LIDGE, GOSSAGE LINKED BY ROLES, COLORADO TIES
COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. — The history seeps from the pictures, the microphones, the plaques. It embraces visitors, connecting the past with the present.
So as Rich “Goose” Gossage goes into the National Baseball Hall of Fame today, it’s important to understand his link to Colorado. He’s the most famous, most accomplished baseball player in the state’s history, an honor he admitted Saturday was “overwhelming and, really, unbelievable for a kid who grew up in Colorado Springs.”
Don’t think his predecessors haven’t noticed. The most celebrated Colorado closer since Gossage is Cherry Creek High School alum Brad Lidge. He recently signed a three-year, $37.5 million contract extension with the Phillies, posting a 2.36 ERA with 22 saves. Look to his back to understand how Lidge, himself, has looked back.
“I definitely followed Goose’s career. He wore number 54, and that’s one of the main reasons that I have kept it throughout my career,” Lidge said. “It means a lot to have him represent Colorado. We have had first- round picks, but this is different. It’s something you have to respect.”
As his career grew longer, Gossage became a mentor. A fellow Hall of Fame inductee, manager Dick Williams, praised Gossage on Saturday for helping meld together the San Diego Padres’ 1984 playoff bullpen.
“If not for him,” Williams said, “we wouldn’t have made the playoffs.”
A former Rockies volunteer coach in spring training, Gossage still dispels advice. He recently spoke with Lidge, leaving a lasting impression.
“He told me, ‘Don’t be afraid to bust that heater up and in,’ ” Lidge recalled with a smile.
Nothing chaps Gossage more than pitchers who nibble at the corners and let hitters extend their arms. He calls it the equivalent of “putting a ball on a tee.” With Lidge, he passed on the knowledge relayed to him by legendary teammate Dick Allen.
“I reminded Brad to not be afraid to change eye levels, to use the upper regions of the strike zone. Enough of those balls will get away,” Gossage said. “Therein lies the purpose pitch. Hitters see that ball up and in like a basketball, but they can’t hit it.”
Rockies in Cooperstown.
The Rockies, who for nearly a decade existed in baseball’s witness relocation program, have a nice profile in Cooperstown. In the modern-era wing, each current major-league team is represented with its own locker.
The Rockies’ locker contains a Todd Helton jersey, Larry Walker’s bat and batting gloves from his 1997 MVP season, the lumber used by Dante Bichette to hit the franchise’s first home run, the cap and jersey worn by shortstop Troy Tulowitzki when he turned a triple play in April 2007, and Juan Uribe’s bat, which was swung by pitcher Jason Jennings to stroke a home run during his historic shutout debut in 2001.
The Rockies also are featured in a 2007 World Series exhibit that includes a placard explaining the humidor.
Footnotes.
Longtime rival Carlton Fisk, a Red Sox and White Sox legend, was among the Hall of Famers who enjoyed a golf outing with Gossage on Saturday. Fisk and Gossage have become friends since they retired. “Nobody knows how worthy guys are that are in Cooperstown than those who played against them,” Fisk said. “Goose was scary. He’s very deserving.” . . . Allen and former Pirates manager Chuck Tanner visited Gossage in Cooperstown on Saturday, leaving him emotional. Tanner recently had surgery and returned home Saturday afternoon to recuperate.
