Mike Mussina

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Michael Cole "Mike" Mussina (born December 8 1968 in Williamsport, Pennsylvania) is a major league starting pitcher for the New York Yankees.

Mussina, nicknamed "Moose," graduated from Stanford University, where he was a member of Delta Tau Delta Fraternity, in December, 1990, earning a degree in economics in just three and a half years. He was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in the 1st round (20th pick overall) of the 1990 amateur draft and in 1992, his first full season with the Orioles, went 18-5 with a 2.54 ERA. Mussina continued to post good numbers in Baltimore, featuring two back-to-back 19-win seasons in 1995 and 1996. Mussina helped the Orioles to the playoffs in 1996, where they eventually lost in the ALCS to the Yankees and again in 1997, where they lost in the ALCS to the Cleveland Indians. In Game 3 of that series against Cleveland, Mussina set the ALCS record for strikeouts in a single game when he struck out fifteen Indians. (The record was later tied by the New York Yankees' Roger Clemens in Game 4 of the 2000 ALCS against the Seattle Mariners.)

Following the 2000 season, Mussina decided to leave the Orioles. Mussina signed with the New York Yankees on November 30, 2000 to a 6-year contract. Many Orioles fans saw the move as a failure to act on their hometown team's part. Many fans felt that Orioles management wrongly assumed Mussina would stay loyal to the team, despite being offered more money and being heavily courted by Yankees management. Contrary to popular belief, it was the Orioles' refusal to include a "No Trade Clause" in his contract, rather than money, that forced a change in teams.

Mussina pitched well in his first season, posting a 17-11 record with a 3.15 ERA. In the postseason, Mussina started Games 1 and 5 of the 2001 World Series against the Arizona Diamondbacks. In the 2001 postseason, Mussina posted a 2.63 ERA.

In 2002, Mussina finished 18-10 with a 4.05 ERA. In 2003, Mussina was 17-8 with a 3.40 ERA. In 2004, after high-profile defections by Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte and David Wells, Mussina became the unquestionable "ace" of the Yankee pitching rotation. Mussina was plagued by a series of injuries, and wasn't the pitcher he was in 2003 or before. He finished the 2004 season, 12-9 with a 4.59 ERA with a great late-season performance. In 2005, Mussina wasn't the Yankees' ace anymore. He still was inconsistent throughout the season and finished 13-8 with a 4.41 ERA.

Mussina is having a great start to the 2006 season, posting a 3.24 ERA and a 10-3 record through his first 19 starts (as of July 14, 2006). Additionally, Mussina is among the AL leaders in virtually every pitching category including, T-3rd in wins (10), 6th in ERA (3.24), T-5th in Strike Outs (108), T-9th in innings pitched (122.1), 5th in WHIP (1.04), and 3rd in BAA (.265).

As of July 6, 2006, Mussina has a career total of 234 wins and recently broke the 2500 strikeout barrier. Considering he is only 37 years old, there is a slight possibility he could finish his career with 300 wins. With his victory against Cleveland on July 5th, 2006, Mike Mussina became the first pitcher in American League history to win 10 or more games for 15 consecutive seasons.[link]

Off the diamond, Mussina is a crossword puzzle enthusiast who is featured in the 2006 documentary film Wordplay.

Contents

1 Pitching
2 Brushes with perfection

2.1 Near greatness
2.2 Salary

3 Postseason Stats
4 External links

Pitching

Mussina throws a bevy of different pitches. He throws a 4-seam fastball at 91 mph, a 2-seam fastball, a curveball, a splitter, a slider, a changeup, and arguably his best pitch, the knuckle curve. As with pitchers such as David Cone, Mussina has been known to alter arm angles and 'make up' pitches in the middle of a game. He will for example, drop down side arm if the need arises, though none of his standard pitches call for it.

During spring training, Yankee catcher Jorge Posada noticed that he could see Mussina's fingers wrapped over the ball in a unique way whenever he threw his changeup. When Posada went to bat against Mussina during an intra-squad game, he used this tell tale sign to crush a Mussina changeup into center field. Later on, in between innings, Mussina asked Posada in the dugout how he was able to time Mussina's changeup so well. Posada explained what he was seeing with Mussina's fingers. With this feedback, Mussina adjusted his grip accordingly, making it extremely difficult for batters to guess that a changeup is coming their way. ^{[[Citing sources citation needed]]}

Brushes with perfection

Mussina is perhaps most infamously known for his collection of near-perfect outings:

On May 30, 1997, he retired the first 25 Cleveland Indians he faced before surrendering a single to Sandy Alomar Jr. with one out in the ninth; Mussina struck-out the last two batters for a one-hit 3-0 shut-out.
On August 4, 1998, he retired the first 23 Detroit Tigers he faced before surrendering a double to Frank Catalanotto with two outs in the eighth; Mussina gave up another hit in the eventual 4-0 shut-out.
On September 2, 2001, he had his most heart-breaking brush with perfection when he retired the first 26 Boston Red Sox he faced; he then ran pinch-hitter Carl Everett (batting for Joe Oliver) to a 1-and-2 count before Everett slapped a single to left-center. Mussina retired leadoff man Trot Nixon on a grounder, striking out 13 batters in a one-hit 1-0 shut-out.
On April 14, 2002, he retired the first 16 Red Sox he faced before surrendering a single to Doug Mirabelli with one out in the sixth; Mussina was replaced by reliever Ramiro Mendoza, and the Yankees finished off the 6-2 win.
On October 12, 2004, he retired the first 19 Red Sox he faced in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series before surrendering a double to Mark Bellhorn with one out in the seventh; Mussina was replaced by Tanyon Sturtze, and the Yankees finished off the 10-7 win.

Near greatness

Aside from his several near perfect outings, Mussina is known to be a great pitcher who has had several brushes with excellence.

Never won 20 games in a season, but won 19 twice. Reliever Armando Benitez blew the save in Mussina's last start in 1996, which would have been win number 20, perhaps costing Mussina the Cy Young to Toronto's Pat Hentgen.
Never leading the league in ERA, but placing in the top ten several times.
Never winning a Cy Young award, but placing the in the top ten several times.
Never pitching a perfect game, but having several near misses (as noted above).
Never winning a World Series.

Salary

During the 2006 season, Mike Mussina is the 5th highest paid player at $19,000,000. However, his contract was heavily backloaded. This caused Mussina to make substantially more money towards the end of his contract compared to the beginning of his contract.

Postseason Stats

Mussina has pitched in the postseason in 1996-1997 and 2001-2005. 7-7, 3.30 ERA, 137 strikeouts (128 innings)

External links

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