He finished with 270 career wins. From Espn-
New York Yankees pitcher Mike Mussina announced his retirement Thursday, becoming the first pitcher since Sandy Koufax in 1967 to win 20 games or more in the final season of his career.Will Mussina get elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame one day? He falls into a gray area, pitchers with similar win totals- Ferguson Jenkins, Robin Roberts, Red Ruffing, Burleigh Grimes are in the Hall. Jim Kaat, Bert Blyleven, Tommy John, are not.I am betting Mussina won't make it. He did however go out on a high note. How many HOF pitchers have held on far past their glory days? Quite a few. Here is one example.Mussina, who turns 40 next month, spent the last eight seasons with the Yankees after pitching for the Baltimore Orioles for the first 10 years of his career.
His 270 wins rank second among all active right-handers, behind only Greg Maddux.
In the final start of his career, he pitched six shutout innings against the Boston Red Sox to finish off the first 20-win season of his career.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, he's just the fifth pitcher since 1900 to win 20 games or more in the final season of his career -- and the first since Koufax. He's the only pitcher in that group to win his 20th game in his final start.
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Comments (1)
Should Mike Mussina be in t... (Below threshold)1. Posted by Nick Falvo | November 21, 2008 7:44 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Should Mike Mussina be in the HOF?
Not at all.
0 Cy Youngs
0 perfect games
0 no-hitters
0 World Series Titles
0 MVPs
Nothing.
He played 18 years, 10 with Baltimore and 8 with New York. Ironically, the New York Yankees started out as the Baltimore Orioles.
During his time with the Birds:
Five-time all-star
(on a team that was an o.k. team except for '91 and 2000, the first and last years he was with them)
MVP voting twice
Cy Young voting 7 of 10 years
Lowest Team ERA 8 of 10 years
Average an 18% share of his team's wins
During his time with the Yanks:
Never made the all-stars
MVP and Cy young voting only one year (2008)
Lowest Team ERA 4 of 8 years
Only one year had 18% share of his team's wins (in 2008)
The biggest thing I noticed was the fact that his completed games dropped off significantly during his time with the Yankees as did quality starts, but his innings per year didn't. He started more games, but won less. He won more than 50% of the games he started in Baltimore, but less than 50% in New York. Even with a better team, better pitching staff, and a much better General Manager, Mussina did not fair as well as he did with the Orioles.
Mussina averaged a win less per year with the Orioles, but almost a 3% share of wins more. The Yanks averaged 32 games above .500 when Moose played with them, but when he played with the Orioles, they averaged 3 games above .500. When you look at his post-season numbers, it's more clear why Mussina is not a Hall of Famer. He can't win when it counts, the post-season. He's two games over .500 in the post season and faired the same no matter which team he played for.
He played in an era where 250 wins weren't as important a milestone as 300 wins were. He played in an era where performance enhancers ran rampant. I have been saying for a long while that players need to prove they were clean since most are hiding behind the MLBPA and not speaking up about what went on. Especially when you play on teams that had so many PROVEN users, it's not hard to speculate that Mussina could have pitched 200 innings per year due to a little "boost."
When Mussina left the Orioles they sucked bad, but before that they were a decent team. He never had Ace numbers and had an excellent closing staff at New York. This one, to me, is a no brainer, and I live in Williamsport, PA.
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1. Posted by Nick Falvo | November 21, 2008 7:44 AM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on November 21, 2008 07:44