Mike Mussina Retires: Hall of Fame?

November 20, 2008

By DailySkew

Before history gets re-written, let it be known that most sportswriters and journalists seem optimistic that Mike Mussina will go into the Hall of Fame, although he’s not discussed as a 100% certainty.

Here are the reasons I’ve come across by browsing the Net and reading newspaper articles, and some I’m putting forth on record:

1) His 270 wins look exceptionally well in an ridiculously offense era, where every homerun record was broken, and pitchers last 5-6 innings. His 270 wins are different than Jim Kaat’s 283, Bert Blyleven’s 287, or Tommy John’s 288, as they all pitched in an era that favored pitchers.
2) Character: As a borderline HOF candidate, the fact that he had stayed scandal-free (no steroids, HGH, drugs, gambling, 16-year old aspiring country music singers) for 18 glorious years should count.
3) Curt Schilling, who many sportswriters say (with a straight face), is a Hall of Famer only has 216 wins over 20 years.
4) Extrapolated over 162 games (which normalizes the two strike years and his rookie year), Moose averaged 17 wins a season. Without adjusting, he averaged 15 actual wins over 18 years.
5) He played in the American League East for 18 years, which means he had to pitch against sluggers and the DH. His career ERA is 3.68, while his peers ERA were at 4.51 (a 23% difference).
6) His post-season ERA is 3.42 with 139.2 innings, including a couple of memorable games.
7) He may not have had a peak performance of historical proportions, like Pedro Martinez, Randy Johnson, Greg Maddux, or Roger Clemens, but had sustained excellence over a long period of time.
Going out on top. Not only was he the oldest man to ever win 20 games for the first time in his career, but he was the first to voluntary retire after winning 20 games. He went out on top, and was the Yankees MVP in their worst season in ages (a bright light). We’ve seen how sportswriters didn’t forgive Goose Gossage for “hanging around” after his peak, by waiting years to induct him.
9) Unlike others, he has able to reinvent himself and was able to start an average of 30 games every year.
10) All of that outweighs his negatives: (no Cy Young Award, no World Series ring, not being an elite ace, had some seasons with high ERAs).