Congratulations, Moose!

[Tbone83]

I will always have a soft spot for Mike, even after the leaving for NY thing. In 92, my family and I made our first trip to OPCY. I was 15. A bunch of players were having a signing session down near the inner harbor. Mike wasn't officially at a table but was walking around for some reason, and I recognized him despite him being a rookie. I went up to him and was in the process of asking him to please autograph a ball for me when one of those crazy middle age guys, who carries 25 items around at a time and wants them all singed, literally butted in front of me. Mike said something to the effect of "hey wait a minute I sign for the real fans first" and made the guy wait while he signed my ball and talked to me for a minute. Hard not to be a fan after that. Between that encounter and experiencing the glory that was OPCY's inaugural season, any question of me NOT being an O's fan for life was put to bed. 

[Moose Milligan]

Someone check in on @Tony-OH please.

[Can_of_corn]

11 minutes ago, VaBird1 said:

Sparky Anderson said he was the best right handed in the AL.

But he wasn't good enough to pitch for Cito.

[foxfield]

I am happy for Mussina.  He was a great Oriole.  He earned his HOF status and will go in as a Yankee.  I don't like that, but it is probably appropriate.

 

I am happy for the other three as well.  But I am puzzled about Mariano being the first to have a unanimous vote.  But who is to be the idiot that says, I am not voting for him?  The ones who voted against Cal, or Griffey?  They were idiots.  But sure a reliever.  It figures and of course a Yankee. At least we can stop worrying about it.

Welcome to the Hall Boys.  Congrats.

[Palmoripken]

13 minutes ago, VaBird1 said:

Sparky Anderson said he was the best right handed in the AL.

Of that era? No debate imo. Very intelligent too. 

[Palmoripken]

14 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

I hated him, too.

But I can't deny it, really.  If I was a FA and the Yankees started making big offers to me, I'd jump at it.  Especially at THAT time when it looked like they could win the World Series every year.  

Yeah with age wisdom. I totally understand the decision now. 

[eddie83]

He said on MLB Network he isn’t picking one team over the other. 

[linedrive]

I got to see him pitch his first professional game for the Hagerstown Suns, and it was a gem! Not that I'm prophetic or anything, but I knew right then he'd be a great major league pitcher. Just wish he would have won a Cy Young for us, or had gotten that no hitter!

[25 Nuggets]

18 minutes ago, Roy Firestone said:

Never won 20 as an Oriole....only once as a Yankee.... Never won Cy Young. ERA in the high 3's.But he was the best pitcher for the Orioles in the last 25 years and he helped the Yankees win a title. I congratulate him, and I'm happy for him.Wish we never let him go.

Career ERA:  3.68

Career ERA+: 123

That's how difficult it was to pitch in the AL East in the Steroid Era.

[TonySoprano]

24 minutes ago, Roy Firestone said:

Never won 20 as an Oriole....only once as a Yankee.... Never won Cy Young. ERA in the high 3's.But he was the best pitcher for the Orioles in the last 25 years and he helped the Yankees win a title. I congratulate him, and I'm happy for him.Wish we never let him go.

On 8/12/2018 at 8:34 PM, TonySoprano said:

In 1994, Moose needed 4 wins in 10-11 possible starts if the season hadn't ended.  He had 16 wins in 24 GS, so 4 more was certainly in reach.  Mussina didn't make his first start in 1995 until April 26.  Every other month that year he made 6 starts.  With 19 wins in 32 starts, he should've been able to get one more win in the 4 or 5 starts that were cancelled.  Moose needed one win in his last 4 starts in 1996.  After 2 losses and a ND, he looked like he would get win #20 in his final start, surrendering just 1 ER in 8 IP vs. Toronto.  Davey brought in Armando to get the save, and he failed. In May 1998, Mussina suffered a broken nose courtesy of a comebacker from Sandy Alomar, and he was out over 3 weeks.  For the rest of that season, as he told ESPN's Bob Ley, "It was mentally getting over the fear that every ball I threw, every ball that someone made contact with was not coming back at me. " Mussina ended the year with 18 wins.   

Having said all that, yeah, I get it
Woulda.  Coulda. Shoulda.  But didn't, despite 4 very solid shots at the mark in 5 years.

[TonySoprano]

49 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

But he wasn't good enough to pitch for Cito.

[25 Nuggets]

It's funny regarding the 20-win thing.  Twenty years ago it was a common argument against starting pitchers.  Now, we get maybe 2-3 starting pitchers with 20 wins across the entire league, each year.  Some years we get zero.  It's pretty much become a non-argument.

Tell a young fan that Mike Mussina "only won 20 games once" and that fan will proabably say "he won 20 games in a season?!?"

[Uli2001]

1 hour ago, ORIOLE33 said:

He should go in as an Oriole. 

I believe that the player picks which hat to use. If that's the case, he is picking the Yankees. He just doesn't like the Orioles. It's a shame. I was a big fan, watched him pitch multiple times at OPACY, but after what he said what he said and the way he left, I really couldn't care less.

[MurphDogg]

Just now, Uli2001 said:

I believe that the player picks which hat to use. If that's the case, he is picking the Yankees. He just doesn't like the Orioles. It's a shame. I was a big fan, watched him pitch multiple times at OPACY, but after what he said what he said and the way he left, I really couldn't care less.

The Hall has had final say since 2010. They do take the player's preference into account. Since it is so close, I imagine his preference (if he has one) would carry the day. The Orioles did draft, develop and give him a shot at the Majors, it is certainly possible that after all these years (especially with Peter Angelos no-longer at the reins), his hard feelings have faded.

[TonySoprano]

12 minutes ago, 25 Nuggets said:

It's funny regarding the 20-win thing.  Twenty years ago it was a common argument against starting pitchers.  Now, we get maybe 2-3 starting pitchers with 20 wins across the entire league, each year.  Some years we get zero.  It's pretty much become a non-argument.

Tell a young fan that Mike Mussina "only won 20 games once" and that fan will proabably say "he won 20 games in a season?!?"

Yep.  Different times.   The most starts Mussina had in a season was 36 (1996).  In the days of a 4 man rotation, Palmer pitched 36 games or more, 8 times, which were also all of his 20+ win seasons.