Mike Mussina: Hall of Famer?

This guy cites some compelling numbers though some of the supporting evidence seems a little shoe-horned, i.e., 12. Mussina made only five All-Star Games, but there’s an easy explanation for that: During his career, he pitched better in the second half of the season (3.58 ERA, 7.4 K/9) than he did during the first half (3.77 ERA, 6.9 K/9).

Those numbers aren't wildly divergent.

Still, numbers like this -- Mussina’s K/BB ratio of 3.58 is second-best all-time, just ahead of Greg Maddux and behind only Curt Schilling -- are pretty damn impressive.

Mussina was really, really good for many years and he will probably get in eventually. The hall won't be worse for having him, but he's not among the top 10-12 guys on the ballot this year, IMHO.

Mike Mussina: 35 reason he belongs in the Hall of Fame

 

Did you pay a tax to @Dick Whitman to work this corner?

Yes he is,

 

Yes. Slam dunk. But not before Curt Schilling.

 

Well Schilling is not getting in anytime soon if the voting trends hold up, so how long will Mussina have to wait?

 

Mussina is top 10 on this ballot. In terms of WAR, he's third behind only Bonds and Clemens.

He's obviously the third-best pitcher on the ballot behind Clemens and Schilling.

If you take PEDs out of the equation, I think the top 10 is in no order -- Bonds, Clemens, Pudge, Manny, Bagwell, Raines, Mussina, Schilling, Edgar and either Vlad or Walker depending on your preference; they are close enough either is fine.

The "sad" thing about Mussina's candidacy is that it is basically held against him that he retired on his own terms instead of limping along to add to his career numbers.
He retired at 39 after a 20-win, 200 inning 3.39 ERA season that was a 131 ERA-plus season. If he sticks around for two or three more years to limp across the 300-win and 3,000 strikeout marks and get close to 400 innings pitched, he'd be a lot better off in the voting.

Even without that he's 19th in strikeouts, 33rd in wins, 66th in innings pitched.

 

I know more than one sports writer who used to take exception to Mussina's on-the-mound demeanor, his penchant for nibbling around the corners and bitching about the strike zone. Seemed odd given the fact Maddux was so revered for not "going after guys," but it wasn't just one or two writers. I heard it said quite a bit. Or maybe it was just the one or two guys and they just said it a lot.

 

Mussina was 39 that final season and he was 30 wins away from 300. It might have taken him three seasons to get that. I know he pitched well in 2008, but it was far from a sure thing that he would have held up through his age 42 season to get there.

 

In the 90s, he was part of a three-for-one baseball card trade that landed me Ken Griffey Jr's Upper Deck rookie card.

On that alone, he gets in.

 

Yes, slam dunk. Right before Schilling. Not a great at his best, but far steadier year in, year out. A step and a half behind most of the names Ragu listed, but that is too high a standard for the HOF for SPs.

 

This is so far beyond awesome. The biggest Jack Morris cheerleader on the board thinks that Mike Mussina "falls short."

Jack Morris
3,824 IP, 105 ERA+

Mike Mussina
3,562, 123 ERA+

They aren't even close.

 

Oh, yeah. It was a real pitcher's paradise during his prime! LOL.