Ultimate Mets Database - Memories of Greg Goossen

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Greg Goossen
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Memories of
Greg Goossen

Greg Goossen
Ultimate Mets Database popularity ranking: 266 of 1233 players

Gregory Bryant Goossen
Born: December 14, 1945 at Los Angeles, Cal.
Died: February 26, 2011 at Sherman Oaks, Cal. Obituary
Throws: Right Bats: Right
Height: 6.01 Weight: 210

Greg Goossen has been the most popular Ultimate Mets Database daily lookup 13 times, most recently on March 20, 2024.

First Mets game: September 3, 1965
Last Mets game: July 16, 1968

Share your memories of Greg Goossen

HERE IS WHAT OTHER METS FANS HAVE TO SAY:

Andy from Rego Park
I would be remiss in not pointing out that Greg Goosen was the subject of one of Casey Stengel's greatest ever put downs... in Spring Training of 1965 (I believe) shortly a broken hip forced Casey into retirement, the Professor said, "There's Kranepool, 20 years old. In ten years he's got a chance to be a star... And there's Goosen... he's 20 too... In ten years he's got a chance to be 30."

Steve Green
November 13, 2002
Perhaps this fits into the strategy of the late 90's Yankees' and the 2002 Angels' approaches: A tough at bat from everyone in the lineup:
Independently myself, and a fellow from Brooklyn 30 years older, noted that Goossen fouled off a lot of pitches when he was with the Mets.
Dunno if the Seattle Pilots had this strategy in mind; that of wearing down the starting or closing pitcher.

Lynn Templeton
December 31, 2002
In the credits for the movie The Royal Tenenbaums, the stand in for Gene Hackman is listed as Greg Goosen. Could it be?

Mr. Sparkle
January 10, 2003
Holy crap! It is the same Greg Goossen. I went to imdb.com and did a search. Greg has been in 17 movies, the first of which is the 1989 movie The Package, also with Gene Hackman. Most of the movies in fact star Gene Hackman. Too bad there is no picture of Goossen on this page as he must look like Hackman.
He also played a Gypsy cab driver in the Royal Tennenbaums. He also has a Bacon number of 2 having been in the Replacements with Keith David who was in Novacaine with Kevin Bacon. In the Replacements, he played "Drunk #2."

Bob R.
January 10, 2003
Yes, indeed, it's the same Greg Goossen! Here's the scoop:
A private detective during the off-season while playing baseball, Goosen became an actor after his retirement. He appeared in the 1995 John Travolta-Gene Hackman-Danny Devito picture Get Shorty and has also appeared in Under Suspicion (2000) and Royal Tenenbaums (2001).
That bit of information came from: The Big Book of Jewish Baseball: An Illustrated Encyclopedia and Anecdotal History, by Peter S. Horvitz and Joachim Horvitz (New York: S.P.I. Books, 2001). I guess he made that book because Goossen was half-Jewish.

Ken Morrison
October 13, 2003
Yes, In "Get Shorty", he's the guy at the outdoor restaurant who stands up and gives Gene Hackman a congratulatory handshake, blissfully ignorant of the pain the handshake is causing the heavily-bandaged Hackman character.

Steve S
September 1, 2004
Not only is Greg in many movies, you can also see him working the corners in professional boxing along side his brother. Greg's brother Dan Goossen is the president of Goossen Tutor Promotions and the former promoter of Mike Tyson and many other champions. His brother Joe Goossen is considered one of the top trainers in the world.

Charlie Colucci
April 6, 2005
My father has this story about one night after a game, he was at the Travelers Hotel bar and a lot of the Mets hung out there. He was drinking with Nolan Ryan, JC Martin and Greg Goossen. I've got the autographs from that night. My old man promised them all a home cooked Italian dinner if they wanted to come to our house in Deer Park LI. He got Greg Goossen so wasted, the next day Bob Murphy made a comment on TV that Goossen looked like he had a rough night.

jamey bumbalo
November 15, 2005
He didn't do anything as a Met, despite his promising minor league stats, but he had a pretty good year with the Pilots in 1970. It's interesting to read about his post-baseball career--detective, boxing, acting.

Al
February 22, 2006
When Greg Goosen went to the Seattle Pilots in 1969, he hit .309 with 10 homers in 139 at bats. I think the left field fence was like the right field fence at the Polo Grounds. He was traded to my Washington Senators in 1970, which excited me. He played in 21 games, hit .222 with one RBI and like so many other low priced acquisitions, disappeared forever. I didn't know he became an actor. I have "Get Shorty" and will look for him. Thanks to all that relive these great memories!

Jamey Bumbalo
November 24, 2006
More on Greg Goossen... I just finshed reading Jim Bouton's "Ball Four." Goossen was with Bouton on the 1969 Seattle Pilots, and the Goose comes across as very witty and decent. His positive portayal is interesting because most of the players, coaches, and other baseball figures Bouton mentions seem to be less than stellar guys (especially Sal Maglie).

Feat Fan
January 11, 2007
September 65, call ups include Goosen, Rob Gardner, Dick Selma, Bud Harrelson. Was real excited about Goosen; he looked like a power hitter at a time that Met catchers hit .195 typically. He went on to hit right around there until his impressive season in Seattle. Hit 10 homers and .309 in 130+ at bats. Wonder why he drifted off pretty much right afterwards. Seems like a decent guy with a sense of humour.

little k
September 22, 2007
I am a Met fan and a baseball fan. Found this site because my husband and I had a bet on whether GG was a catcher or not; ahhh, call it a senior moment that we couldn't quite remember. But when I was young...hmmmm, how to say this without being unkind -- had an opportunity to watch tv with him. Really, that turned out to be one scary experience.

Thom May
January 12, 2009
My memories of Greg relate to when he and his brothers were handling Michael Nunn, the boxer. Greg was a great guy. I remember one day while he was in my home town for a fight he had a dental emergency. Broken crown. I got ahold of my dentist and he got in right away and taken care of. He was just a very cool guy, nothing seemed to bother him. I wish I would have got a chance to spend more time with him to hear some of the Ball Four stories.

St. Francis de Sales
May 7, 2009
Went to school with all of the Goosens. Greg was in my class and was always a great athlete. We also had another classmate by the name of John Herbst who also went on to the majors as a pitcher. The Goosens, all of them, are great people.

chuck b.
August 14, 2009
On July 14, 1968, a double header loss to the Phillies, and I believe the only "Bat day" promotion the Mets ever held. I got a Greg Goossen bat. I was brutally disappointed, inasmuch as I really wanted a "Ron Swoboda" model! Never gave much thought to Greg Goossen after that, until I stumbled on his name in the credit crawl for the movie "The Replacements" as "Drunk #2". Did a little research, and found out about his successes at life after baseball. Now I wish i still had my "Greg Goossen" bat!

Jim Jenkins
October 15, 2010
1965. He was my first catcher in minor league baseball. Auburn Mets. New York Penn league. A real talent. He showed up in the middle of spring training in Homestead, Florida. Mets got him from the Dodgers. where he's catching Koufax, Drysdale, Sutton. I see this guy his first night with the Mets in spring training in the parking lot going to dinner and he's smoking a cool cigarette and the pack is rolled up in his sleeve. A real character, a good guy and once flipped a coin when he had 2 girlfriends on which one would be his wife. Liked the nightlife, liked an eye opener. One of a kind.

Dave Contreras
February 21, 2011
I played against Greg in high school. He played for Notre Dame in Sherman Oaks, CA, and I played at Cathedral HS in Los Angeles. My teammate was Ken Rudolph, who went on to play for the Cubs, Cardinals, Giants, and Orioles. Greg could sure hit the ball.

Robert Mitchell
March 2, 2011
I saw on the crawl on the MLB network last night that Greg [the golden goose] Goossen passed away at 65, Feb. 26th, or 28th. I was about 14 when he was called up in Sept. 1965. Seemed like he was getting 2 hits a night his 1st 3-4 games. Had a beautiful swing and and an open stance. Hit a 2-run homer at Connie Mack Stadium and at 19, I thought he was gonna be a star. Never really given a shot in the bigs .Blocked by Grote at catcher and when they converted him to a 1st sacker, he couldn't get more than an occasional start with Kranepool there. He should have at least gotten to platoon with Eddie K. [A nice guy but a really overrated Met]. RIP Greg.

Mike B
March 7, 2011
I saw Greg at a Mets autograph show in December 2006. He seemed very nervous and uncomfortable sitting at the table waiting to sign. Jerry Koosman was signing at the table next to him. Thankfully, I was in earshot when I heard Jerry say to him as he shook his hand, "You are the Goose and I am the Koos."
Greg seemed to have an interesting life after his playing days---Hollywood, Gene Hackman, boxing school. But what struck me after reading his obituary in today's NY Times was how often he was part of baseball lore in his short time in the majors----Nolan Ryan's first catcher, broke up Larry Jaster's no-hit bid, the butt of Casey's quip, mentioned in Ball Four and The Baseball Talamud, part of the legendary Curt Flood trade. RIP Greg, you will not be forgotten.

Thomas Sullivan
March 23, 2011
I was at the game that Greg broke up Larry Jaster's perfect game bid with one out in the eighth inning against the Cardinals. It was the Friday of Memorial Day weekend of 1968.

Steve "Scooter" Smith
June 24, 2013
Played with Goose on Clyde McCullough's Auburn Mets team in 1965. He had an open stance and pulled everything middle of the plate in, foul. One time he swung at a way inside pitch, (almost hit him), and pulled a hard line drive a good many feet to the LEFT of the third base dugout! Clyde then said, "Boys ... someday that fellow is going to kill himself with his own line drive!" A professional comedy writer could not top that line!