Here are how his career stats, to date, break down:
255 wins
147 losses
57 complete games
23 shutouts
3.71 ERA
1.19 WHIP (Walks + Hits divided by Innings Pitched)
2683 Ks
So, if Mussina retires after this season, should he get into the Hall? Why/Why Not?
2 comments:
From http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=7451 (may require a subscription)
"At 39 and now reduced to employing a fastball that wouldn't get ticketed in a school zone, it's a safe bet that the Moose isn't going to become a member of the club. Which isn't to say that he doesn't have Hall-worthy numbers, at least from a JAWS standpoint. As with Smoltz but to a lesser extent on both scales, Mussina's ahead on career and short on peak numbers, with PRAR and PRAA numbers (284 and 1221, respectively) that also surpass the benchmarks. What Mussina doesn't have going for him, particularly relative to Smoltz, is the hardware which will augment his much more traditional case: no World Series ring, no Cy Young, no 20-win season (he's had 18 or 19 five times) and "only" five All-Star appearances. His post-season record is "just" 7-8, albeit with a 3.42 ERA and 145 strikeouts in 139 2/3 innings; the fact that his teams have scored just 3.2 runs per game for him is a big reason, and certainly hasn't helped his quest for a ring.
In Mussina's favor is a long stretch in which he could lay claim to being one of the league's best pitchers; he finished in the top five of the Cy voting six times from 1992 to 2001, with two sixth-place finishes as well, and has eight top five finishes in ERA, and eight top 10 finishes in strikeouts. While not the equal of Clemens, Johnson, or Martinez, he was one of the league's top-shelf hurlers for a good long time. He's probably facing a tooth-and-nail fight, but it ought to turn out in his favor."
JAWS, PRAR, and PRAA are 'advanced' metrics created by the folks over at Baseball Prospectus.
Mussina seems to me to be a member of the "Hall of Very Good", (along with Jim Edmonds and Willie McGee to name some Cards) but not quite HOF. His career compares favorably to many pitchers at Cooperstone, though. I wouldn't object to him getting in.
Some of the talking heads on Baseball Tonight talk about HOF players needing to be "dominant" in their era. In his prime, I could see him outpitching Clemens, Johnson, or Martinez in head-to-head matchups part of the time.
While he doesn't have a superstar persona, he gets the job done on a consistent basis.
Smoltz is in. But I think Mussina deserves it too.
Since I'm talking good about him, I expect him to get destroyed in his next start.
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