Gossage Isn’t There This Time : Padre Reliever’s Sneeze Puts Him Out of Action

A sneeze, in essence, has wiped out the San Diego Padre bullpen.

On Tuesday night against the Dodgers, starter Andy Hawkins had to leave the game in the eighth inning with the Padres ahead, 2-1. He was tired. He’d thrown too many pitches for his right arm to handle.

Normally, the Padres would turn to Goose Gossage then. But Gossage was in the training room, not the bullpen, because his back ached.

Why did his back ache?

He had sneezed.

It happened Saturday. Gossage had come into the Padre clubhouse before the game, as he always does. He leaned over.

His nose itched.

He sneezed.

Suddenly, his back hurt. Manager Dick Williams was told. Pitching Coach Galen Cisco was told.

Tim Stoddard was told.

And so Stoddard was the new short man, the new Padre bullpen ace. On Saturday, Stoddard got his first save, setting down three consecutive San Francisco Giants.

“I guess I’m going to the Hall of Fame now,” he had said Saturday.

On Tuesday night, he again entered in the ninth. The score is 2-2. He got Mariano Duncan to fly out. He gave up a single to Ken Landreaux. Greg Brock hit a bouncer off the end of his bat, a ball that Graig Nettles dived for and stopped. But Nettles had no play. The bases were loaded.

Al Oliver, a pinch-hitter, was next.

Oliver hit a 3-and-2 pitch to left-center field, scoring Landreaux.

The Dodgers win.

“Last time (against the Giants), they hit the ball hard, and I got the save,” Stoddard said. “This time, they hit it soft, and I got the loss.”

Now, in the meantime, everyone is worried about Gossage, who says he’s very embarrassed about this. First of all, people keep coming up to him and asking how he got hurt.

“I sneezed,” he must say.

Of course, not everyone knows.

Hey, Bruce Bochy, you catch in the bullpen. How did Gossage get hurt?

“I don’t know.”

Hey, Jerry Davis, you hear the clubhouse rumors. How did Gossage get hurt?

“I don’t know. One day, he’s fine. The next day he’s lame.”

Did you know he got hurt sneezing?

Davis: “Oh. That can happen.”

Craig Lefferts, you’re a reliever. How did Gossage get hurt?

“Sneezing,” he said. “Actually, it’s not that uncommon. When you sneeze, it’s a violent reaction of the body. Depending on how you’re situated, it’s not hard to throw it out of whack. I’ve heard of it happening before.”

Doctors do confirm this.

“That’s why I hear,” said Gossage, who, by the way, doesn’t have a cold.

“I’m embarrassed as hell, but they say it’s one of the most common ways (to hurt your back). “You drop a bar of soap and hurt it. Or you put your shoes or socks on and hurt it. It happens.”

He says he’s getting healthier. He says if it had been Sept. 25 and not June 25, he could have pitched Tuesday night.

“No doubt about it,” he said. “I’m just getting the kinks out.”