Hall of Fame pitcher and former Yankee Goose Gossage has taken issue with current Bronx Bomber reliever Joba Chamberlain’s excessive celebration tactics.
“There’s no place for it in the game,” Gossage told reporters Monday during a tour of the Hall of Fame, according to MLB.com. “I will stand by that and I love Joba Chamberlain. I’m with him down in spring training. He’s a great kid, but no one is passing the torch today. Nobody talks to them. When I broke into the big leagues, I didn’t say two words all year.”
“That’s just not the Yankee way, what Joba did. Let everyone else do that stuff, but not a Yankee,” Gossage told The Record on Saturday. “What I don’t understand is, the kid’s got the greatest mentor in the world in Mariano [Rivera]. He’s one of the leaders of the team, so you’d think it wouldn’t happen on that team.
“I’m trying to think of what would’ve happened if I did what Joba did, especially if I was a rookie,” he told The Record. “The veterans would’ve sat me down so fast, it would’ve never happened a second time. Truthfully, there would’ve never been a first time.”
Excessive celebration will always be an issue in MLB. Every player is just foaming at the mouth, ready to get pissed off when someone “shows them up.” I like a little emotion in the game (after all, it is still a game isn’t it?), but I also agree with Gossage in that it’s more professional to go out there, do your job and act like you’ve been there before. I don’t think it will get this far, but baseball doesn’t need any Terrell Owens-type show boaters to take away from the game like the NFL has. I like Joba’s fire, but maybe Gossage is right and the kid needs to turn it down a notch.
