The Moose

Not really sure why baseball pitcher, Mike Mussina's nickname is The Moose...but so be it. But anyway, news broke yesterday that Mussina plans on retiring. So consequently, because I'm a baseball junkie--especially when it comes to a player's chances for the hall of fame--I got lost last night with the website, baseball-reference.com.

My initial reaction upon hearing his retirement was really just a hesitation, which is not a good sign. Normally one shouldn't have to think about whether a player is a hall of famer or not. A hesitation is never a good sign. After thinking on it...while watching PTI...I was leaning towards it being no. He never won a Cy-Young...only won 20 games once (last year)...never won a championship...didn't get to 300 wins. Now I realize some of those things are more important than the others but together they made the case against him.

But after taking a closer look...Mussina should be a hall of famer.

1. His win-loss record is phenomenal. He didn't get to 300 wins...but he finished up 270-153. Now what's impressive about that is his winning percentage of .638. That's tied for 38th best of all-time (with HOF'er, Jim Palmer). That's a better win-loss percentage than some of his contemporaries that are going to be hall of famers (Maddux and Glavine) or close to it (Smoltz and Schilling). Maybe he didn't win twenty games...but he did have several seasons of winning a lot of games...in fact he won over 18 games five times (not counting his 20 win season). I kind of think that the 20 game mark for a starter needs to put in a proper context...in that...with the advent of the 5-man rotation...it's just harder to win 20 games a season.

2. He never won a Cy-Young but he finished sixth or better nine times. He finished second once in '99. While he made not have been the best pitcher for a season he certainly was one of the better pitchers for a number of years. And one of my rule of thumbs for determining whether a player is a hall of famer is whether or not that players was the best, or one of the bests, at his position for a number of seasons. There's no question that Mussina was one of the best pitchers in the AL for many seasons.

3. He again never won an ERA title but he finished sixth or better ten times. His career ERA of 3.68 is solid as is his ERA+ of 123. Considering that he pitched in the AL and in the AL East for his whole career... than having an ERA that respectful is even more impressive.

Mussina certainly didn't have a flashy career but he had a consistently good career and, in my view, that gets him in.