In his 18th and perhaps final big-league season, Mike Mussina finally reached the 20-win plateau he so clearly deserved. I couldn’t root for it to happen while he wore Yankee Pinstripes, but Mussina’s first-ever 20-win season was long overdue. He deserved it more than once as a member of the Orioles but didn’t get enough offensive support. For those of you unfamiliar with Mike Mussina prior to his signing with the Yankees eight years ago, check out these stats:
1992 – 18-5 with a 2.54 E.R.A. with eight complete games and four shutouts in 32 starts.
1995 – 19-9 with a 3.29 E.R.A. and a WHIP of just 1.069 to go with seven complete games, including four shutouts, in 31 starts.
1997 – 15-8 in 33 starts with a 3.20 E.R.A.
1999 – 18-7 in 31 starts with a 3.50 E.R.A.
Mussina will turn 40 in December and has said publicly he will either retire or look for a three-year contract that should all but guarantee reaching 300 wins (he closes 2008 with 270), and a one-way ticket to the Hall of Fame.
Congratulations, Moose.
AL MVP Prediction
Carlos Quentin’s injury a month before the end of the season might have cleared the way for Dustin Pedroia to win the American League Most Valuable Player award. With David Ortiz’s nagging wrist injury frequently keeping him out of the lineup and Manny being Manny in Dodger Blue since the trading deadline, Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis carried the Red Sox offense for the bulk of the season. In addition to leading the league in hits, doubles, and runs scored, Pedroia walked 50 times versus only 52 strikeouts, finished second to Joe Mauer in batting average, and perhaps most impressively, stole 20 bases while being caught just once all season.
O’s notes
Since winning 78 games in 2004, the Orioles have won fewer and fewer games each of the subsequent years: 74 in 2005, 70 in ’06, 69 in ‘07, and 68 in 2008. While I’d like to be optimistic about next year – especially since Jay Payton will no longer be wearing an Oriole uniform – Jeremy Guthrie badly needs company in the rotation and the entire bullpen needs an overhaul. Considering the other teams in the American League East, it is hard to imagine the Birds finishing anywhere other than last again in 2009. Unless, of course, the team follows suit of the one team that used to keep them out of the cellar – the 2008 American League East champion Tampa Bay Rays.
Give credit where credit is due
Baseball has not always been the popular sport to watch in Tampa Bay, but the club that went from worst to first in one year deserves admiration and appreciation from baseball fans everywhere. They showed the baseball world that any team in any division can defy expectations and have a breakout season as a team after years – or even a decade – of losing. Plain and simple, the Rays advancing to the American League Championship Series is Good for Ball.
Keywords: 20 wins, AL MVP, Carlos Quentin, Dustin Pedroia, Hall of Fame, Joe Mauer, Kevin Youkilis, Mike Mussina, Moose, Orioles, Tampa Bay Rays
