HOF: Mike Mussina?

Is Mike Mussina a Hall of Famer? Perhaps, but if I may, to paraphrase Mussina himself if what he did before this year was not enough to make him a HOFer why then should a 20 win season on an underachieving team with the highest payroll in baseball, make or break that decision?

As we enter the post steroid era the players that become eligible for the Hall of Fame will clearly be judged by a new standard although perhaps the same criteria. Many that were eligible before this era may be “automatic” in hindsight. Mike Mussina’s numbers are unique yet bare comparison to a few former players that have not yet made the HOF. The bench mark for which the comparison will be made is 300 career victories. However it will not be the only factor for which Mussina is judged by the voters.

Mussina’s consistency is perhaps his best asset. He has won at least 10 games in 17 seasons. Something only five other pitchers have ever done. Four of whom are HOFers and the fifth is Greg Maddux (all are 300 game winners). Only five other pitchers (all 300 game winners) have won as many or more games than Mussina and have a higher winning percentage including Roger Clemens and Randy Johnson.

There are 31 pitchers with more career starts than Mike Mussina. Ten of which are not Hall of Famers. That number drops to 6 if you consider Clemens, Glavine, Johnson and Maddux again all 300 game winners. Of the other six, four have more wins than Mussina. Including Bobby Mathews who in 15 seasons had 297 career wins. The other 3 Jim Kaat 283, Bert Blyleven 287 and Tommy John 288.

I will leave you with this. Three of the top ten pitchers with the most post season wins do not have 300 career victories, are not hall of famers and played in the same era roughly over the same time period. Is Mike Mussina clearly better than all of these men? John Smoltz, Andy Pettitte and Curt Schilling.  So much so that he deserves a spot in the Hall of Fame and they do not?