Mussina wins #20 for the first time

[RedsManRick]

While I'm not a Yankees fan in the least, I am a fan of Mike Mussina. With his win today, he's won 20 for the first time in his career. His career total is 270. Hopefully this will help those less sophisticated "analysts" and BBWAA voters recognize what a great career he's had.

It's entirely possible he'll choose to retire after this season. If he comes back, he wants to stay in the AL and close to his family in Pennsylvania. In any case, congrats to Mussina for a great season and for taking away an excuse for those writers who might have used his lack of such a season as cover for their distaste of cerebral types such as Mussina when the HOF voting comes up in a few years.

[RedsBaron]

Mussina now has a Hall of Fame Monitor Score of 120, well above the 100 score of the "average" Hall of Famer, and just under the 130 score where most players have been historically virtually assured of eventual induction.
Of those pitchers who are eligible for induction into the Hall of Fame, only five pitchers have won as many as 270 games and not gained admission into Cooperstown: Bobby Mathews, Tony Mullane, Tommy John, Bert Blyleven and Jim Kaat. Several dozen pitchers have been elected to the HOF who won fewer than 270 games.
Mathews (297 wins) pitched between 1871 and 1887 and Mullane (284 wins) pitched between 1881 and 1894. It's hard to really argue that they have been unjustly overlooked, as the competiton was hardly as advanced as today. RFS62 is probably the guy around who actually witnessed either of them pitch.
John (288 wins), Blyleven (287 wins) and Katt (283 wins) have yet to be inducted. Blyleven is a favorite candidate of sabermetricians and probably will eventually make it. Kaat is on this year's veterans committee ballot.
So long as John, Blyleven and Kaat remain outside the HOF, it probably will be difficult for Mussina to ever gain induction, if he retires now. If Mussina wants to be a Hall of Famer, his best bet is to come back next season, and a a season or two after that, and try to get to 300 career wins.

[Highlifeman21]

It'll be the same BBWAA voters that jobbed him and gave some of his (at least 2 IMO) Cy Youngs to Roger Clemens that will keep him out of the HOF.

[Topcat]

Mussina looked cooked before this season. But he has bounced back with a vengeance. He is a great pitcher and deserves to be in Hall of Fame.

[vaticanplum]

I may get hammered for this, but I think the Yankees really did a great job this year given the injuries they suffered, particularly Wang. I wonder if Mussina would have won 20 games if Wang had stayed healthy; I'd speculate that shouldering more responsibility and spotlight spurred Moose on somewhat.

[Chip R]

I may get hammered for this, but I think the Yankees really did a great job this year given the injuries they suffered, particularly Wang. I wonder if Mussina would have won 20 games if Wang had stayed healthy; I'd speculate that shouldering more responsibility and spotlight spurred Moose on somewhat.

For the Yankees, a 3rd place finish is a failure, no?

[vaticanplum]

For the Yankees, a 3rd place finish is a failure, no?

Totally. I'm just saying that they did well for themselves relative to their pretty debilatating amount of injuries.