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Greg Goossen, R.I.P.

G-Fafif Feb 27 2011 01:29 PM

Bad news coming in twos: 1965-68 Met Greg Goossen -- catcher, first baseman and Casey Stengel anecdote staple -- found dead at 65. And, no, in ten years he has no chance to be 75.

TheOldMole Feb 27 2011 01:33 PM Re: Greg Goossen, R.I.P.

More sad news.

MFS62 Feb 27 2011 01:43 PM Re: Greg Goossen, R.I.P.

Bad news coming in twos: 1965-68 Met Greg Goossen -- catcher, first baseman and Casey Stengel anecdote staple -- found dead at 65. And, no, in ten years he has no chance to be 75. Are you trying to make us laugh or cry? RIP, Greg. Later

Frayed Knot Feb 27 2011 02:33 PM Re: Greg Goossen, R.I.P.

His list of screen credits include: 'Get Shorty', 'Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil', 'Royal Tannenbaums', 'Waterworld', 'Wyatt Earp', 'Mr. Baseball' and 'Unforgiven' Also, as a member of the one and only Seattle Pilots team, earned a handful of mentions in 'Ball Four'

TheOldMole Feb 27 2011 03:53 PM Re: Greg Goossen, R.I.P.

And another Met of Dutch ancestry?

G-Fafif Feb 27 2011 03:59 PM Re: Greg Goossen, R.I.P.

Don't know about the Dutch, but he was the first Jewish player to begin his major league career with the Mets (selected from the Dodgers via the defunct first year player draft). Ike Davis is the second.

Edgy DC Feb 27 2011 04:59 PM Re: Greg Goossen, R.I.P.

I'm pretty confident in his Dutchness, and certainly in his Jewishness. Those mid-'60s Mets teams had like eitht catchers per season.

Met Hunter Feb 27 2011 08:23 PM Re: Greg Goossen, R.I.P.

Went to a signing about 5 years ago with my Met book in tow. I keep a cheat sheet in the book with the list of Mets I'd like to see and their uni number courtesy of MBTN. Been carrying the list for years. Reason being its easier to identify the player's scratch with a number attached. So I meet Goose in the lobby and get to talking. Great guy. Tough looking too. Later on at the signing, the announcer asks if anyone knows Goose's number while he was a Met. I shout out '10'. Goose without even looking up from the photo he was signing shouts back 'Thanks Lou' from some 30 feet away. No, thanks MBTN. RIP Goose.

Edgy DC Feb 27 2011 09:50 PM Re: Greg Goossen, R.I.P.

Private eye, boxing trainer (for three title holders included), and Hollywood stand-in for Gene Hackman sounds like about the most noir-ish post baseball resume a guy could pull off. Also had been one of ten surviving siblings, including eight brothers.

Ashie62 Feb 28 2011 01:59 AM Re: Greg Goossen, R.I.P.

Reminded me of a cross between Chuck Conners and Tex Cobb.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Feb 28 2011 07:54 AM Re: Greg Goossen, R.I.P.

Met Hunter wrote: Went to a signing about 5 years ago with my Met book in tow. I keep a cheat sheet in the book with the list of Mets I'd like to see and their uni number courtesy of MBTN. Been carrying the list for years. Reason being its easier to identify the player's scratch with a number attached. So I meet Goose in the lobby and get to talking. Great guy. Tough looking too. Later on at the signing, the announcer asks if anyone knows Goose's number while he was a Met. I shout out '10'. Goose without even looking up from the photo he was signing shouts back 'Thanks Lou' from some 30 feet away. No, thanks MBTN. RIP Goose. That's great! You wonder how Gene Hackman feels now that his longtime stand-in is dead.

G-Fafif Feb 28 2011 12:30 PM Re: Greg Goossen, R.I.P.

Not much standing in left to do for the retired Gene Hackman.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Feb 28 2011 01:22 PM Re: Greg Goossen, R.I.P.

Not much standing in left to do for the retired Gene Hackman. Yeah, I guess I'm surprised Goosen went first. Gene Hackman: What a pro He'll show the crap actors where to go. [youtube]7pOUnjJlFcQ[/youtube]

metsfanbook Feb 28 2011 08:22 PM Re: Greg Goossen, R.I.P.

I remember going to a game at Shea in the mid-60s and seeing Greg Goosen hit something like ten foul balls in a row. He was famous for that. He looked like a power hitter and he did have some power. But he couldn't hit straight.

Edgy DC Mar 01 2011 12:21 PM Re: Greg Goossen, R.I.P.

Jim Bouton wrote: I know a lot of guys on the club. Greg Goosen is one. He’s a catcher, a New York Mets castoff, and is up out of Triple-A. Two years ago I was playing against Goose in the International League. There was a bunt back toward the pitcher and Goose came running out from behind the plate yelling, “First base! First base!” at the top of his lungs. Everyone in the park heard him. The pitcher picked up the ball and threw it to second. Everyone safe. And as Goose walked back behind the plate, looking disgusted, I shouted at him from the dugout, “Goose, he had to consider the source.” I guess I got to him, because the first time he saw me – two years later – he said, “Consider the source, huh?”

Benjamin Grimm Mar 02 2011 02:56 PM Re: Greg Goossen, R.I.P.

The news about Goossen seems to have filtered out rather slowly. (Maybe he was overshadowed by Duke Snider.) Goossen didn't get his biggest spike of UMDB hits until yesterday, and his obit didn't appear in the Daily News until today's edition.

G-Fafif Mar 05 2011 09:20 AM Re: Greg Goossen, R.I.P.

NYT jumps on the Goossen train, here. Not as Jewish as those of us who take naches in such trivia have been led to believe. Goossen earned a niche or two in baseball history. As a Met, he caught Nolan Ryan’s first big league game in 1966 and broke up a perfect game by Larry Jaster of the Cardinals with a two-out eighth-inning single in 1968. But as a lifelong Roman Catholic he was perplexed in 2009 when Howard Megdal, in his book “The Baseball Talmud,” called Goossen the seventh-greatest Jewish first basemen ever. (When asked about the choice, Mr. Megdal said he was an expert on baseball, not Judaism.) In 2003, Goossen was featured in the same Jewish Major Leaguers set with Shamsky, Green, Koufax, Greenberg...the whole mishpacha. The familial connection, a little thin, is laid out here. It is, then, kind of quirky that Greg Goossen, who played at the Catholic boys' school Notre Dame High in Sherman Oaks, is considered a Jewish candidate for mention in this book. Goossen's dad, Al, was born Jewish (and later converted to Catholicism); his mom was Catholic. When it came to education, she was the decision maker. Still Dutch though...right?

Edgy DC Mar 05 2011 09:25 AM Re: Greg Goossen, R.I.P.

Well, that's the sort of record-straight-setting one expects of the paper of record. Regarding Dutch, well, I think I need to get my money off the table, burned as I've been on the Jewish thing.

Benjamin Grimm Mar 05 2011 10:30 AM Re: Greg Goossen, R.I.P.

You can't be Dutch and Jewish?

G-Fafif Mar 05 2011 10:36 AM Re: Greg Goossen, R.I.P.

Benjamin Grimm wrote: You can't be Dutch and Jewish? Wasn't that the tag line from those Levy's Rye ads Ronald Reagan did before entering politics?

MFS62 Mar 05 2011 11:36 AM Re: Greg Goossen, R.I.P. Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Mar 05 2011 11:40 AM

Edgy DC wrote: Well, that's the sort of record-straight-setting one expects of the paper of record. For Jewish Major Leaguers, I used to use this as the place of record. http://jewishmajorleaguers.org/ Haven't really read it much for a while. They were very good at explaining things such as Paul Blair's conversion, Rod Carew marrying a Jewish woman, raising his kids Jewish, but never converting, and the religion a player practices when raised by one Jewish parent. Later

Edgy DC Mar 05 2011 11:40 AM Re: Greg Goossen, R.I.P.

And yet, that site counts Goosen.

MFS62 Mar 05 2011 11:42 AM Re: Greg Goossen, R.I.P.

I edited my post while you were responding. As I added, they used to give explanations for inclusion/ exclusion from their list. Guess they don't do that any more. Later

batmagadanleadoff Mar 05 2011 11:54 AM Re: Greg Goossen, R.I.P.

Benjamin Grimm wrote: You can't be Dutch and Jewish?

G-Fafif Mar 05 2011 12:23 PM Re: Greg Goossen, R.I.P.

Greg Goossen's interest would probably be waning by now, but New Amsterdam was home to the first Jewish community in America.