Comments on: Shocking news: Mussina to retire

By: rover

rover — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 16:29:56 +0000

It takes a pitcher to reinvent himself as Moose did this last go round. It takes everything he has learned over the years incorporating that with skill, desire and want to. He made me proud to be a yankee fan last year and all yankee fans should be proud he played here. There are many viable reasons to expect Moose to get to the Hall. Those arguments against largely have little to do with Moose. You can only control what you do or don’t do. Moose did that as a gentlemen and true professional. There just is little anyone is able to do about the era,and environment,teamates and the prominent people who make the decisions in his era. He gets my vote if for no other reason than consistency in an era where consistency seems to be in short supply.

By: Jeremy

Jeremy — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 15:09:25 +0000

Mussina should be a no-debate HOFer. There is no compelling statistical argument for keeping him out. The only knocks against him are based on factors largely outside his control: rings and Cy Youngs.

I doubt he will be first ballot, but I think he will be third or fourth. His 20-win season surely has won over a lot of the old-guard voters to his cause. And he is a sure bet among voters who put more emphasis on the context of Mussina’s career (pitching exclusively in the AL East during the steroid era; pitching for an Orioles team that had some bad years, which lowered his win totals). Some old-guard voters will resist voting for him for a few years out of the view that he doesn’t deserve to be considered among the very, very, very best ever, but eventually they will relent.

By: tim boat

tim boat — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 06:49:23 +0000

for everyone who complains about multi year contracts and big money spent on free agents and how that’s such a crapshoot or it never works out – that 6 year 80 million deal Mussina inked in 2001 was a bargain and he was a top performer throughout that contract – so much so that he earned another 2 year deal on top of it.

By: eric in australia

eric in australia — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 04:36:52 +0000

117 wins above .500, pitching in the AL East, at least 10 wins for 17 straight seasons, 123ERA+ and most of all a gentleman and class act.
Its not a slam dunk, but a mighty compelling argument.

By: GreenBeret7

GreenBeret7 — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 01:53:48 +0000

correction: ***Yeah, CB***

By: GreenBeret7

GreenBeret7 — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 01:52:48 +0000

CB
November 19th, 2008 at 8:39 pm
â€œWhen talking about great Yankee pitchers, people always overlook just how great Mel Stottlemyre really was. â€

True indeed. He would have been a hall of famer. Great great pitcher. But his career just got cut short tragically. I was referring to starters since 1970 and he just didnâ€™t pitch long enough in that decade.

He seemed like the guy who would take up the mantle from Ford as the next great yankee pitcher.

Heâ€™s the guy I always bring up when people start ranting about how things were better in the good old days when pitchers werenâ€™t â€œbabiedâ€ and they threw a ton of inningsâ€¦

His career was a shame and influenced by a culture in which the well being of players wasnâ€™t valued enoughâ€¦

________________________________________________________

Yeah, SB, I saw your mention of after 1970, but thought I would toss this in, because most only remember him as a pitching coach, and I always thought he got short shrifted when talking about Yankee greats. If that injury had happene toay, possibly he could have returned, but, I don’t know. I can’t of many that have returned from torn rotator cuffs. Like Wang, he threw pretty hard, but, he had great control and that deadly hard sinker. I remember when he came up in ’64 about the same time as Luis Tiant did.

The impressive thing was that he went up against Bob Gibson in 2 of his 3 starts and fought him even, one win, one loss and one no decision. He could hit, to. A two hit shutout and 5-5 at the plate as a rookie with 2 doubles. Another game with an inside the park grand slam, and another with a two homer game.

By: CB

CB — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 01:42:27 +0000

“Sparky Lyle wasnâ€™t a starter.”

Complete brain infarct on my part. You’re completely right of course.

I always associate Lyle with throwing a ton of innings. But relief pitchers were used completely differently then.

Yeah. Then I think Moose is the best starter the yankees have had since 1970.

By: CB

CB — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 01:39:17 +0000

“When talking about great Yankee pitchers, people always overlook just how great Mel Stottlemyre really was. ”

True indeed. He would have been a hall of famer. Great great pitcher. But his career just got cut short tragically. I was referring to starters since 1970 and he just didn’t pitch long enough in that decade.

He seemed like the guy who would take up the mantle from Ford as the next great yankee pitcher.

He’s the guy I always bring up when people start ranting about how things were better in the good old days when pitchers weren’t “babied” and they threw a ton of innings…

His career was a shame and influenced by a culture in which the well being of players wasn’t valued enough…

By: Vrsce

Vrsce — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 01:39:07 +0000

GreenBeret7

Very true about Mel, his son Todd was also very good.

By: Celerino Sanchez

Celerino Sanchez — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 01:38:32 +0000

Great point Green Beret. Mel was a super talent for sure. Him and Murcer (first tenure with Yanks) deserved better fates than the mid and late 60s Yanks.