Game 115: Mike Mussina shuts down Texas

12 Responses to Game 115: Mike Mussina shuts down Texas

1. 

   Ray on August 9, 2008 at 9:07 am

   Anonymous-

   Mike Mussina is not an elite pitcher and doesn’t belong in the Hall of Fame. He belongs in the Hall of Very Good, along with Orel Hershiser.
2. 

   Ray on August 9, 2008 at 9:05 am

   Hey DJ Vahl,

   The list I compiled were pitchers in the 1990s to today who pitched the same # of years as Mussina, as I was comparing him to his peers.

   Kevin Brown may very well be the most underrated pitcher of all time.

   Curt Schilling- not even including his post-season heroics- has saved more runs over average than guys like David Cone, David Wells, and even Smoltz.

   RSAA is the new stat bro, you should look it up before attacking my list, which is 100% right. And the only reason I put Mo at 10 is because he is the best closer, but because his innings pitched are so low, he wouldn’t have made it.
3. 

   D.J. Vahl on August 9, 2008 at 7:14 am

   Dittos to what Jeremy said.

   As for Ed and that INSANE and CONTROVERSIAL list — allow me to fall into the trap, and REMIX that list, Skew-style:

   1-Maddux (Greatest starter of our era.)
   2-Pedro (Most dominant stretch of any starter during the HR era)
   3-Rivera (Best Closer EVER)
   4-Randy (Best Lefty and an ALL-TIME GREAT)
   5-Smoltz (Great starter AND closer)
   6-Clemens (No need to hype him up OR defend him)
   7-Mussina (The Orioles ACE proving his value ONCE AGAIN with the Yanks)
   8-Glavine (He awright)

   Off the list:
   Schilling (How does he get in, and Jack Morris, Bert Blyleleven, and OTHERS don’t? Give me a break.)
   Brown (HELL no)

   Are there any names that need to be ADDED to the list?

   ***

   I’m glad for Mussina and his blue-eyed harem.
4. 

   Anonymous on August 9, 2008 at 6:00 am

   WOW! Mussina not on the hall of fame ballot? what’s up with that?
   his brilliant career is not over yet! and you people who say he is not a contender fot the hall? well,
   crawl out of your caves and watch a
   yanks game when the MOOSE is on the
   mound!!!!!!!!!
5. 

   Anonymous on August 8, 2008 at 3:25 pm

   Take Schilling off that list
6. 

   Ray on August 8, 2008 at 3:24 pm

   Just for the record:

   1-Pedro
   2-Randy
   3-Maddux
   4-Clemens
   5-Schilling
   6-Glavine
   7-Smoltz
   8-Brown
   9-Mussina
   10-Rivera
7. 

   ed on August 8, 2008 at 3:15 pm

   Mussina will have Jack Morris’s problem: nice Wins total and W%, but mostly for good teams; and that 3.68 career ERA, which doesn’t look very good compared to John Smoltz, let alone Clemens, Maddux, or Martinez.
8. 

   Jereremy on August 8, 2008 at 3:10 pm

   I think Mussina is this generation’s Bert Blyleven. Blyleven’s two problems are his lack of “sizzle” – few 20-win seasons, no Cy Young award, no postseason MVP, under 300 wins – and the fact that so many of his contemporaries made the Hall of Fame – Seaver, Carlton, Palmer, Perry, Sutton, Hunter, Jenkins, Ryan, Niekro. If Mussina ends up with 280-something wins and no more than 19 wins this year, he’s got the exact same problems. He’s probably viewed as the 8th-best starting pitcher of his generation (Ray’s list minus Kevin Brown, who I think is more likely to fall off the ballot after one year than to actually be voted in by the BBWAA).

   One difference is that I’d probably actually rank Mussina as the 8th-best pitcher of his generation, whereas Blyleven is clearly better than some of the 1970s pitchers who made the Hall of Fame (Hunter, Sutton, probably Ryan, arguably Jenkins and/or Palmer).

   I used to think that Mussina was just outside the Hall, but I now think he’s over it. Partly this is because he’s improved his case and, with his resurgence this year, 2007 is looking like it could have just been a bit of a fluke bad season more than the beginning of the end for him. And partly I fell into the trap that I think the BBWAA will fall into of simply forgetting and/or not realizing just how good he is/was.

   I think he deserves to be in, but I have a lot of trouble seeing the BBWAA electing him, given their track record with Blyleven and some more recent guys (Stieb, Saberhagen), and given the pitching competition he’s likely to face when he starts appearing on BBWAA ballots.
9. 

   William on August 8, 2008 at 3:09 pm

   Mussina’s actually pretty comparable to Don Sutton. Pass
10. 

    Anonymous on August 8, 2008 at 3:09 pm

    Uhmm..Moose is a Hall of Famer and Saberhagen is not. From age 32 on, Saberhagen started 62 games. (He never appeared as a reliever in that time.) Moose bettered that by the time he was 33!
11. 

    stats geek on August 8, 2008 at 3:08 pm

    Mussina is a tough sell for the Hall of Fame. I guess this runs counter to what most people here think, but I don’t think he deserves to be voted in by the writers even if he does get to 300 wins, unless he can manage to pull another season or two like this one out of his ass.

    As far as I’m concerned, Mussina is Brett Saberhagen on better teams and without a couple of truly fantastic seasons.
12. 

    Anonymous on August 8, 2008 at 8:29 am

    What’s with those two women with Mikey?
    he looks awfully happy! i loved last night’s game the way it started(Jeter’s homer) and ending of coarse with Rivera!!