Born in
Los Angeles, Goossen was the fourth member of a family of eight brothers and two sisters. He was a standout football and basketball player at
Notre Dame High School in
Sherman Oaks, California, where he graduated in 1964. Following his graduation, the
Los Angeles Dodgers signed Goossen for a six-figure bonus. He spent 1964 in the
minor leagues playing first base with the Dodgers rookie-level
Pioneer League team, the
Pocatello Chiefs and then their single-A
Florida State League team, the
St. Petersburg Saints. After accepting an invitation to
spring training from the Dodgers, he spent the pre-season sharing a locker with future
Hall of Famers Sandy Koufax and
Don Drysdale who were on their way to winning the
1965 World Series. On April 9, the woeful
New York Mets selected the 19-year-old Goossen through the first-year waiver process. Mets manager
Casey Stengel, evidently less than impressed with his new player, infamously quoted "This is Greg Goossen. He's 19 years old, and in 10 years . . . he's got a chance to be 29." Needing players, the Mets promoted the former bonus baby directly to the majors. Goossen batted .290 in 11 games as part of a catching group that included
Chris Cannizzaro,
Jesse Gonder,
John Stephenson and
Yogi Berra before being assigned for the rest of the season to single-A
Auburn in the
New York–Penn League. Goossen would spend four years in the Mets organization, playing in both the minors and major league each season. On May 31, 1968, Goossen broke up a possible
perfect game by
St. Louis Cardinals' pitcher
Larry Jaster, hitting a
single with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning. In his four years with the organization he would play 99 games in the majors, and 430 in the minors (with all but 40 minor league games at AAA
Jacksonville). On February 5, 1969, New York traded him along with cash to the
Seattle Pilots for a player to be named later (on July 14 the Pilots sent outfielder/first baseman
Jim Gosger to the Mets to close the deal). Although Goossen again missed out on the possibility of getting a
World Series ring, this time with the
Miracle Mets, he got the only extended playing time in his career when he was called up by Seattle on July 25, platooning as the right-handed bat opposite lefty
Don Mincher at first base. Goossen posted career high numbers in average (.309),
home runs (10),
runs batted in (24), at bats (139), and games played (52), while catching and playing
first base and
left field. After starting the 1970 season as the now
Milwaukee Brewers' first baseman, Goossen's production tailed off badly, and he was sent to AAA
Portland after hitting only .255 with one home run over the first 21 games. On July 14, the
Washington Senators purchased Goossen from the Brewers and he spent the rest of the season in Washington playing for Hall of Famer
Ted Williams, but he hit an empty .222 with no homers and one RBI and only three extra base hits in what would be his final taste of the major leagues. On November 3, 1970, Goossen was sent to the
Philadelphia Phillies with left fielder
Gene Martin and relief pitcher Jeff Terpko for a player to be named later and
Curt Flood, whose lawsuit for
free agency was pending against Major League Baseball (on April 10, the Phillies sent Terpko back to the Senators to complete the trade). Goossen spent the 1971 season playing for the AAA teams of three organizations, the Phillies,
Chicago Cubs, and
California Angels, before calling it a career following the end of the season at the age of 25. ==Retirement==