It’s late Saturday night, and the only thing standing in the way of an instant and rewarding sleep is Baseball Tonight on ESPN.
Just as I’m about to turn the television off, Tim Kurkjian utters this line:
"Mike Mussina will be in the Hall of Fame."
Now, some people lay awake at night thinking about Tuesday’s big meeting or which colour best suits the bathroom; on this occasion, I stayed up wondering if Mussina belongs with Warren Spahn.
Truthfully, I’ve never given Mussina much thought because he never seems to be the best pitcher on his own team, annually stuck behind Roger Clemens, Randy Johnson or Chien-Ming Wang.
A future Hall of Famer? C’mon!
But consider this: Mussina has pieced together a very surprising season for the Yankees, one that will most certainly garner another contract (his current deal expires at the end of the year). And if the Moose plays, say, another three years, the two pitching statistics that make Cooperstown a lock will both be in reach: 300 wins and 3,000 strikeouts.
As of this writing, Mussina has 264 victories and 2,753 strikeouts but three other important qualifications are missing from his resume. He’s never won the Cy Young Award, he’s never won 20 games in a season and perhaps more importantly, he’s never been on a championship team.
Of course, the lack of a World Series ring did not prohibit Ferguson Jenkins from gaining entry in 1991. Mussina doesn’t have Jenkins’ seven 20-win seasons or the Cy Young (Jenkins won in 1971). But Mussina will likely end up with more career victories (Jenkins had 284), a far greater career winning percentage (Mussina stands at .636, Jenkins finished at .557) and quite possibly more strikeouts (Mussina has 439 fewer as of August 3).
So far in 2008, Mussina has 14 victories. If you consider he’ll earn nine (and possibly 10) more starts this year, he’s got a decent shot at his first 20-win season.
In fact, with a few more consistent years, Mussina’s final resume may end up looking a lot like that of 1998 Hall of Fame inductee Don Sutton, who won over 300 games, struck out more than 3,000 batters, had one 20-win season, but never won a World Series despite four tries.
There.
I’ve stated my case. I don’t even really care much for Mike Mussina, but I think he’ll be in Cooperstown one day.
Weigh in on this if you feel like it. I’m going to bed.
