out of left field, and it's about something that wasn't even recent. Before today, Bautista hasn't played in a game since October. And since Gossage played in the 70s and 80s, he and his team have absolutely nothing to do with Bautista. At least Rangers pitcher Sam Dyson (while still a jerk) made comments about something that was relevant to himself, and has basically been quiet about it since.

Four: It's fascinating that Gossage is a proponent of injuring human beings on purpose (you know, an actual crime) but gets all riled up about someone being good at something and acknowledging they're good at it. Did he ever celebrate winning a game? Ever? In his life? This is not rhetorical, I am genuinely curious.

It also should be noted that no one should be surprised by any of this crap, he played for the Yankees for a good chunk of his career. They hate fun.

But the thing that confuses me is, he hates nerds, and the people he's mad at about 'ruining' baseball are the exact opposites of your stereotypical meek, wimpy 'nerds' - they're joyful, loud, and proud of themselves. And damn good at what they do. So who the hell do you want playing, Goose? Who does that leave? Aggressive idiots?

Speaking of fucking disgraces. pic.twitter.com/dyhxhPFNT1

— David, VM (@VocalMinoritySD) March 10, 2016

Oh... Nevermind. Kid was right about that last part.

The Backlash: Everyone who felt the need to respond did it in the most polite way possible - how's that for professionalism?

First, Yoneis Cespedes, who isn't a Blue Jay but was also mentioned at some point in the rant as being a disgrace because he also celebrates by flipping his bat, said he didn't know who Gossage was. He did, however, ask "He's a pitcher, right?", which should tell you everything you need to know about how tired this argument has gotten.

Then, brand-new Blue Jays catcher Tony Sanchez worked his way into my heart with the following tweets:

Russell Martin, per Barry Davis, said "I don't think we're too concerned about what Goose Gossage is thinking. Even though we respect what he's done for the game.", which is Canadian for "You were a good player but the words you're saying are stupid and you should shut up."

When Russell Martin goes home at night, he turns left at this sign. 

Russell, because he's the best, then went on to defend his teammate, saying "Jose is one of the best competitors I've ever played with. I enjoy how he goes about his business. He's a warrior out there."

And lastly, Bautista, well-spoken as ever, had this to say:

"He’s entitled to his opinion. I don’t agree with him whatsoever, but I’m not going to try to pick fights with people. They say what’s on their mind. If he had a reason to believe that, I would love to hear that, but I’ve never talked to him. I don’t know him. Whatever reason or agenda he’s on is fine with me. I’m not going to start picking a fight, let alone with a Hall of Famer."

(I took that last part to mean he'll wait until he's retired before releasing his true feelings. Hell hath no fury like a ticked-off Joey Bats).

Elsewhere on the Internet: It can't possibly be coincidental that Gossage's rant was made public on the same day as this excellent article about Bryce Harper was published. In it, he discusses how baseball needs to be more exciting, and basically says that people should be able to take credit for their accomplishments and not hate others for celebrating.

Bautista also had the following to say about Harper's article:

He's exactly right - joy is every bit as much of a human emotion as anger or aggression. And baseball players are human. (Goose, by the way, said stats nerds are taking the 'human element' out of baseball, but I bet he would fail to see the irony in that statement).

Now, the crusty old white-guy guard of baseball (*cough* Gregg Zaun) has long had a distaste for Harper because he acknowledges his own talent, can be seen as lazy, and apparently has a neck that one can't possibly be blamed for throttling. But the one thing I've never heard about him is that he 'celebrates too much'. And he's often credited with being 'a damn good ballplayer' in spite of those other perceived flaws. The talent comes first. But somehow Bautista has a temper/attitude/ego which 'ruin' watching him as a player. So it's interesting to see how those same guys will justify shitting on Jose while praising stuff about Harper. Ya know, since the two of them are on the same side of the issue.

Someone on Twitter took this opportunity to remind everyone that white-guy Mickey Mantle pretty much perfected the bat flip, and he came well before Goose's time.

But sure. Keep blaming all those pesky Latin players.

Someone else pointed out that Gossage shouldn't be in the HoF in the first place.

Also there's this, from (former pitcher) Dirk Hayhurst:

If Jose Bautista's bat flip embarrasses Latin players? Does Gossage's angry, swear riddled tirade embarrass white players?

— Dirk Hayhurst (@TheGarfoose) March 10, 2016

The Winners: Basically anyone listed above who's being classy or hilarious.

Jose Bautista is going to continue being amazing at the game of baseball no matter what anyone says, and so is Bryce Harper. Russell Martin and Tony Sanchez win too, because they get to be on the Blue Jays with Bautista, and they've made me love them today.

The Losers: Any baseballs that get pitched to Bautista after he thinks about this whole thing. Also the pitchers who threw said baseballs, the teams said pitchers play for, the fans of said teams... You get the picture.


All told, Jose and the Blue Jays took down the Yankees today 11-4 which, although it's a meaningless game, feels like some sweet, sweet, karma.

(Credit)

And you know what, Mr. Gossage, if you don't like the way baseball is being played anymore? You can kindly stop watching. I think we'll be just fine without you.