Mike Mussina: Not a Hall of Famer

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.

nickfalvo.blogspot.com
twitter.com/nickfalvo