Sitting in the family section was George's daughter, Jennifer Steinbrenner Swindal. She was genuinely touched by the comments and the entire Hall of Fame experience on this perfect day in this quaint village, the heartbeat of baseball.

"It would mean the world to our family," Jennifer told me of the possibility of her father being inducted into the Hall. She attended the ceremonies with her son Stephen, 19, Yankees COO Lonn Trost and GM Brian Cashman, who drove here from Boston.

Noted Cashman of the Boss, "He's already a Hall of Famer, they just haven't put him in yet."

Gossage talked about how Steinbrenner has changed the game and made teams like the Red Sox become better simply because they had to keep up with the Yankees.

"I believe he's the greatest owner of all time," Gossage said. "He was committed to putting the best players on the field and then kept the Yankees, the Yankees. He has made everybody in baseball better because to compete with George Steinbrenner, everybody had to up the ante and the level of play."

Gossage saw Steinbrenner at the All-Star Game and after yesterday's ceremony noted, "We'd like to see him in better condition, it was tough to see him the way he was. I like the old George, tough guy."

This crowd was much smaller than last year, when an estimated 75,000 fans showed up to see the induction of Cal Ripken Jr. and Tony Gwynn. There were only about 15,000 fans at the Clark Sports Center, but they had a blast, especially calling out, "Goo-ooo-se!"

Some fans even took the whole Jason Giambi mustache thing one-quack further and wore big white Goose mustaches.

Gossage was the star of the show and tears came to his eyes when he mentioned Thurman Munson.

"He was the greatest catcher I ever had the privilege of pitching to," Gossage said. He choked back more tears when he praised Hall of Famer Catfish Hunter, "an amazing individual," and the beloved Bobby Ray Murcer, who died earlier this month.

For all his intimidation on the mound, Gossage is a caring, emotional individual off the field and that came through when he reminisced about his baseball past and all his Little League teammates climbing into his dad's truck. His father passed away when Goose was 17, but his dad, Jake, was a huge Yankees fan and always said his son would pitch in the majors.

Gossage choked back more tears when he thanked ex-teammates Ron Guidry, Roy White and Graig Nettles, who made the trip here to honor him.

This was his day, a perfect Yankee day.

Boston RedSox News News » New Hall of Famers stump for Steinbrenner
New Hall of Famers stump for Steinbrenner
This was their shining Hall of Fame day, but Goose Gossage and Dick Williams both took time yesterday to say George Steinbrenner needs to be invited to this party some day. More than anything, this was a Pinstripe Parade, a day for Yankee fans to rejoice and watch Gossage enter the Hall as former Yankees Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford, Reggie Jackson and Dave Winfield sat behind him on the stage in the largest gathering ever of Hall of Famers, 58. "I feel very honored to wear a Yankee cap into the Hall of Fame today," Gossage bellowed to the crowd. "I believe some day, Mr. Steinbrenner will be here in Cooperstown with us." That comment drew strong applause. "I've been reading articles lately about George possibly going into the Hall of Fame, and I'd like to be on that voting committee because I would vote right away for George," noted Williams, who was briefly hired as manager by Steinbrenner, but that deal fell through because Oakland owner Charles Finley wanted too much compensation. "I had 10 years with George as a scout and as an advisor, whether you advise George or not, I don't know," Williams added, "but I used to give my opinion, and they were 10 wonderful years." WELCOME TO COOPERSTOWN Photos: What a relief: Cooperstown welcomed Goose Gossage, Dick Williams and the rest of the 2008 Hall of Fame class.