Mussina: 16 straight seasons

[Solomon Kane]

I know that he's not having a good year this year, but last night he won 12-0, to bring him up to 10 wins for the year. That's 16 straight years of double-digit victories. Not bad. And he's closing in on 250 wins. His fastball is below 90 now, but with the array of pitches he has, he just may gut it out long enough to acquire HOF-level stats.

 

[Don Wassall]

Mussina receives precious little recognition for a fine career, even though he's pitched in New York for a number of years now. With a career mark of 249-144 he has one of the best winning percentages in baseball history.


With the advent of the five man starting staff, 250 wins is equivalent to the magical 300 mark of the past. But Mussina will get little more than polite applause when he gets his next win. All the pitchers in baseball who have combined outstanding production with longevity are of a certain racial background that ESPN and the rest of the corporate media aren't interested in celebrating.

 

[Solomon Kane]

Mission accomplished. Moose won his 250th last night!

 

[Solomon Kane]

Mike Mussina wins number 252!

This puts him *ahead of Bob Gibson*, who is arguably the finest black pitcher in baseball history. Now Ferguson Jenkins is the only black pitcher who is ahead of Mussina in wins.

Moose has a good shot at the HOF. With the Yankee lineup and his pitching smarts, 15 wins this year is a definite possibility. Another testimony to white longevity--not bad for a 39 year old!

 

[Don Wassall]

SK, we're thinking along the same lines -- I was about to search for a Mussina thread and found it at the top of the page!


No one ever refers to Mussina as an "all-time great" yet by being an excellent pitcher for a long time he's passed Gibson, who is always referred to as an all-time great even though his career statistics don't back it up.Just showshow the "uncharismatic" white tortoise almost always defeats the "flashy" black hare over time, and oftenin the short-term too.

 

[GiovaniMarcon]

Maybe if he started wearing a flashy gold chain and starting calling women b***hes and H**s and gave himself an idiotic nickname like "el tres cinco" he'd get more attention, negative though it might be.

Quietly doing what you're supposed to do, in a reliable and efficient, outstanding manner isn't as important to sports fans today as mindless, low-quality spectacle.

 

[Bart]

Mussina's career winning and losing record is 252 - 147, better than Gibson's 251 -174.Mussina has a higher ERA of course, because ofbaseball'soffensive explosion. Gibson was known as a strikeout pitcher, but I was surprised tofind Mussina registers a strikeout every 1.26innings, which is very close to that of Gibson at 1.24.Mussina is a far better control pitcher too, allowinga scant BB every 4.47 innings comparedto BG's 2.9.

 

[Deadlift]

Mussina is having a magical season.


If he gets 3 or 4 more wins this season, it will be his best season in several years.

Simply incredible.

 

[Solomon Kane]

Yes, at 39 he could have his best season ever. I really hope he reaches 20 wins this time. Even though his fastball is now below 90, the variety and mix of pitches and his pitching smarts have been so good, that he's simply baffling most hitters. the guy has something like 5-7 pitches working.

 

[Don Wassall]

I used to think Mussinachances of getting300 wins were close to zero. Same with Randy Johnson. Johnson has been amazing of late and should reach 300 late this season or early next year, and Mussina is now a crafty veteran ala Greg Maddux whois up to264 wins. Great stuff.

 

[white is right]

The idiots that called into the WFAN last season suggested trading him for a "bag of balls". I'm glad that Cashman didn't listen to their advice or the market for Mussina was too low for a trade to be worth it. Mussina is probably a hall of famer since he has no drug allegations and is passing big names on the all time list.

 

[Don Wassall]

Mussina is getting closer to HOF status. Right now he's comparable to Jack Morris, who won 254 games, had three 20-win seasons and was known as a great clutch pitcher, esp. in the '91 World Series, but isn't going to make the Hall. Guys with more wins like Jim Kaat and Tommy John didn't make it either. Mike probably needs to get close to 300 wins to be a clear choice.

 

[white is right]

You are probably right. I was just thinking that with 300 wins becoming a more daunting target, due to 5 man rotations and relievers taking over earlier in games. The 300 win barometer will get relaxed more. I think if Mussina gets in the range of a Jenkins, Kaat, John he will make it. Also Randy Johnson is a lock even if he doesn't get the 6 or so wins he needs for 300. He has been too dominant of a strike out pitcher.

 

[Don Wassall]

Johnson is a sure-fire first ballot inductee.

 

[Van_Slyke_CF]

Mike Mussina has won 18 games on an underachieving Yankees team. It must be hard getting the job done on a team with so many overrated, overpaid players, and some underperforming Latino punks like Melky Cabrera and Robinson Cano.

He now has 268 career wins and will be 40 years old in December. I don`t know how much longer he can keep it up, but I sure would love to see two more big years from him and 300 career victories.

 

[Solomon Kane]

Yes, and he has two more starts left. It will be an amazing feat if at 39 years old, he gets 20 wins this year (it will be his first 20 win season, though he has come close many times). I'll be rooting and praying for him.

 

[Van_Slyke_CF]

Mike Mussina got win #20 today and he now has 270 career wins!

 

[Solomon Kane]

Awesome, an amazing season, sheer skill and determination!

Looks like a good bet for the HOF, especially if he wins 15 more next year.

3 months away from 40 years old and the guy finishes his best year!

 

[Don Wassall]

To little media notice, Mussina is apparently retiring. Would have been great to see him go for 300 wins (he's at 270 now), but he wants to spend more time with his family. With Greg Maddux leaning toward retirement and Roger Clemens forced out of the game by the same forces who still pine for Barry Bonds to be signed by a team, that may leave Randy Johnson as the last man standing among the all-time great group of veteran pitchers we've had the pleasure to follow in recent years.


There's a poll accompanying this article asking whether Mussina should be in the Hall of Fame. So far 71% say yes.


Yanks' Mussina retires after first 20-win season
Yankees right-hander Mike Mussina is retiring.




Mussina made the decision official on Thursday.


The Yankees, who are aggressively pursuing free-agent starting pitchers, were not expecting Mussina to return.


"I have not talked to him lately," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said Wednesday evening at a Manhattan charity event to benefit his Catch 25 Foundation and Alzheimer's research. "He had led me to believe that that's what was going to happen at the end of the year. I wasn't quite sure in a sense that I believed him because sometimes when you get away from it you really miss it."


Mussina, who turns 40 on Dec. 8, is coming off the first 20-win season of his 18-year career. He is selling his home in Bedford, N.Y., according to one source, and planning to spend more time with his family in Montoursville, Pa.


Mussina held off his announcement until the completion of baseball's award cycle. He recently won his seventh Gold Glove, tied for sixth in the American League Cy Young award voting and even received one eighth-place vote for Most Valuable Player.


A first-round pick of the Orioles in 1990, he finishes his career with a 270-153 record and 3.68 ERA.


His victory total falls short of the unofficial Hall of Fame standard of 300 wins, but his candidacy for the Hall will be enhanced by the fact that he pitched in the Steroid Era and spent his entire career in the offensively oriented AL East.


Only 20 other pitchers in major-league history have finished 100 or more games over .500. Sixteen are in the Hall of Fame, and the other four â€â€￾ Roger Clemens, Pedro Martinez, Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine â€â€￾ are not yet eligible.


Only five pitchers in history have as many victories as Mussina (270) with a higher winning percentage (.638) â€â€￾ Lefty Grove, Christy Mathewson, Clemens, Randy Johnson and Grover Cleveland Alexander.


Mussina's 2,813 career strikeouts rank sixth among active pitchers and 19th all-time.


The Associated Press contributed to this report.


http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/8818830/Yanks'-Mussina-re tires-after-first-20-win-season

 

[Freethinker]

In the New York area this is big news. I'm disappointed to hear that nationally it isn't as well. Anyway, I've always been a huge fan of The Moose. Moose had great command of up to 6 different pitches, if the fastball wasn't working he would get hitters with something off speed. He also fielded his position with great skill. Probably, my finest memories of Mussina will be his final season when he was forced to re-invented himself because his fastball only reached the high 80's. He flawlessly commanded his breaking pitches and began pitching inside more often. Watching him carve up the strike zone all year was a joy. He gritted his way to his 20th win on his last start of the year on a Yankee team that many times did not provide him with much run support. Its hard to say if he is Hall worthy but pitching in the steroid era will help his cause. 300 wins would have cemented his spot but Moose wanted to spend more time with his family. Gotta respect a man for that.

HOF or not, he's a great in my book who is going out on top!

 

[Solomon Kane]

Enjoy your retirement, Moose! You deserve it.


I was hoping he would play one more year, so that he could pass Ferguson Jenkins (who's in the HOF) and solidify his HOF status.


I think he deserves HOF and will make it. I think finishing with 20 this year will stick in the memory of the sportswriters.


I had to listen to some WFAN sports talk guy say that Moose was not HOF material.


what does it for me is his incredibly high win-loss percentage. throw in his wins and strikeout total, and you have HOF. He also won six gold gloves.


His era is rather high for HOF --but consider that he spent all his years in the American league (with the DH); and most of them with Baltimore and its absurdly small stadium.