ANAHEIM, Calif. — The year was 1978 and Goose Gossage was within a giggle of being a former New York Yankee. The first six weeks of his first season with the Yanks hadn’t gone well, and owner George Steinbrenner was furious.
“So George comes down to the clubhouse and he stands three feet in front of my locker pacing back and forth, just ripping everyone, telling us that he’s not paying us all this money to stink,” Gossage recalled at the All-Star Game on Tuesday.
“He was talking to the team, but everyone knew he was talking about me. So (catcher) Thurman Munson is sitting across the room, and every time George turns his back, he puffs his cheeks out. I was like a kid in church trying to not laugh. He was so livid. I knew if I even smiled, I was done. I have never been around someone so tough and so competitive.”
The memories, a bit faded from the passing years, flooded back when the Hall of Fame pitcher from Colorado Springs learned of the Yankees owner’s death Tuesday of a heart attack at age 80. Gossage survived and thrived in the Bronx as Colorado’s strongest connection to arguably the most colorful team owner in pro sports history.
Gossage lived in fear of The Boss during his playing days. He had his spats with the man, but they became close long after Gossage threw his last pitch for the Yankees in 1989. For Gossage, Steinbrenner’s passing, while not a surprise because of his poor health the past several years, hit hard. Gossage grew up a huge Yankees fan in Colorado Springs, following his parents’ lead.
“And he made sure that franchise became what it is today. No one can fill his shoes. He was larger than life,” Gossage said. “He made it clear there was only one goal: to win. And the more we won, the crazier he got.”
During Steinbrenner’s ownership reign, beginning in 1973, the Yankees won seven World Series and 16 division titles. His legacy is clear, but complicated. He spent billions on players’ salaries, had 17 managers in his first 17 years and was twice banned from baseball, once for illegal campaign contributions and the other for hiring a known gambler to dig up information on one of his players, Dave Winfield.
“In a way it was brilliant. He felt like any news about the Yankees was good for the team,” Gossage said. “There was always something going on. He liked having everyone on edge. They say that Reggie (Jackson) was the straw that stirred the drink. But The Boss was really the straw that stirred the drink.”
Gossage admitted that he’s never felt pressure like he did like when he was closing games for Steinbrenner. It led him to break free after the 1983 season to San Diego for stress relief. But Gossage loved Steinbrenner’s singular focus and saw a side of the man that was rarely revealed in public.
After blowing a playoff game to the Kansas City Royals, Gossage retreated to the clubhouse dining room and cried, depressed over his pitching and letting his teammates down. Steinbrenner approached him and gave him a hug without saying a word.
“It really meant a lot. One of the best compliments he ever paid to me was when he told me years later that I was one of his greatest warriors,” Gossage said.
Gossage was invited back as a guest instructor to Yankees spring training and attended the team’s Old Timers Day. When he was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2008, the only Coloradan ever to receive the honor, Gossage went in as a Yankee.
He remembers his last meeting with Steinbrenner. During the 2008 All-Star Game, played in the final year of the old Yankee Stadium, Steinbrenner came onto the field in a golf cart as Yankee legends surrounded him. Gossage hugged Steinbrenner, then hid his face as he entered the dugout.
“I broke down. It was so hard to see him in that condition. He was so very intimidating and tough. You never thought anyone or anything could kill him,” Gossage said. “It’s a sad, sad day for his family, the Yankees and New York. It was a funny thing about George. You hated to see him coming, but when his health deteriorated, you missed him. There will never be anyone like him again.”
Troy E. Renck: 303-954-1301 or trenck@denverpost.com
