30 posts tagged “mike mussina”
I sent out two more TTM autograph requests today: one to Fernando Valenzuela, the other to Mike Mussina.
Why Fernando? Well, I've heard he is a reliable signer, and he is the only player to win the Rookie of the Year and the Cy Young in the same season. Plus, "Fernando-Mania" was huge in the 1980's, and he is one of the most dynamic pitchers of all time.
I'm going after Mussina for obvious reasons. As a Yankee fan, I respect his poise and savvy on the mound. Mussina should be in the Hall of Fame, and his 2008 campaign will go a long way to helping with that.
From what I've seen and heard, I should be getting these back sometime in the next two weeks.
In honor of Mike Mussina's retirement, here are a collection of various photos that have appeared on the blog in the past year:
Foxsports.com is reporting that Mike Mussina has officially retired after a stellar 18-year career.
Mussina, who turns 40 in December, was a pitcher of "almost's" - he almost threw a perfect game, almost won a World Series, almost won a Cy Young. This year, he erased one of his "almost's" by winning 20 games. No pitcher has had such a dominating final season since Sandy Koufax in the 1960's.
Mussina finishes his career with a 270-153 record and a 3.68 ERA. Only twenty pitchers in history have finished 100 or more games over .500, and sixteen of them are in the Hall of Fame (the other four are not yet eligible).
Mussina's .638 winning percentage also ranks sixth all-time for a pitcher with that many wins (Lefty Grove, Christy Mathewson, Roger Clemens, Randy Johnson, and Grover Cleveland are the only one's that have a higher percentage).
In the history of baseball, I doubt there will ever be a pitcher as saavy, knowledgable, successful, or intriguing as Mike Mussina. Here's to a good retirement.
Recently, Mike Mussina, Damaso Marte, Jason Giambi, and Carl Pavano all officially filed for free agency.
Two months ago, Mussina said that he would be completely satisfied in walking away on a high note. At this point, it is unlikely he will resign with the Yankees or any other team.
The Yankees had the option of bringing Marte back for $6 million, but instead, they bought him out for $250,000, making him a free agent. Marte, who is 33, struggled with the Yankees down the stretch. However, I still think he is one of the best lefty relievers out there, and so hopefully the Yanks can bring him back.
It is unlikely that Giambi or Pavano will return. I don't think the Big G fully lived up to his contract, but he certainly had some productive years during his time in pinstripes.
As far as Pavano, good riddens.
Back in May and August, I handed out the first and second trimester awards for the New York Yankees. Now that the regular season is over, here are the third and final trimester awards:
MVP- Mike Mussina
No one expected Mussina to have a good year, yet alone a Cy Young type of year. Mussina finished with a 20-9 record and a remarkable 3.37 ERA. Without Mussina, the Yankees would probably have struggled to stay over .500.
Cy Young- Mariano Rivera
You might be saying, 'How can a pitcher win the MVP and not the Cy Young?' In terms of value to the team, Mussina was more valuable than Rivera, in my opinion. However, in terms of overall stats, Rivera had one of the best seasons ever by a closer. Rivera blew just one save and posted a stunning ERA of 1.40. His WHIP of 0.67 was also the lowest of his career.
Rookie of the Year- Joba Chamberlain
Joba pitched in 42 games this year, 12 of which were starts. He posted a 4-3 record and a stunning 2.60 ERA. He also struck out 118 in just 100 innings. Clearly, Joba was the best rookie on the team.
Surprise of the Year- Cody Ransom
Ransom emerged as a mid-level prospect to a very solid bench player near the end of the season. In limited playing time, Ransom hit over .300 with four home runs and eight RBI's. He has to be considered as a role player for next year.
Biggest Disappointment- Robinson Cano
Cano finished with a .271 average, more than 30 points off his career average. Cano was expected to develop into a better overall player in 2008, but instead, his performance regressed. It wasn't a terrible year, but if his stats were where they were from 2005 through 2007, the Yankees may have made the playoffs.
Game of the Year- July 7th, 2008. Johnny Damon's six hits are capped off by his walk-off winner in a thrilling 12-11 victory over the Royals.
Play of the Year- http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/media/video.jsp?mid=200809193509924&c_id=nyy
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If you missed any of the other awards, here they are, free of charge:
Well, the 2008 season is officially over for the New York Yankees. In my opinion, it was a failure because the team did not reach the postseason; however, I definitely had a fun time blogging about the team all the year. No matter how well they play, there is always something interesting going on in Yankee-land.
Now that the season is over, I will begin my own "year in reviews" for all of the major players. First up is Mike Mussina:
| Last 3 years | Team | G | GS | W | L | SV | CG | SHO | IP | H | R | ER | HR | BB | K | ERA | WHIP | BAA | |
| 2006 | NYY | 32 | 32 | 15 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 197.1 | 184 | 88 | 77 | 22 | 35 | 172 | 3.51 | 1.11 | .241 | |
| 2007 | NYY | 28 | 27 | 11 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 152.0 | 188 | 90 | 87 | 14 | 35 | 91 | 5.15 | 1.47 | .311 | |
| 2008 | NYY | 34 | 34 | 20 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 200.1 | 214 | 85 | 75 | 17 | 31 | 150 | 3.37 | 1.22 | .278 | |
| Career | 537 | 536 | 270 | 153 | 0 | 57 | 23 | 3562.2 | 3460 | 1559 | 1458 | 376 | 785 | 2813 | 3.68 | 1.19 | .255 |
Mussina came into the season hoping for a job in the Yankees' rotation. After a solid Spring Training, he made the team as a fourth or fifth starter. His work early in the season suggested a season similar to the one in 2007 in which he would average under five innings per start.
However, as the season progressed, Mussina emerged as a weapon out of the rotation. As the Yankees struggled to remain in the Wild Card race, Mussina kept on winning. He finished the year with an amazing 20-9 record and a stunning 3.37 ERA (nearly two runs better than last year).
How did this happen? No one really knows. But it's clear that Mussina had more confidence and better pitch selection throughout the entire season.
I would give Mussina an A+ for 2008. He was definitely the Yankees' MVP, and without him, the Yankees would probably have struggled to reach the .500 plateau.
Final Score: Yankees 6, Red Sox 2
Yankees: 89-72
Red Sox: 94-67
W- Mussina (20-9)
L- Matsuzaka (18-3)
SV- Rivera (39)
Offense: The Yankees got off to a nice lead, when Xavier Nady hit a three-run home run in the fourth inning. With the Yankees up 3-0, it allowed Mike Mussina to settle into a groove and stay relaxed. The Yankees added three more insurance runs in the ninth inning off Jonathan Papelbon; it was the first time Papelbon ever allowed more than two runs in an outing. Alex Rodriguez, who went 2-for-4, is guaranteed to hit .300, while Bobby Abreu, who went 0-for-2, is down to .296.
Pitching: Mike Mussina finished off his season with a stellar outing against the Red Sox: 6 innings, 3 hits, 0 runs, 2 walks, 3 strikeouts. He recorded his 20th win of the year at the age of 39, which is just remarkable considering it was the first time he ever won 20 in a season. While it was a disappointing season for the Yankees, it was great, as a student of the game, to watch Mussina dominate over the course of an entire season. What makes it all the more sweeter is that he didn't do it with overpowering stuff- just with wit, location, and movement.
Final Notes:
- Mussina finishes the season with a 20-9 record in 34 starts. He never walked more than two batters in a game.
- Mussina becomes the oldest pitcher ever to win 20 games for the first time. The previous record was held by Jamie Moyer, who won 20 games for the first time in 2001 at the age of 38.
- Bobby Abreu has now reached safely in 27 straight games at Fenway Park.
Final Score: Mariners 5, Yankees 2
Seattle: 56-86
New York: 76-67
W- Feierabend (1-2)
L- Mussina (17-8)
SV- Putz (12)
Offense: The offense got off to a quick start when Derek Jeter hit his tenth home run of the year in the first. Xavier Nady added another solo shot in the second to give the Yankees a 2-0 lead. But after that, the offense did virtually nothing. From innings three through nine, the team was in a complete stupor; they would get a man on here or there, but in the end, they couldn't drive them in. The Yankees mustered only six total hits off the combination of Ryan Feierabend, Miguel Batista, and J.J. Putz.
Pitching: Mike Mussina didn't have a horrible start, but he left a few pitches in bad spots, and they were subsequently hit hard. He gave up a home run to Adrian Beltre in the third and then gave up another homer to Jose Lopez in the fourth. Even though he did give up four runs, he should have earned his 18th win of the year if he had gotten some run support. In relief, Coke and Veras pitched two innings. Veras allowed a home run to Jose Lopez in the eighth inning.
Final Notes:
- The Yankees finished the series by taking only one of three games from the Mariners, who are the worst team in the American League.
- The Yankees trail the Red Sox by 8.5 games with 19 remaining. They also trail the Blue Jays by a half game for fourth place.
- Derek Jeter's single in the third gave him 2,518 hits as a Yankee, which tied him with Babe Ruth for second all time.
- The last time the Yankees were in fourth place this late in the season was in 1992, sixteen years ago.
With the Yankees winning 6-3 over Tampa Bay in the ninth inning, it looks as though the Yankees are about to wrap up their fourth win in five games, two of which have come against the first-place Rays.
This little run is nice, but the Yankees have teased us all season long. It seemed that after the all star break -- when they won eight in a row and their record stood at 58-45 -- all seemed well. However, they then lost 19 of their next 35 games, en route to a nearly impossible climb back up to the Wild Card.
As optimistic as I have been on the blog, I can no longer say or hope that the Yankees will make the playoffs. Because they're not going to. Has a team come back from this large a deficit in September? Yes. But, in order for the Yankees to come back, the Red Sox have to lose some games, and judging by their schedule and strong play, it's not going to happen.
So, with the playoffs out of the picture, the only things we have to look forward to are:
a) seeing whether Mike Mussina can win 20 games
b) seeing whether A-Rod will hit 35 home runs and drive in 100 runs as he has done every year with the Yankees
c) watching the young pitchers make a case for themselves (or lack thereof).
Oy. It's going to be a long winter.
Final Score: Yankees 9, Orioles 4
Yankees: 68-60
Orioles: 61-66
W- Veras (4-2)
L- Walker (1-1)
SV- Rivera (29)
Offense: The Yankee offense did a great job tonight, scoring nine runs in total and hitting four home runs. The four home runs came off a pair of back-to-back jacks, first from Robinson Cano and Jose Molina, and then from Cody Ransom and Xavier Nady. Bobby Abreu also had a career night, as he went 5-for-5 with five singles. In addition, Derek Jeter picked up his 2,500th career hit in the first inning, becoming the third-youngest player to reach that milestone. Clearly, it was a big night for the offense.
Pitching: Mike Mussina didn't pitch great through six innings, but he got through it. He gave up four runs and nine hits, and he was denied his 17th win of the year. Jose Veras, Damaso Marte, and Mariano Rivera combined for three shutout innings in the seventh, eighth, and ninth; Rivera, who came into the game in the eighth, recorded his 29th save of the year.
Final Notes:
- The Yankees are now 3-50 when trailing after seven innings. It was 4-3 Orioles after seven innings tonight.
- Mussina is 0-2 with an 8.49 ERA in three starts against the Orioles this season. In his last 11 starts, he has allowed three home runs, all of them to Orioles hitters.
- Abreu's five hits match a career high. He also got five hits in August of 1999.
- Robinson Cano's home run landed on Eutaw Street, the third time the Yankees have done that this season. The other two came from Jason Giambi.
