YOU would not want to get into the batter’s box yesterday against Goose Gossage.
The greatest closer of his era, the right-hander who did double and triple the work of today’s closers, fired high hard ones after receiving word he did not make the Hall of Fame.
“I just don’t get it,” a frustrated Gossage said in Colorado yesterday, moments after he was told fellow reliever Bruce Sutter would be the only man going into Cooperstown this summer. “I’m at a loss for words.”
Not really.
“I just can’t believe Sutter got in before me,” Gossage added. “He deserved it. I was hoping Sutter and I could go in together. … I don’t know if I ever will make it.”
Once again the Baseball Writers Association of America embarrassed itself by keeping the likes of Gossage and Jim Rice out of the Hall. The writers who did not vote for Gossage will say numbers kept him out, but Gossage collected 10 more saves than Sutter, 56 more wins and 948 more strikeouts than the split-fingered specialist.
Gossage challenged those who have deemed him not worthy to come forward to debate him.
“You know what, I never hear from these guys who don’t vote for me,” Gossage said, his voice rising. “But I’ll take on any writer, anywhere, on any show, and I will bury him.”
Gossage, 54, was talking about burying those writers verbally, although you could be sure he would do the same thing in any back-alley fight.
Make no mistake, Gossage is disappointed because he didn’t make Cooperstown but he feels just as badly for fellow stars Rice, Andre Dawson and Bert Blyleven, who also did not get the heavenly nod.
“I’m not a campaigner,” he said. “I’m just asking questions. The only reason I have ever spoken out is that you hate to see injustices.”
As for Rice, Gossage said it was a “joke” that Kirby Puckett was a first-ballot Hall of Famer while Rice is now 0-for-12 in Hall of Fame voting.
“If Jim Rice had played in the Metrodome, he would have torn the place down, and that’s nothing against Kirby Puckett, that’s just the way it is,” Gossage said.
Gossage said comparing the modern-day reliever, pitchers like Mariano Rivera and Trevor Hoffman, to him is like comparing apples to oranges.
“The job is so easy because they’re only pitching one inning,” said Gossage, who would go two or three innings for many of his 310 saves. “Writers have forgotten how the role has changed.”
Don’t get him started on Barry Bonds, and the bulked up home-run hitters of this PHE – Performance Enhanced Era.
“Hitting in a game is no different than hitting in a home run contest,” Gossage said. “It [ticks] me off to say Barry Bonds is the greatest hitter. He’s playing in a wussy era. The game is soft. You never get thrown at today. Last thing a hitter has to worry about today is getting hit. The first thing Hank Aaron had to worry about is: Am I going to survive this at-bat because I’m black.”
Gossage shot up from 55.2 percent to 64.6 percent this year in the voting. He collected 336 votes, falling 54 short. He is closing in on the needed 75 percent, but next year’s class features Cal Ripken, Tony Gwynn and Mr. Andro, Mark McGwire. Gossage could get lost in the spotlight. He said the voting system is flawed and new criteria should be used to measure Hall of Fame quality.
But he is not about to lose any sleep over the snub.
“There are more important things in life to worry about,” Gossage said. “Some of my best friends have lost kids to drug overdoses in just the last couple of months. That’s how I keep the game in perspective. The war in Iraq, great kids are losing their lives over there. That’s the stuff that really matters.
“Real life,” he said, “sets me straight.”
Chalk that up as one more great close for the man they call Goose.
kevin.kernan@nypost.com
2006 Hall of Fame Voting
520 votes cast; 390 needed; x-elected
Player Votes Pct.
x-Bruce Sutter 400 76.9
Jim Rice 337 64.8
Rich “Goose” Gossage 336 64.6
Andre Dawson 317 61.0
Bert Blyleven 277 53.3
Lee Smith 234 45.0
Jack Morris 214 41.2
Tommy John 154 29.6
Steve Garvey 135 26.0
Alan Trammell 92 17.7
Dave Parker 76 14.4
Dave Concepcion 65 12.5
Don Mattingly 64 12.3
Orel Hershiser 58 11.2
Dale Murphy 56 10.8
Albert Belle 40 7.7
By receiving fewer than 26 votes (less than 5 percent), Will Clark 23 4.4, Dwight Gooden 17 3.3, Willie McGee 12 2.3, Hal Morris 5 1.0, Ozzie Guillen 5 1.0, Gary Gaetti 4 0.8, John Wetteland 4 0.8, Rick Aguilera 3 0.6, Doug Jones 2 0.2, Greg Jefferies 2 0.4, Walt Weiss 1 0.2, Gary DiSarcina 0 0.0, Alex Fernandez 0 0.0 are no longer eligible for election by the BBWAA.