At first glance, it is easy to be overwhelmed by the 547 saves Trevor Hoffman has posted in his career, and the 469 saves Mariano Rivera has recorded. These extraordinary numbers might appear to make Goose Gossage’s total of 310 seem pedestrian.

            However, putting these achievements in their proper context, there is no simple way to compare Hoffman and Rivera’s save totals to Gossage’s. Today’s closers rarely pitch more than one inning on any particular outing. Teams now employ long relievers and setup men to bridge the gap between the starter and the closer. But, for most of Gossage’s career, there were no setup pitchers, and Gossage often had to pitch multiple innings to record his saves. In fact, Gossage saved 52 games in which he required at least seven outs to secure the win, compared to two such saves for Hoffman and one for Rivera.

For many years, the Baseball Hall of Fame voters failed to appreciate how drastically the role of the closer had changed. When Gossage, a nine-time All-Star selection, was first eligible for induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2000, he received only 33% of the votes, which was well below the required 75%. Gradually, the voters became more astute, and Gossage earned greater support. Finally, in 2008, Gossage was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, garnering an 85.8% vote.

            I spoke to Gossage in February of 2006, long before he knew he was going to be elected into the Hall of Fame, at the RBI Dinner, where Gossage was being honored with the RBI Save the Children Award. RBI, or Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities, “gives kids who might otherwise not play baseball the opportunity to play baseball” according to Derrek Lee, the All-Star first baseman of the Chicago Cubs, who was honored at the same dinner.

            My conversation with Gossage in February of 2006 is revealing in light of his recent induction to the Baseball Hall of Fame. 

On why he has not been elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame:      

“I do not know. I think the bottom line is they have really forgotten how the game and the role of the relief pitcher has changed. I did a job it takes three guys to do now. To me, it has evolved into what it should be. Any time you can have a guy like Mariano Rivera or Eric Gagne available to your team every night, it is a huge advantage. Sometimes I was not available to the team because I had pitched multiple innings [the day before], and I think therein lays the difference. I think a lot of the voters, especially the young voters, have forgotten how the role has changed.”

On why the role of the closer has changed:

“I think it is how it has evolved. When I broke into the bullpen in 1972, it was kind of like a junk-pile down there– where old starters who could not start anymore went. Then, the specialty of relief pitching really became a huge part of your team, and now it has evolved further from what I used to do. Starters used to pride themselves on going nine innings, and finishing what they started. That is no longer the case. Now guys go five, six innings and that is a quality start. I do not think there is anything in baseball that is the same as it used to be. Home runs do not mean what they used to mean with the offense that has been put into the game by design. I just wish they would remember how the game has changed. It is still a great game, but it has changed.” 

On the lengths teams go through to fortify their bullpens today:

 “I am a firm believer you can never have enough pitching. Injuries always happen. With the Yankees, there were so many relief pitchers that we were wondering what we were going to do with all of them. Then, all of the sudden, come June, you had three or four guys go on the disabled list. They were veteran pitchers, so guys were breaking down and by the time August rolled around, we barely had enough guys to finish the season up, so I do not think you can ever have enough pitching.”