“For the country at large the eagle may remain the national bird, but for the National Capital the greatest bird that flies is the Goose,” sportswriter W.O. McGeehan once wrote.
While he was a gifted slugger, Leon Allen Goslin’s outfield play included a penchant for flapping his arms as he tracked down fly balls, a task he had no small amount of difficulty with, as well as a general awkwardness about his mannerisms that earned him the title of “Goose.” The story of Goose Goslin begins many years before he would acquire that nickname, however.