Happy Birthday to the late and great Hall of Famer Goose Goslin. Mainly with the Washington Senators but also for the St. Louis Browns and Detroit Tigers Goslin played for 18 seasons, establishing himself as a tremendously great Left Fielder offensively and defensively. On this blog, I like to point out some of the greats and all-time greats who played that are easily forgotten. In the case of Goslin, whose career took place in the 1920s and 1930s, his career is forgotten by many.

Career Statistics/Accolades (1921-1938):

.316 BA 2,735 HITS 248 HR 1,612 RBI 1,482 RUNS .387 OBP

  • 2x World Series Champion (1924 & 1938)
  • All-Star (1936)
  • Batting Title (1928)

As a Left-Handed Hitter, Goslin batted over .300 eleven times, hitting as high as .379 in 1928, winning the Batting title. For fourteen straight seasons, Goslin recorded 159 or more Hits. Twelve times in his career, Goslin drove in 100 or more RBIs and scored 100 or more Runs seven times. While he wasn’t known for swinging for the fences, he hit a good amount of home runs for that time and eventually hit 37 in 1930. Goslin was one of those players who drew more Walks in his career than striking out, 949 Walks to only 585 Strikeouts. While he wasn’t known as a big-time base stealer, he was an excellent baserunner when you consider that he hit Triples in the double digits nine times and led the league in 1923 & 1925. Also, he hit 500 career Doubles while averaging 35 a year, which is a fair amount considering he was a left-handed hitter. Goslin won a World Series in 1924 with the Senators and in 1935 with the Tigers, where he was a key contributor offensively, combining for a .304 Average between the two series.

Defensively, he played in Left Field for most of his career and some games in Right and Center. While at times in his career, he was known for flapping his arm as he tried to track down fly balls. Goslin did lead all AL Left Fielders in Assists five times and Putouts four times. For a career, his 3,826 Putouts rank 5th all-time, and his 181 Assists rank 6th all-time among Left Fielders. 

I understand that Goslin played so long ago, but for a player like Goslin, who for twelve seasons drove in 100 or more RBIs and batted .316 lifetime, that’s a player worthy of remembering and studying if you ask me. It took until 1968, but from the Veterans Committee, Goslin received induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Also, when the Sporting News came out with their list of 100 Greatest Ballplayers, he was ranked #89.

References:

  1. Goose Goslin via Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goose_Goslin#
  2. Goose Goslin Career Statistics via Baseball-Reference: https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/gosligo01.shtml