COOPERSTOWN, NY - JULY 21: Inductee Mike Mussina speaks during the 2019 Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony at the National Baseball Hall of Fame on Sunday July 21, 2019 in Cooperstown, New York. (Photo by Alex Trautwig/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
Mike Mussina was the mark of consistency for his 18-year career and if he was on the mound for the New York Yankees that meant it was a big game.
If you had to define newly-minted Hall-of Famer Mike Mussina’s career with the New York Yankees, I think the phrase that works best is “very rewarding, but quite frustrating at the same time.” Mussina was never a part of a World Series-winning team as his two Fall Classic (2001 against the Arizona Diamondbacks and 2003 against the Florida Marlins) appearances ended in losses.
However, he played a major role in the franchise’s two greatest postseason wins. Mussina’s pitching performance in those games enhanced his place in Yankees folklore. He rose to the challenge by shining the brightest under the spotlight that comes with playing for the Bronx Bombers.
Now, Mussina was never a huge personality in his entire big league career. He was regularly touted as a cerebral pitcher who graduated from Stanford University and was reported to have stayed in his hotel room eating peanut butter when the New York Yankees played against the Tampa Bay Rays in Japan.
Either way, he had a long, consistent career with more shining moments than you could imagine. Let’s take a look at some of those moments.
Obviously, 2001 will always be remembered for 9/11, but from a baseball perspective, expectations were high for Mussina coming to New York.
The New York Yankees were coming off their third straight World Series championship and his addition was the perfect replacement for David Cone in the starting rotation. Still, the experts felt the Oakland A’s big three starters (Mark Mulder, Tim Hudson, and Barry Zito) made them the odds-on favorites to dethrone the champs because of their ability to silence bats in a short series.
Come October, who could forget the Yankees comeback against the A’s after dropping the first two games of the American League Divisional Series at Yankee Stadium. Their resurgence began with Mussina’s seven shutout inning performance against Zito in Game 3 at the Oakland Coliseum.
Yes, the game will long be remembered for Derek Jeter’s flip play that caught Jeremy Giambi at home plate to end the A’s scoring threat in the seventh inning. But if Mussina never rises to the occasion, the Yankees were prime and ready to go quietly in a series sweep.
He had to be near perfect on this night as the Yankees lone offense was a Jorge Posada solo home run in the fifth inning. Mussina’s victory sparked the Bombers to another memorable series win with a three-game sweep of the mighty A’s.
Mike Mussina, New York Yankees
Mussina’s First Relief Appearance
In the mid-2000s, there wasn’t a better sports rivalry than the Yankees/Boston Red Sox feud. The hatred went from the owner’s box all the way down to the clubhouse attendants. Each series had the buildup of an epic boxing match as the games took forever to finish. It seemed momentum shifts took place with each half-inning played. For Yankees fans, the outcome of the 2003 ALCS was bittersweet.
Heading into Game 7, it was all hands on deck for New York Yankees manager Joe Torre’s pitching staff as he expected them to take the ball when their name was called. Torre chose Roger Clemens to be the starter and everyone else was in the bullpen except Game 6 starter Andy Pettitte. One problem with this strategy, Mussina never made a relief appearance in his major league career.
Prior to the game, Torre promised Mussina that he wouldn’t bring him into the game in the middle of an inning. But that soon became a lie as Clemens didn’t have it on this night. He had already given up four runs in the contest and left runners at the corners when Mussina was summoned from the bullpen.
The Red Sox were one hit away from putting their arch-rival on ice for the season and they had one of their most productive hitters (Jason Varitek) stepping into the batter’s box. It was time for Moose to come in and salvage his subpar (two losses against Red Sox in Game 1 and 4) ALCS performance. Once again, Mussina became the Yankee savior by stopping the bleeding and pitching three scoreless innings in relief.
His final pitching line: 3 innings, two hits, zero runs, and 3 strikeouts. He battled a tough Red Sox lineup by shutting them out until the Bronx Bombers bats awoken in that memorable eighth-inning rally to tie the game. And the rest they say is history.
If you followed Mike Mussina’s major league career, you could mark him down for 32 starts between 10-17 wins and over 200 innings pitched each season. That’s a mark of great consistency and the chief reason why his plaque hangs in the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
The former New York Yankees ace’s career stats don’t include milestone feats such as a Cy Young Award, 300 career wins or 3,000 strikeouts, but not too many starting pitchers can make the claim they played their entire career in the hard-hitting American League East.
In 18 big league seasons, Mussina was 270-153 which adds up to a phenomenal .638 win percentage. Throughout his career, he also posted a 3.68 ERA and an even better 3.57 FIP, and 1.192 WHIP.
He was a five-time All-Star Game participant and seven-time Gold Glove winner. Plus, Mussina was the oldest starter to ever record his first 20-win season. He did it at the age of 39 in his final year of professional baseball.
Next. Yanks: Mariano Rivera would be more Valuable Today. dark
Now, he’s among the elites to ever play this grand game a well-deserving member of the Baseball’s Hall-of-Fame.
