:Mauro Gozzo

{{short description|American baseball player, coach, and manager (born 1966)}}

{{Infobox baseball biography

|name=Mauro Gozzo

|position=Pitcher / Manager/Pitching Coach

|image=Mauro Gozzo - Memphis Chicks - 1988.jpg

|caption=Gozzo in 1988

|team=Gastonia Ghost Peppers

|number= 5

|bats=Right

|throws=Right

|birth_date={{Birth date and age|1966|3|7}}

|birth_place=New Britain, Connecticut, U.S.

|debutleague = MLB

|debutdate=August 8

|debutyear=1989

|debutteam=Toronto Blue Jays

|finalleague = MLB

|finaldate=August 11

|finalyear=1994

|finalteam=New York Mets

|statleague = MLB

|stat1label=Win–loss record

|stat1value=7–7

|stat3label=Strikeouts

|stat3value=55

|stat2label=Earned run average

|stat2value=5.30

|teams=

Toronto Blue Jays ({{mlby|1989}})
Cleveland Indians ({{mlby|1990}}–{{mlby|1991}})
Minnesota Twins ({{mlby|1992}})
New York Mets ({{mlby|1993}}–{{mlby|1994}})

}}

Mauro "Goose" Gozzo (born March 7, 1966) is an American former Major League Baseball pitcher and current manager of the Gastonia Ghost Peppers. He played all or parts of six seasons in the majors, from {{mlby|1989}} until {{mlby|1994}}.

Career

=Playing=

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.{{Cite web |date=March 27, 2020 |title=Mets Strike Gold in Trade For David Cone |url=https://metsmerizedonline.com/2020/03/mets-strike-gold-in-trade-for-david-cone.html/ |access-date=February 22, 2021 |website=Metsmerized Online |language=en-US}} 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.{{Cite web |date=September 16, 1990 |title=1990 - Cleveland trades pending free agent Bud Black (11-10) to Toronto for Mauro Gozzo, Steve Cummings, and Alex Sanchez. Black will sign with the Giants on November 9th. |url=https://thisdayinbaseball.com/1990-cleveland-trades-pending-free-agent-bud-black-11-10-to-toronto-for-mauro-gozzo-steve-cummings-and-alex-sanchez-black-will-sign-with-the/ |access-date=February 22, 2021 |website=This Day In Baseball |language=en-US}} During his two games with the Twins, he had a blond mustache with brown hair, earning him the nickname of Blond Herring. He 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.{{Cite web |title=Longest strike in major league baseball history ends |url=https://www.history.com/.amp/this-day-in-history/longest-strike-in-major-league-baseball-history-ends |access-date=February 22, 2021 |website=history.com}}

=Coaching=

Gozzo served as the director of the Goose's Gamers AAU baseball league in 2010.{{Cite web |title=2012-12U-NAVY |url=http://www.mountainridgeevents.com/Content/2010_12U_Navy.asp |access-date=February 22, 2021 |website=www.mountainridgeevents.com}} 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.{{cite news |date=January 8, 2019 |title=Bees Name Goose Gozzo Manager |url=http://nbbees.com/team/news/?article_id=1110 |work=New Britain Bees}} In 2020, he became pitching coach under manager Wally Backman for the Long Island Ducks.

On February 18, 2021, Gozzo was announced as manager of the new Gastonia Honey Hunters franchise in the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball.{{cite news |date=February 18, 2021 |title=Team Manager Announcement |url=https://gohoneyhunters.com/team-manager-announcement/ |work=Gastonia Honey Hunters |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210328010607/https://www.gohoneyhunters.com/team-manager-announcement/ |archive-date=March 28, 2021}} In 2024, he was hired as manager by the Gastonia Baseball Club when they replaced the Honey Hunters in the Atlantic League after two seasons.{{cite news |last1=Hughes |first1=Joe L. II |title=Here's what to know as the Gastonia Baseball Club begins the 2024 ALPB season |url=https://www.gastongazette.com/story/sports/2024/04/24/what-to-know-as-the-gastonia-baseball-club-begins-the-2024-alpb-season/73383572007/ |access-date=May 17, 2024 |work=The Gaston Gazette |date=April 24, 2024}}

Personal life

Gozzo was born in New Britain, Connecticut, and graduated from Berlin High School, he moved to Wallingford, Connecticut, after his playing career ended. Gozzo has twin sons, Paul and Sal both of whom have played college baseball.{{Cite news |last=Putterman |first=Alex |title=New Britain Bees hire local favorite Mauro 'Goose' Gozzo as new manager |url=https://www.courant.com/sports/baseball/hc-sp-new-britain-bees-mauro-goose-gozzo-manager-20190108-d6brtpk33jhnrjzax5vek3cw5q-story.html |access-date=February 22, 2021 |newspaper=Hartford Courant |date=January 8, 2019}}