Mike Mussina (with Orioles from 1991-2000)
147-81, .645, 3.53 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 2009.7 IP, 130 ERA+ (with Orioles)
Had Mike Mussina played his entire career with the Orioles, he likely would have passed Jim Palmer and finished in the #1 spot for starting pitchers. Mussina was very good with the Orioles, but was only on the team for 10 of his 18 major league seasons.
Mussina, of course, pitched in a different era. While Palmer started 38-40 games and pitching over 300 innings per season in the mid-1970s, Mussina started 32-34 games and pitched 220 innings per season in the late-1990s/early-2000s. They each pitched more than 3,500 innings in their careers and allowed a similar number of runs when compared to the league they played in at the time. Palmer had an ERA+ of 125; Mussina finished at 123. They also finished within two career wins of each other, with Mussina winning 270 and Palmer winning 268.
We only care about his time with the Orioles for this roster spot, so Mussina is second to Palmer among Orioles’ starting pitchers. Mussina was a five-time all-star who also finished in the top six in AL Cy Young voting seven times in 10 years. He twice won 19 games in a season as an Oriole.
The Orioles only made the post-season twice during Mussina’s time with the team. In 1996, he pitched once against Cleveland in the ALDS and gave up three runs in six innings. He got one start against the Yankees in the ALCS and was knocked around for five runs in 7 2/3 innings. He redeemed himself the following year when he was 2-0 with a 1.93 ERA in 14 innings in the Orioles’ defeat of the Mariners in the 1997 ALDS, then posted a 0.60 ERA in 15 innings against Cleveland in the ALCS. Unfortunately, the Orioles didn’t win either of those games and lost the series four games to two.
Since his retirement, Mussina has been on the Hall of Fame ballot for three years, gaining votes each year. Last year, he had 43% of the vote, which is still a long ways from the needed 75% for induction. Based on Baseball-Reference WAR, Mussina should be faring better with the writers. There are only two players on the ballot with more bWAR than Mussina—Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens. Mussina is higher on the list of currently eligible players than Jeff Bagwell, Tim Raines, Ivan Rodriguez, and Vladimir Guerrero, among others. And, except for Clemens, he’s the top pitcher on the ballot.