I just read that Mike Mussina has decided to hang up his glove and retire.
As a Sox fan, I will be sorry to see him go. I always got a warm, fuzzy feeling whenever he took the mound against Boston. Now the numbers may prove me wrong, I haven’t researched this but it seems to me that the Red Sox hit pretty well against Mussina. Maybe not in the first few innings, but after they’d had a couple at bats against him by the 4th or 5th inning.
I know there were games that he’d weave his magic and keep the Boston lineup off their stride and make all his pitches, hitting the corners and eventually convincing the home plate umpire that even the pitches off the plate were strikes…And then there were games when the Sox got to him early and often…ahhh the good ol’ days!
I can’t help but wonder though… he’s relatively young, only 39, why hang it up now? Wouldn’t you rather go out on a high note? I know he just posted a 20 win season for the first time in his career so maybe he considers that a personal high note.
After George decided to retire and hand over the reins to the boys, Hank and Hal, it seems like the Yankees are going through some wholesale changes and maybe Moose decided it was a good time to get out.
Or maybe he got sick of traveling around the country while his family grew up back in Pennsylvania. He’s probably invested his millions wisely (he seem the cerebral type) and owns a few restaurants or something and wants to spend more time building the Mussina empire instead of the (once vaunted) Yankee Empire.
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2 responses so far ↓
1 Ian // Nov 22, 2008 at 1:11 am
I've said this before but my friends called me crazy. In the last few years especially, Mussina has slowed down (pitch speed) dramatically. He had to learn to be crafty instead of overpowering. Sometimes he was – sometimes he wasn't.
2 iscoredtickets // Nov 22, 2008 at 3:40 am
Hi Ian
Yeah – my friends, some of them Yankee fans (poor slobs) are crying themselves to sleep at night. What are they gonna do without their Moose? I've tried to explain it to them but they just won't accept my observation. They claim that although he's lost a few MPH on his fastball, he makes up for it with smoke and mirrors. I'll give him that – he's a crafty SOB!
It's nice to know there are other clear headed people out there.
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