Tony DeMarco

In a Cooperstown restaurant/lounge on the eve of last July’s induction ceremony, Goose Gossage spent his night signing autograph after autograph, and posing for picture after picture.

Around the corner and just up the block, an invitation-only, semi-formal reception for inductees Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken went on at the same time in the Hall of Fame. But Gossage — in town for autograph sessions — had to settle for hearing the same refrain from well-wishers: Next year, it’s your turn.

Well, it’s next year, and in a matter of days, Gossage should get the news he has been waiting — mostly patiently — for. After falling just 21 votes short in 2007, it’s time for Gossage to go into the Hall of Fame.

The timing is perfect. Unlike last year, there is no sure-fire ballot newcomer, although Tim Raines will get more than his share of support from the 500-or-so Baseball Writers Association of America electorate. And with the recent inductions of Dennis Eckersley and Bruce Sutter, the door that kept relievers out finally has been opened.

It really shouldn’t have taken this long (this is Gossage’s ninth year on the ballot) — not when we’re talking about the game’s most-feared and dominant reliever, albeit one who hung on a bit too long. His box has been checked on my ballot nine consecutive times.

Gossage’s voting percentage totals have risen from 55 percent to 64 percent to 71 percent in the last three years, and he should get in with some room to spare this time. There simply is no better name on the ballot.

Jim Rice’s chances are less certain. He will have to jump from 63.5 percent of the votes in 2007 to at least 75 percent in his 14^th try, which means more than 60 voters will have to move from no to yes. I have made that leap in recent years, won over by arguments of his dominance in 1975-86 as opposed to his quick fadeout.

Over that 12-year time frame, Rice led the league in runs, hits, home runs, RBIs, slugging percentage, total bases and extra-base hits. That should be enough — let alone him being the only player in history with three consecutive seasons of at least 35 homers and 200 hits, and one of 31 with 350-plus homers and a .290-plus batting average.

Beyond Rice, we continue to look at the handful of very good-vs.-all-time-great debates, led by Bert Blyleven, Andre Dawson, Lee Smith, Jack Morris and Alan Trammell. I continue to vote for all five, but they remain in ballot limbo and likely will stay there.

Blyleven’s lack of support is the most puzzling. Fifth all-time in strikeouts, ninth in shutouts, 10^th in starts, 13^th in innings pitched, 25^th in wins, excellent postseason numbers … but the best he has done on the ballot is 53.3 percent in 2006, and he fell to 47.7 percent in 2007.

Put him on just a few more contending teams during his 22-year career, and he gets the 13 wins he needed to reach 300 — and he’d be an automatic inductee. The strikeouts and that devastating curveball tell you all you need to know about his dominance.

Dawson has ranged from 45 percent in his first season on the ballot to a high of 61 percent in 2006 before dropping to 57 percent last year. That shows he has a strong base of unwavering support, and there could be hope in the next few years, when the list of first-timers isn’t particularly overwhelming. But you have to wonder if former teammates Dawson and Raines being on the same ballot will hurt one or both candidacies.

Smith will have to wait his turn behind Gossage, and in truth may never garner that level of support. He has been in a narrow range of 37 percent to 45 percent of the vote in five years on the ballot, and never matched Gossage’s fear factor despite his second all-time save total.

Morris’ 3.90 career ERA and 254 wins make him a borderline candidate at best. His is a dominant-pitcher-of-his-era argument, with a Hall of Fame-like postseason record. But in his first five years on the ballot, he didn’t get above 26 percent of the vote, and he peaked at 41 percent in 2006.

Admittedly, Trammell is a long shot. His swift decline in his mid-30s and total of 2,365 hits definitely work against him. But his numbers rank with the great shortstops of the last century. And nothing against Ozzie Smith, but if The Wizard went in with 92 percent of the vote, and Trammell can’t get more than 15 percent, something is out of whack because there wasn’t that much difference between the two.

I left off Raines, in part because I don’t feel he is a first-ballot Hall of Famer, and in part because he didn’t strike me as a Hall of Famer during his playing days. But I have read some intriguing arguments on his behalf lately, and could include him next time around. But that’s not the case for the tainted candidacy of Mark McGwire. He remains a no-go here.           

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