Should Mike Mussina’s number have been retired?

[emmett16]

3 hours ago, Can_of_corn said:

Yes but Buster sounds as petty as Peter and that's never a good look.

I don't think Mike cares.

I don’t think Mike cares either, which is precisely why he should not have his # retired.  That’s only reserved for a few special players.  

[Moshagge3]

11 minutes ago, cravens86 said:

I would have been fine with retiring Mussina’s number before Adley was drafted but now that he’s here and wears that number it’s all moot. It’ll have to be retired when Adley makes the HoF wearing our cap I guess

It can be double retired, like the Yankees #42 for Mariano Rivera / Jackie Robinson.

[SilverRocket]

2 hours ago, Tony-OH said:

He choose to be a 3rd or 4th starter and another hired gun for an organization that has been known for hired guns since free agency started in 1977. His own brother at the time said that Mussina did not enjoy the pressure of being a number one pitcher. Had he stayed (Angelos eventually offere him the same money as the Yankees) he would have been up there with Palmer as the greatest Orioles pitcher ever. That would have been a legacy.

Was Angelos matching the offer reported, or is this from inside info you had? I don't remember hearing about that at the time.

That changes things a little bit for me but ultimately it was 99% Angelos's fault.

[JimGinSP]

Maybe some background…..

I see that Buster was The Sun’s beat writer in 1995 & 1996 and Mussina won 19 games in both those years.   Might be influencing his view.  
 

Did anyone bring this up last year when ADAM PLUTKO wore #35??   
 

Let’s spend this energy getting 71.1 WAR Bobby Grich in the HOF!   (He’s in O’s not Cooperstown).   

[Sports Guy]

7 minutes ago, SilverRocket said:

Was Angelos matching the offer reported, or is this from inside info you had? I don't remember hearing about that at the time.

That changes things a little bit for me but ultimately it was 99% Angelos's fault.

I think he was willing to match it at the end but the bridge was burned by that point.  The reality is, who knows if he actually would have matched it if Mussina called his bluff.

It could have been a PR thing to save face.

[foxfield]

I do think Mussina had a career worthy of having his number retired.  His Oriole War is second to all pitchers behind Palmer and his career war is comfortably ahead of Palmer.

But, Mussina never won a CY Young and never won a WS and he did not do those things here or elsewhere.

Dave McNally, Mike Quellar, Mike Flannigan all did at least 2 of these:  Won Cy Youngs,  pitched the O's into the WS, Won a WS with Baltimore.

Murray left also, but he was traded.  And he won a ROY and a WS here in Balt.

I did not vote.  Mussina was worthy, and would have forged his own status if he had stayed.  But I am fine if #35 isn't retired for him.

I am sure he doesn't care, and it also does not change how much of an impact he had when he was here.  

Lastly, I have no animosity towards Mussina bc he left because our owner is petty.

[Pushmonkey]

The Yankees can retire that traitors number. 

[Sports Guy]

Few things:

1) Moose absolutely should have won at least 1 CY in his career.  He got screwed over in, I believe, 2001 when they gave it to Clemens because of wins.

2). Hardly his fault they didn’t win a WS here.  1997 was some of the best postseason pitching the sport has ever seen.

[Tony-OH]

40 minutes ago, SilverRocket said:

Was Angelos matching the offer reported, or is this from inside info you had? I don't remember hearing about that at the time.

That changes things a little bit for me but ultimately it was 99% Angelos's fault.

It's been so long ago I can't remember the source of that information. I do remember it being good information but Mu$$ina felt the bridge was burned.

[Just Regular]

Let's sign Aaron Judge, get a World Series banner, and see how YankeesHangout feels in about 20 years.

Through age 30-ish, Judge about two-thirds what Mussina was.

https://www.fangraphs.com/graphsw.aspx?players=15640,837&wg=2

 

[nevadaO]

Is he in the HoF? Yes.

Is he in the HoF as an Oriole? No.

= No retired number

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

25 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

It's been so long ago I can't remember the source of that information. I do remember it being good information but Mu$$ina felt the bridge was burned.

I also remember Mussina was supposedly upset the Orioles traded BJ Surhoff at the trade deadline in 2000 as he was one of Mussina's best friends on the team. I don't think it was a deciding factor or anything, but it was one more thing that drove Mussina away in free agency. 

[Emory Eagle]

Well, it's probably no surprise given my profile pic that I was always a big of fan of Mussina (threw a knuckle curve myself all the way through college ball with, uh, let's say varying effectiveness).  I did feel betrayed when he went to the Yankees, but I was just a kid at the time and didn't really understand the full picture.  I think his accomplishments with the O's would warrant the retirement of his number for most teams, leaving aside the unfortunate circumstances of his departure.  At this point, I'm strongly in favor of letting bygones be bygones in Moose's case, and I'd support the O's retiring his number.  

[StatusDC]

Is he worthy? Yes.

Should he be retired? No.

He retired a Yankee, even though he played less years and had worse stats for them.

If you don't respect us, we don't respect you.

He made a smart long term decision for himself and his family. However, we're talking strictly from the O's perspective. So he can kick rocks.

[Frobby]

2 hours ago, crowmst3k! said:

That's interesting that Angelos offered a match of the Yankees offer.  

I'm ok with Mussina having not taken a discount to leave, but contract parity makes the fact that he left sting even more.  

This isn’t correct.  The Orioles increased their offer at the last minute, but did not come close to what the Yankees offered.   

I absolutely do not buy into any narrative that says Mussina was a turncoat.   He told the O’s what he wanted a year before he hit free agency, and it was very reasonable.   They didn’t give it to him (or come close at the time), so he went on the FA market and ended up getting much more than what he’d asked for from the O’s previously.   His departure is on Angelos and the O’s, period.   They treated him very poorly.   

That said, I’m fine with their choice not to retire his number.