Thank you, Baseball Hall Of Fame

The National Baseball Hall Of Fame has saved me from tearing my hair out. That was exactly what I was going to do if I had to write another post about Roger Clemens. Instead, it's all about Rich Gossage.

It looks like the HOF is finally acknowledging that relievers deserve to be enshrined. Poor Goose had to wait nine years for this and it was totally unfair.

As a Yankee fan I'll always remember Gossage in pinstripes, but Goose played for eight other teams in his twenty-two year career, including the San Diego Padres. During this time he accumulated 310 saves, for many of which he pitched more than two innings. Mariano Rivera would be long-retired if he'd pitched that often.

He'll be inducted with his Padres manager, Dick Williams. There should be lots of laughs on July 27 when images of those old Padre uniforms pop up.

Congratulations Goose.

The Lady

Ladies & Gentleman, Your 2008 Hall Of Fame Ballot:

Brady Anderson
Harold Baines
Rod Beck
Bert Blyleven
Dave Concepcion
Andre Dawson
Shawon Dunston
Chuck Finley
Travis Fryman
Rich Gossage
Tommy John
David Justice
Chuck Knoblauch
Don Mattingly
Mark McGwire
Jack Morris
Dale Murphy
Robb Nen
Dave Parker
Tim Raines
Jim Rice
Jose Rijo
Lee Smith
Todd Stottlemyre
Alan Trammell

According to baseball writer Peter Abraham, voters can select up to 10 players or no one at all. After looking over the list I couldn't select 10, but if I had a vote, I think I'd choose these 4:

Rich Gossage
Tommy John
Tim Raines
Jim Rice

My reasoning for Tommy John is simple: There are young baseball fans out there who think he's a surgery and not a person. It's not really a reason to vote him into the Hall, but I don't care.

I think the others are self-explanatory. I will say, however, that Rice is long overdue. He's more than paid for his avoidance of the media during his playing career. It's time to end the boycott.

The new inductees will be announced on January 8th. Good luck, gentlemen.

The Lady