Mike Mussina: Hall of Famer?

The fact is you spent a good chunk of the discussion with Ragu arguing against an imaginary post.

 

Except, of course, he was. For two decades.

 

He was excellent for two decades. Among the very best? No. Guys who're excellent for two decades but not at the tippy-top sometimes make the Hall and sometimes don't. It's not a knock on Mussina to say other players at his position were better.

 

Yes, and for every Suttonesque compiler, there are two guys who WERE among the very best, but not for very long. Garciaparra and Cesar Cedeno come to mind there. Early in their careers I was sure each would be up on the level of guys like Mays and Musial when they were done. Didn't happen.

 

Then the question also has to be, what is the lowest rank for a guy in an era to be considered a Hall of Famer? From 1990 to 2010, where does Mussina rank as a pitcher. If he's a top-five guy does that make him a Hall of Famer for you? Does he have to be top three? Is that the same for any position or just certain ones? Because it is very obvious in the same timeframe the only two catchers who will make the Hall are Piazza and Pudge.

 

There are 30 starting catchers and 150 starting pitchers.

 

Right but the problem with that is -- there can be a 20-year run at say second base where five guys are Hall of Famers. And then a 20-year run were maybe one is. Im asking is it just an arbitrary line based on the fact that well he was a top X of his era so he is in but since he wasn't top X he's not

 

If we look at history, some positions have more liberal standards than others. If you are a catcher who hit for power, for example, you have a much better chance of being elected than a third baseman who hit for power. I think there are fewer third basemen in the Hall than any position, with second base next lowest. As for there being so many pitchers, they do make up over 40 percent of all rosters and have done so for decades. There are usually three catchers on the 25 man roster. That's 12 percent.

 

I don't know the answer, but what was Pettitte's record once Mussina joined the team. The Yankees were much better in the 90s. I bet they had a rgeat record in ames Clemens pitched for them too, and I don't think of him as a good post-season pitcher. They had a great post-season record as a team, period.

 

Let's face it. The Yankees of that era had a rotation of quality starters who, Clemens excepted, ranged from strong marginal to weak marginal Hall candidates. But they also had Rivera. IMO and apologies to Whitey Ford, the greatest Yankee pitcher of any kind ever.