MLB Hall of Famer Goose Gossage Rips Analytics: Like Democrats Running Baseball

Two things Hall of Fame pitcher Goose Gossage would like you to know: He doesn't like baseball analytics and he doesn't like Democrats. 

Gossage melded the two together in an interview that saw him sharply criticize the state of the modern game, saying he no longer watches baseball.

"I don't even watch the game anymore," Gossage told Mark Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. "It breaks my heart that I can't sit down and watch nine innings of baseball because it's not the game I was brought up playing and respecting and loving. The strategy of the game—where do we start talking about the differences? It's all become so computerized."

Gossage, a nine-time All-Star, retired from baseball in 1994 after a 22-year career. He has largely stayed out of baseball after retirement but was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2008.

Based on his interview with Topkin, he seems to have a sense of loathing toward what baseball has become. 

"These [stat-driven] workouts are all eyewash. It's a bunch of bulls--t. It's like the Democrats are running baseball," Gossage said. "... They're trying to control something that is uncontrollable. And they're taking all the beauty out of the game."

Of course, older players being anti-analytics is nothing new. There has been pushback from Hall of Famers across the NBA, NFL and MLB for the changes in the modern game, many of which have been centered on playing the sport in its most efficient form. Inefficient midrange jumpers have been replaced by a deluge of threes in the NBA, running backs are considered largely replaceable commodities in the NFL, and nearly every aspect of MLB can be tracked with an advanced stat.

Unfortunately for Gossage and those of his ilk, the "analytics movement" is going nowhere. In fact, it's likely only in its infancy. While that may alienate some in Gossage's crowd who no longer recognize the sport they once loved, the younger audience seems to understand the reasons for the changes and has embraced them.