Mar 12, 2016 4 min read

Rich “Goose” Gossage meet Paul Waner.

Remember Gossage? He was a relief pitcher who played one season (1977) with the Pirates on his way to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

He took some heat for comments he made to ESPN Thursday.

“The game is becoming a freaking joke because of the nerds who are running it,” Gossage said. “I’ll tell you what has happened. The guys who played Rotisserie baseball at Harvard or wherever the (blank) they went and thought they figured the (blanking) game out. They don’t know (blank).”

He went on to call Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Jose Bautista a disgrace.

“He’s a disgrace to all the Latin players who played before him,” Gossage said. “Throwing his bat and acting like a fool, like all those guys in Toronto, (Yoenis) Cespedes, same thing.”

Gossage, who is in the Yankees’ camp working with young pitchers, apparently doesn’t like showboating.

He started pitching in the big leagues in 1972.

How would he have reacted in 1977 if former Pirates Hall of Famer Paul Waner had shown up in Bradenton, Fla.? I know, Waner died in 1965 – work with me on this – and started ripping players for their long hair and mustaches and making fun of the bright-colored uniforms and the designated hitter?

Waner was a Pirate in 1937.

Gossage would have shown Waner or any other old-timer the proper respect and dismissed his opinions because they came from an old man.

That’s what Bautista and Cespedes did.

Gossage went on to say, “A bunch of (blanking) nerds running the game. You can’t slide into second base. You can’t take out the (blanking) catcher because (Buster) Posey was in the wrong position and they are going to change all the rules. You can’t pitch inside anymore. I’d like to knock some of these (blanks) on their (blanks) and see how they would do against pitchers in the old days.”

Gossage liked the game better when it was run by men who were men when men were men. Can’t say I disagree with him on the nerd factor. The fact we’re about the same age might have something to do with it.

Gossage remembers when being a closer meant more than closing out a game by starting the last inning when your team has a lead. He was usually called in with men on base and asked to get out of a jam and then pitch another inning or two.

And don’t get him started on pitch counts, which he said are the cause of more injuries.

“They have been created from the top, from their computers,” Gossage said. “They are protecting these kids. The first thing a pitcher does when he comes off the mound is ask: ‘How many pitches do I have?’ If I had asked that (blanking) question, they would have said: ‘Son, get your (blank) out there on that mound. If you get tired, we’ll come and get you.'”

Gossage did OK without counting his pitches. He lasted 22 years throwing nothing but heat.

Sorry, but it was a lot more exciting when the big, bad closer came walking in from the bullpen in the middle of a big inning instead of only coming in to start the last inning.

And I’m glad Gossage didn’t back down. After being called in to a meeting by the Yankees’ front office, he was still throwing hard.

“You are talking to an old-school guy,” he said. “There are things I have a hard time with. The game taught me a long time ago (to) control what you can control. This is what it is, and I said what I said.

“I was passed the torch about a certain way to act.”

I wonder what Bautista will say about players in 2056.

• The Steelers’ offense became a lot more dangerous Thursday when they signed Ladarius Green to replace Heath Miller at tight end. Miller was dependable and consistent, but he didn’t have the speed and athleticism Green has. Green’s one of those tight end/wide receiver hybrids.

Of course, the Steelers’ offense might have become a lot less dangerous Saturday when news broke their game-breaking wide receiver Martavus Bryant could miss the 2016 season because of another drug violation.

Bryant is beginning to look like a walking warning sign for teams that don’t pay enough attention to character at draft time.

If Bryant is suspended, it will be proof he is spectacularly stupid, but only slightly more stupid than the NFL is for testing for marijuana.

John Steigerwald writes a Sunday sports column for the Observer-Reporter.