High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Richard Michael "Goose" Gossage (born July 5, 1951 in Colorado Springs, Colorado) is a former right-handed relief pitcher in Major League Baseball who played 22 seasons from 1972 to 1994 for nine different teams, spending his best years with the New York Yankees and San Diego Padres. The nickname "Goose" is a play on his surname. Although otherwise known as "Rich" in popular media, to himself and his friends he goes by "Rick". In the late 1970s and early 1980s, he was one of the earliest manifestations of the dominating modern closer, with wild facial hair and a gruff demeanor to go along with his blistering fastball.