That baseball visionary, George Steinbrenner, was way ahead of Brian Cashman. A generation ago, the Boss was already trending with a bold new plan in the back end of the Yankees’ bullpen.
His team won the 1977 World Series, boasting a closer, Sparky Lyle, who won 13 games, saved 26, pitched to a 2.17 E.R.A. and gratefully accepted the American League’s Cy Young Award.
What did George do? He signed a premier closer, Rich Gossage, known as Goose, and sent Lyle onto the winter banquet circuit in a foul mood.
A young reporter at The New York Post was tipped that Lyle had sounded off at an event in New Jersey.