Mike Mussina was a spectacular pitcher, brilliantly consistent and highly dependable. But as this year’s Hall of Fame class — or lack thereof — passes by, the door is opened for Mussina, among other candidates, to join the ballot.
Mussina will not likely be a first-ballot Hall of Famer. In a class that features Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine — two of the greatest pitchers ever — there is no way “Moose” will fare well in comparison. That will hurt his chances in his first year of eligibility.
That doesn’t mean he is not a Hall of Famer, however, and the proof is in the numbers — as it should be.
Perhaps the best way to demonstrate would be to go the same route that famed sportswriter Joe Posnanski did in a blog for Sports Illustrated back in 2008, in which he compared Mussina to Hall of Fame pitcher and former San Francisco Giants great, Juan Marichal.
Marichal finished his 16-year Major League Baseball career with 243 wins, 3,507 innings pitched, 3,153 hits allowed, 2,303 strikeouts, 709 walks and an ERA+ (which adjusts a pitcher’s Earned Run Average according to the ballpark they played in) of 123. Mussina meanwhile, won 270 games with 3,562 innings pitched, 3,450 hits, 2,813 strikeouts, 785 walks and an ERA+ of 123 as well in an 18-year career with the Baltimore Orioles and New York Yankees.
Close inspection reveals that Marichal had many more dominant years early in his career while Mussina was good for longer. Both players’ 123 ERA+ is better than those of Nolan Ryan, Tom Glavine and Bert Blyleven, among others, as Posnanski notes.
Yet despite these numbers, Mussina isn’t someone who generally jumps off the page as Hall of Famer to most people. Heck, he never won a Cy Young Award, though he did finish within the top five in the voting six times. The eyeball test is often the first course one must past en route to earning a vote into the Hall of Fame, and Mussina does not bode well when briefly reflecting on his career.
But maybe that’s our mistake. Because we fail to recognize and appreciate his consistent greatness — like 17 consecutive seasons with 11 or more wins or 200-plus innings pitched in 11 seasons. We’ve chosen to overlook his seven Gold Glove awards — fifth-best among pitchers all-time — and outstanding control, as evidenced by his fifteen Top 10 finishes in the walks-per-nine innings category.
One statistic certainly hurts Mussina a good bit: earned run average. A 3.68 ERA is not terrible, but it is not a Hall of Fame-caliber mark. As the right-hander’s adjusted ERA+ clarifies, his slightly higher ERA had much to do with his time with the Yankees’ and Orioles’ inside hitter-friendly ballparks. In eight seasons with the Yankees, Mussina had an ERA of 3.88; he had an ERA of 3.53 in 10 seasons with the Orioles.
While he may be unsung in the company of the all-time greats, there is no denying that Mussina belongs in the discussion. His seven seasons of 17-plus wins, including his league-leading 19 wins in 1995 and career-high 20 in 2008 (his final year) are a testament to his reliability as the ace of his respective teams’ pitching staffs.
The most impressive moments of Mussina’s career always came in the months of September and October when the pennant race was tight and his team needed him the most. He had a record of 44-21 with an ERA of 2.86, 517 strikeouts and only 130 walks. When Posnanski compared him to those thought to be untouchable… clutch performers like Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez, Roger Clemens, Greg Maddux and Curt Schilling; Mussina actually fared more impressively, boasting the best September ERA and the second-best winning percentage among that group.
A big-game pitcher, Moose never failed to deliver when his team needed him (he also had a 3.42 ERA and 9.3 strikeouts per nine inning in the postseason). He did all the things a great pitcher would be expected to do… he just did it without drawing much attention to himself (as some of baseball’s elite tend to do). Playing in the Yankee pinstripes alongside media darlings like Derek Jeter, Bernie Williams and Mariano Rivera likely had a lot to do with that as well.
At first glance, he may not pass the eyeball test. Again, however, the proof is in the numbers. There is no denying Mussina deserves his place in the Hall of Fame among baseball’s greatest players.
Louis Musto is a contributor to the Sports Journey Broadcast Network. You can follow him on Twitter @LouisMusto.