'Goose' Gossage joins Hall of Fame

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y., July 27 (UPI) -- Rich "Goose" Gossage, a dominating right-handed closer and a nine-time all-star, was inducted Sunday into the Baseball Hall of Fame at Cooperstown, N.Y.

Gossage earned 310 saves, nearly half of them with the New York Yankees. He was the only player elected to the hall this year by the Baseball Writers' Association of America. His election came on his ninth year on the ballot.

Also inducted into the hall:

-- Dick Williams, who managed four teams to the World Series, winning in 1971 and 1972 with the Oakland A's, and Billy Southworth, manager of St. Louis Cardinals series teams that won three pennants and two World Series from 1942-44.

-- Former Commissioner Bowie Kuhn.

-- Walter O'Malley, who owned the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers for 29 years, and Barney Dreyfuss, owner of the Pittsburgh Pirates in the first three decades of the last century.

All were elected by the Veterans Committee.

Gossage pitched for the Yankees from 1978 to 1983, saving 150 games, and again for the Yanks during the 1989 season. He also pitched for the Chicago White Sox, Pittsburgh, San Diego, the Chicago Cubs, San Francisco, Texas, Oakland and Seattle.

"I think I had a lot to do with setting the bar for relievers and doing the job the way it should be done," Gossage said. "Nobody did it the way I did it. Nothing beats pure power."