Funky Mike Mussina
Photo: Icon SMI

A master of control, Mussina walked only 785 batters in 3,562.2 career innings, averaging 1.98 walks/9.0IP. According to Elias, he is one of just three pitchers in AL history to toss at least 3,000.0 innings while holding opponents to fewer than 2.0 walks/9.0IP, joining Jack Quinn (1.96) and Cy Young (1.11).

The thing that fascinated me about Mussina was the way strikeouts came to him later in his career. Pitchers tend to strikeout more batters early in their careers, then fade. Through age 26, Mike struck out an average of 5.6 batters per nine innings, an unimpressive number. For the rest of his career, that would rise to 7.6 per nine. I especially remember game one of the 1997 ALDS in which he struck out nine Mariners in seven innings. He struck out 16 in the series. That wasn't the Mussina I knew, but when I looked at his record the changeover was clear.

My belief is that Mussina discovered with the increase in power during this era, he could take advantage of players swinging for the fences:

"I'm trying to get the guy to swing at a pitch he doesn't want to swing at," he explains. David Ortiz of the Boston Red Sox, a disciplined power hitter, has struggled against Mussina. Ortiz might see a first-pitch curveball and then, depending on his reaction, another one a bit lower. After he sees two curves, a fastball will seem quicker than it really is. So two fastballs might follow -- one low, one high, to change Ortiz's eye level -- and if Mussina has two strikes by then, he might offer a curveball down and hope Ortiz chases it for strike three.

He certainly had an interesting career, one that should land him in the Hall of Fame. I hope he enjoys his retirement. He'll be missed.