Oriole fans opinion of Mike Mussina

[NewMarketSean]

The only grudge I hold with Mussina is that he signed with the Orioles most hated rival. When Andy Pettitte left NY and BOS was interested, he said he'd never sign with a division rival. I respected that. Mussina could have done the same. That said, I remember the Yankees rolling out the red carpet for him, and Joe Torre helped him look for houses in the NY area. They made it impossible for Mussina to go anywhere else.

That said, Angelos deserves the lion's share of the blame here. Mussina was another guy who deserved loyalty and respect and Angelos pretty much spit in his face with his low-ball negotiations and lack of respect attitude towards guys like Mussina and Palmeiro.

I personally don't care what cap he wears if he gets in. And I even wonder if he deserves to get in, personally.

[EddieMurrayfan]

Quite simply, if Mu$$ina ever goes into the HoF, he should go in with his Yankees hat on proud with a backdrop of money bags. The guys choose to be a mercenary over a legacy. I have no respect for people like that. Mussina is the only Orioles drafted, signed, developed and starred as an Oriole who ever left the Orioles to sign with the Yankees in his prime. He couldn't handle being the ace here and all the responsibilities that went with it. He wanted to just blend in with the other mercenaries and was more comfortable being a 3rd starter then the guy who was relied on here. I consider Mu$$ina a Yankee.

Great post.

Others want to put all the blame on PA - but what you said is all true!

[ShaneDawg85]

Loathed him at first like a lot of other people, took joy in beating him, but time heals all wounds and made me realize he was totally right and justified to leave. People keep talking about loyalty, but frankly, there was no reason for him to be loyal when he had already shown loyalty to the team by taking a well below market extension in 1997 that got him skewered by Tom Glavine and the player's union to stay with the team that drafted him, and would have taken a lesser contract to stay again even though evidence was stacked to show the club was heading for disaster. But why didn't he? Peter Angelos. Instead of showing seriousness about keeping their best player, the Orioles waited and waited, thought they could dictate the situation, and instead pissed off the best pitcher in Orioles history not named Jim Palmer, and ended up with nothing to show for it.

Had I been in Mussina's shoes I would have done the same thing. The Yankees made him feel welcomed, they made him feel wanted, and most importantly, they offered him a plan, they had a clue, and a shot to win. Why stay in Baltimore to throw your career away? Why stay in a place with no hope? Why stay with the team that jerked you around and treated you like crap after you kept giving them chance after chance and said you still wanted to stay? To hell with that, I'd have taken the first Amtrak train up to New York, too.

And I still love how people try and take solace in the fact he never won a ring. Sorry if I can't take pride in a guy who played in the postseason for seven straight seasons, pitched in three ALCS's, and playing a huge role in getting his team to a World Series in the process, and pitching in two World Series. Oh but he never won a ring, so that makes me feel a whole lot better that 12 years later and 4 years after he retired I still have no hope that things will get better.

He left the Orioles, he signed with the Yankees, but he was justified to do it. He still represents the last great pitching prospect to succeed in Baltimore, was the best pitcher I ever saw in this town (and probably ever will), and he played the game the right way when the very guys he pitched in front of in Baltimore were immature morons (Erickson, Ponson), or behind in New York were cheating and doping up (Pettite, Clemens), and he was better than all of them.

He was a Hall of Famer, deserves to be a Hall of Famer, and one day will be a Hall of Famer, and frankly I don't care if it's as an Oriole or a Yankee. Selfishly I want it to be as an Oriole, but I know it's not going to happen, but I'm going to root for him anyway.

[Odenton O]

When Moose was here, he was my favorite player, bar none. Letting him get away was probably the worst thing Angelos has ever done. But I don't blame Mussina. As others have said, he took less to stay with us than he could have gotten on his first contract. Management tried to squeeze him and he decided to go to a team that was making him feel wanted,. I think that had more to do with it than the dollars and cents involved, since he clearly would have taken less to stay if the O's had handled it right.

Whenever this topic comes up, I'm reminded of a column Boswell wrote in 2004, after the O's had resigned BJ Surhoff. In it he mentioned the circumstances surrounding BJ's trade from the O's to Atlanta. From the article:

A petty member of the front office disliked Surhoff because of a minor dispute. Surhoff desperately wanted to stay in Baltimore, where one of his children got medical care at Johns Hopkins. The trade, for junk players, was little short of vicious. Mike Mussina told me the next day, almost in a hiss: "What they did to B.J. is a disgrace. That's it. I'm out of here."

And, at year-end, he was -- becoming a Yankee.

I really think that him leaving had as much to do with how management handled Moose, and the way he saw them treating other people as well. (BJ, Davey Johnson, Jon Miller, etc.) And given everything that has gone down here since he left, I can't really say it was a poor decision on his part.

[Gurgi]

I hate Mussina less now. But he still sucks.

He has the heart of a true Yankee. AROD, TEX, CLEMENS. Dirtbags all the way.

[TonySoprano]

Great post.

Others want to put all the blame on PA - but what you said is all true!

He chose to be a mercenary after Peter Angelos sat on a deal that had been negotiated months before. He chose to be a mercenary when he signed his last deal, a three year contract, and was told no pitcher gets five years, and then watched Scott Erickson get a five year contract. He chose to be a mercenary when Thrift held a fire sale, and got back nothing of value in return.

[DuffMan]

Mike Mussina, I think you meant to say Mike Turncloak

[Pedro Cerrano]

He should go in as an Oriole. Other than his one 20 win season, he was clearly a better pitcher in Baltimore.

As for hard feelings, the O's had a ton of chances to resign Moose and they botched it (just like they botch everything else) so I can't really blame him for leaving. I have no hard feelings.

In fact, I remember he came back to Ellicott City after signing with the Yankees to do another autograph session as a way to say goodbye.

[Sports Guy]

Quite simply, if Mu$$ina ever goes into the HoF, he should go in with his Yankees hat on proud with a backdrop of money bags. The guys choose to be a mercenary over a legacy. I have no respect for people like that. Mussina is the only Orioles drafted, signed, developed and starred as an Oriole who ever left the Orioles to sign with the Yankees in his prime. He couldn't handle being the ace here and all the responsibilities that went with it. He wanted to just blend in with the other mercenaries and was more comfortable being a 3rd starter then the guy who was relied on here. I consider Mu$$ina a Yankee.

LOL...How did he do that?

How much did the Orioles offer him?

[Sports Guy]

He chose to be a mercenary after Peter Angelos sat on a deal that had been negotiated months before. He chose to be a mercenary when he signed his last deal, a three year contract, and was told no pitcher gets five years, and then watched Scott Erickson get a five year contract. He chose to be a mercenary when Thrift held a fire sale, and got back nothing of value in return.

Yea seriously...calling him a mercenary is really poor.

Apparently, if you don't bend over for the Orioles and decide to go somewhere else, you are a mercenary.

[Pedro Cerrano]

Quite simply, if Mu$$ina ever goes into the HoF, he should go in with his Yankees hat on proud with a backdrop of money bags. The guys choose to be a mercenary over a legacy. I have no respect for people like that. Mussina is the only Orioles drafted, signed, developed and starred as an Oriole who ever left the Orioles to sign with the Yankees in his prime. He couldn't handle being the ace here and all the responsibilities that went with it. He wanted to just blend in with the other mercenaries and was more comfortable being a 3rd starter then the guy who was relied on here. I consider Mu$$ina a Yankee.

I respectfully disagree with this. What about Moose's tenure in Baltimore would lead you to believe that he "couldn't handle" being our ace and wanting to "blend in"? He is maybe the best pitcher in Oriole history, I think he handled his role just fine.

It boils down to money and a fair offer. Moose was ready to resign in Baltimore and the Orioles chose to d*ck around with him instead of locking him up. This is all on Angelos. Always has been. He's awful.

[ccbird]

Arguably the greatest Orioles pitcher ever.

Should go into the HOF as an Oriole...Should be a first ballot HOFer...Should be welcomed back with open arms...Should be inducted into Orioles HOF asap.

Yea, he went to the Yankees...but only after PA dropped the ball and screwed everything up.

I have zero issues with Moose.

All of this.

And to take it a step further, while I was devestated when he left he greatly increased his chances of making the HOF(which he absolutely deserves) by going to New York. It wasn;t hard to see after the 2000 season that the O's were rebuilding. He was 32 at the time. I don;t care what anybody says about loyalty or whatever when you are 32yrs old and you have a shot at immortality( HOF and WS rings) you think hard about where you want to go to increase your chances of accomplishing those things. It sure as heck was a smart decision. He never won the ring but pitched in 2 World Series and won 123 games as a Yankee. If he remained an Orioe he appears in no more postseason games and probably doesn't win more than 90 games. Absolutely the right decision for him. I'm a diehard O's fan but in retrospect if I were in his shoes I would have made the exact same decision he made.

[Todd-O]

I have no issues with Moose. I didn't like the fact that he became a Yankee.. but, if I'm not mistaken, he never won a ring there so he didn't get rewarded. Thinking of Moose, though, makes me mad (again) at several people:

1) Cito Gaston (1993 All Star Game)

2) Todd Zeile (Throwing the ball into the ground in the 1996 ALCS which allowed runners to advance and rattle Moose who promptly served one up to Fielder)

and

3)PA (for his initial low-ball hometown offer of 60 million followed by his 72 million contract retraction)

Moose is one of Baltimore's all-time greats... he should be in the HOF as an Oriole

[glenn__davis]

I agree with NMS - don't blame him for leaving, do blame him for going to the Yankees. Actually, I really blame him for going to the Yankees and then saying "It's not about the money". I just really hate that quote, because it's always about the money.

Always wanted whoever runs the sound system to play Reel Big Fish's "Sell Out" while Mussina was warming up.

And I think his accomplishments as a Yankee are significant enough for him to go in as a Yankee if he so chooses.

[Slappy]

I hate Syd Thrift and Angelos for letting him get away. How can you stay loyal to bosses that aren't loyal to you?