Baseball Hall of Famer Goose Gossage channels all MLB fans in thoughts on Rob Manfred

Baseball Hall of Famer Goose Gossage channeled the vast majority of MLB fans in an interview with Bob Nightengale of USA Today. Gossage, 70, was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame on his ninth ballot in 2008 with 85.8 percent of the vote after spending 22 seasons in the majors, most famously with the New York Yankees from 1978 through 1983.

Gossage said that during the Hall of Fame ceremonies in September in Cooperstown, he wanted to “punch” MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred “in the (expletive) nose” because he has “ruined the game.”

New York Yankees legend Goose Gossage is not a fan of MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred

"“I hate that mother (expletive),” Baseball Hall of Famer and New York Yankees legend Goose Gossage told USA Today about MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred.“You know how much I hate him? I called (Hall of Fame chairwoman) Jane Forbes Clark before the induction last year and said, ‘Jane, I don’t know where you stand with this guy, but I may punch Rob Manfred right in the (expletive) nose and spatter his (expletive) nose all over his (expletive) face right in the lobby of your hotel.”"

Gossage mentioned a slew of reasons why Manfred (and others) have ruined baseball for him. He said that coaches and managers are “glorified babysitters,” the lack of fundamentals from today’s players, and MLB managers being “puppets” for their respective team’s front office.

“It breaks my heart to see what has happened to this game,” Gossage said. “They tore my heart out and cut it up… They ruined the game. I can’t even watch a baseball game.”

He also was not shy on voicing his opinion on suspected PED users being in the Hall of Fame, including Class of 2022 inductee David Ortiz. Ortiz was named by The New York Times in 2009 as one of the names on the anonymous list from 2003, when MLB asked players to volunteer for PED tests, who tested positive for PEDs. MLB did this so that they could see roughly how many players were taking them.

However, Ortiz never had another positive test in his career, which ended after the 2016 season.

Gossage differed from most MLB fans (and the vast majority of BBWAA voters) on this aspect as he thinks that Ortiz and others, including Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, are “all phonies.”

As for Gossage and Manfred, perhaps we can see the two come to blows at the next Hall of Fame ceremony and considering his thoughts on Ortiz, Gossage may want to punch both Manfred and Ortiz on a stage in front of thousands.