Sunday, December 16th, 2007
So, now that The Mitchell Report is out and running throughout the media (while most everyday fans could care less), we’re presented with a list of current and former players who apparently used HGH or other steroids. Now, lets assume that this list is final — every name presented in this list has done steroids at one time in their career, and everyone outside this list has never taken any form of steroids.
But lets roll back a week or so before the report was out and lets take a look at a guy like Mike Mussina of the New York Yankees. Lets also assume that a pitcher is, more or less, guaranteed to be in the Hall of Fame if he has won over 300 games in his career.
So Mike Mussina? He’s not a dominating pitcher, but during his prime, he sure did have some great command on his pitches. He won’t entirely shut your team down, but he wouldn’t exactly give up runs all that easily either. He’s never won 20 games in a season, but he came close several times in his career — two seasons with 19 wins, three seasons with 18 wins. He has seventeen years experience, and he has a career win-loss record of 250-144.
Prior to The Mitchell Report, Mike Mussina more than likely wasn’t making the Hall of Fame. He might have received a few votes towards the end of his tenure of eligibility for the hall, but not enough to actually get him in there.
So now that The Mitchell Report has been released, and did not include Mike Mussina — wouldn’t this benefit Mike Mussina in to getting in the Hall of Fame? Here’s a pitcher who has won 250 games without any extra help with drugs or steroids. Here’s a pitcher who has came close to 20-win seasons several times throughout his career — without any form of extra help.
How can Mike Mussina not make the Hall of Fame now? Sure, he might not be a first ballot kind of pitcher, but why shouldn’t he eventually get enough votes to be inducted? How can a pitcher, with 250 career wins, not make the Hall of Fame when he played in an era where everyone else was receiving extra help via steroids?
Further, lets assume that Clemens did take steroids throughout his career. Clemens was great before steroids, but lets assume that Clemens won an additional 50 games throughout his career before of the steroids. Let us now pretend that Mike Mussina did take steroids throughout his career. Now, tack on 40 games to his career win list because of the steroids — he’s now at 290 wins. Mussina has about 2-3 years left in him, and he can easily tack on the 10 extra wins to accomplish 300 wins.
I know we’re comparing apples to oranges with Clemens and Mussina — but in our situation with both using steroids, how is Mike Mussina not getting into the Hall of Fame?
Tags: Baseball, Mike Mussina, Mitchell Report, MLB, Roger Clemens
November 21st, 2008 at 8:29 am
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:
[color=olive]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[/color]
During his time with the Yanks:
[color=red]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)[/color]
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.
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