Yankosphere: January 9

• Goose Gossage reacts to his Hall of Fame election. [New York Daily News]
• Bryan Hoch breaks down the Yankees' corner infielders. [Yankees.com]
• My pal Rob Neyer lists his top 10 individual seasons of all-time. [ESPN.com]
• Once again, I was today's guest blogger on Peter Abraham's blog. [LoHud Yankees Blog]
  

Gossage to the HOF

Goose Gossage was finally voted into the Hall of Fame today, earning 85.% of the vote. He received a little over 71% last year.

Congratulations, Goose.

Yankosphere: January 6

• Brian Cashman feels has job has changed since the emergence of Hank and Hal Steinbrenner [LoHud Yankees Blog]
• Goose Gossage will be a Spring Training instructor. He also feels that Joba Chamberlain is more valuable out of the bullpen. [New York Post]
• Roger Clemens and his legal team thought about attacking the Mitchell Report before it was even released. [New York Post]
  
• The Star-Ledger scored an interview with Hank. [The Star-Ledger]
• Mike from High and Tight was today's guest blogger. Reminder: I will be guest blogging on Jan. 9. [LoHud Yankees Blog]

Clemens will be on 60 Minutes tonight as soon as CBS' football coverage ends.

Until then, go Giants!!!

Gossage still looking good

ESPN's Keith Law is continuing to unofficially update the Hall of Fame voting from published ballots he's seen or has received on his blog.

As of 7:00 p.m. on Jan. 4, Goose Gossage has been named on 91 of 103 ballots (88%). To be elected into the Hall of Fame, one needs 75%.

The inductees will be announced on Tuesday.

Via YanksBlog

Yankosphere: January 4

• Tyler Kepner reports that payroll is still an issue in the debate to acquire Johan Santana. He would cost an extra $56 million in luxury tax if he signs a seven-year, $140 million extension. Also, for some reason, Alex Rodriguez is endorsing Mike Cameron if Melky Cabrera gets traded. [The New York Times]
• Bryan Hoch will break down each Yankee position on a weekly basis. This week, he did a piece on catchers. [Yankees.com]
• Hoch also talked about Goose Gossage's Hall of Fame chances this year. [Yankees.com]
• Maureen, the Yankees Chick, is Peter Abraham's first guest blogger today. [LoHud Yankees Blog]

Today has been pretty quiet so far. I'll be here if anything comes out.

Mattingly's HOF candidacy examined

Bryan Hoch takes a look at Don Mattingly's Hall of Fame credentials at Yankees.com.

Aside from those great years in the mid-to-late-1980s, Mattingly is not a Hall of Famer.

He is somewhat of a mythical figure in the hearts of Yankee fans. He was a bright light in a dark era for the team. This may be easy for me to say, seeing as I never really saw him play. However, strictly looking at his career numbers, he should not be elected.

He hit 222 career home runs and has a .307 career batting average. Those are solid numbers, but he wasn't as dominant throughout the rest of his career as he was between 1984 and 1989.

However, another former Yankee looks like he will finally get elected.

Keith Law (via YanksBlog and River Ave. Blues) from ESPN has been counting ballots, and Goose Gossage has appeared on 52 of 58 ballots (90%).