Goose Gossage now fears ‘a bunch of Cam Newtons’ in baseball – CBSSports.com

Hall of Famer and Yankees guest instructor Goose Gossage has been a rather ubiquitous part of the news cycle of late, as this spring he has loudly inveighed against Jose Bautista’s bat-flips and Bryce Harper’s general demeanor. On Tuesday, Gossage had more to say, as he explained his prevailing crankiness to Kevin Kernan of the New York Post. Bring the noise:

“They can say all they want to about ‘old school’ and the game has passed me by,” Gossage said. “Let me tell you something: The game has not passed me by.

“I’ve had a lot of people call me and support me,” he said. “I have not heard one negative thing on my phone.

“It’s a shame, it breaks my heart to see the direction this game is going. What, do we want a bunch of Cam Newtons running around?”

Kernan has more from the 64-year-old Gossage, including his thoughts on instant replay. It’s the Newton broadside, though, that’s in keeping with his other recent tirades.

The risibly overwrought handwringing over Newton’s end zone celebrations is of course too much with us. But to answer Gossage’s rhetorical question, yes, baseball would probably love to attract more elite, telegenic, and marketable athletes such as Newton. If those athletes wind up standing athwart fading conventions, then, well, time passes and things change. Players in Gossage’s day of course had their own flourishes, but when we thunder about the affronts of younger generations, the confirmation bias almost always leads the way.

So do we indeed want a bunch of Cam Newtons running around on our hallowed and august ballfields? If those Cam Newtons are good at baseball, then, sure, why not?