What Mike Mussina meant to the New York Yankees

Mike Mussina, New York Yankees

Preserving “Jeter’s Flip Play” in Yankee History

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.