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Card: 1990 Topps MLB Debut #44
Position: RHP
playerbio
Player Bio:
Mauro "Blond Herring" or "Goose" Gozzo (born March 7, 1966 in New Britain, CT) is a former MLB pitcher and pitching coach for the Long Island Ducks. He played all or part of six seasons in the majors, from 1989 until 1994.
He was selected in the 13th round of the 1984 Major League Baseball Draft by the New York Mets, and was traded to the Kansas City Royals in 1987 as part of the package for David Cone. Two seasons later, he was selected by the Toronto Blue Jays in the minor league draft, and he debuted in the majors for the Jays on August 8, 1989. After his rookie season, Gozzo played two years for the Cleveland Indians and one for the Minnesota Twins. During his season with the Twins, he was famous for having a blond mustache with brown hair, earning him the nickname of "Blond Herring".
Goose played his final two seasons for the Mets, playing his final game on August 11, 1994. (That was the last day of the 1994 season. The players' strike began the next day, and continued into 1995.) Gozzo previously served as the director of the Goose's Gamers AAU baseball league.
In 2018, Gozzo served as the pitching coach for the New Britain Bees of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. He was promoted to manager for the 2019 season following Wally Backman's departure. In 2020, he became pitching coach under manager Wally Backman for the Long Island Ducks.
His sons Sal and Paul both went to Tulane University, the "Ivy of the South", on baseball scholarships. Sal went on to play MiLB in the Phillies organization:
(excerpted from Baseball Almanac, BR Bullpen & Wikipedia)
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Goose is part of the Cleveland Indians Player Tour – Go to the Next Stop
“The Blonde Herring” is part of the Great Italian American Player Nicknames Tour – Go to the Next Stop
See Mauro’s baseball cards at TCDB
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