Dropped Third Strike

Mike Mussina - Hall of Famer??

FOX Sports on MSN - MLB - Yanks' Mussina to retire after first 20-win season.

After a great deal of speculation, Mike Mussina is retiring.  There has been a great deal of discussion during the past year about whether or not he should be in the Hall of Fame.  He doesn't have the numbers that make him a lock (300 wins, 3000 K's), although he is close.  

These standards, however, are long outdated.  Why should he be compared statistically to pitchers who pitched in four-man rotations and during times when a 40 home run-season was considered huge.  How many times was the home-run record broken during Mussina's career.  Here are some reasons why he should be a lock for the Hall of Fame:

- He 11 or more wins in 17 consecutive seasons, every year except his first. 

- 11 of those seasons he won 15 or more.

- He finished his career with 270 wins, 2813 K's, and a 3.68 ERA, all while pitching in the American League East, half of which as a member of the Orioles where he faced the Yankees and Red Sox many times.

- .638 winning percentage - not bad at all.  

- 15 seasons in the top 10 for strikeout to walk ratio.

- 5-time All-Star, 7 gold gloves.

- He pitched against players who were on steroids.  If Roger Clemens didn't juice, would his stats be any better?  

I kept hearing all year that not having a 20-win season would hurt his chances, now what's going to stop him?

Johnson Likely Leaving Arizona......

According to this link, Randy Johnson will likely not be pitching for Arizona next year.

Johnson made $10 million last year to put up an impressive 11-10 record with an ERA that actually was impressive at 3.91. While that was a pretty good year for a 44 year old pitcher, the Diamondbacks only valued him at a few million dollars and Johnson would have pitched for a discounted $8 million.

Now there are a few things to consider here. While Johnson did have a relatively solid year, he does have a pretty solid injury history - mostly with his back. Guys with back issues don't really seem like a good idea when they are getting into their mid 40's (Johnson will be 45 next year.) Let's also not forget that he did hit that bird that one time....

Now let's look at the positives. A pitcher with his stats (disregarding his age) would normally get the $8 million he was looking for. He is pretty much the definition of a veteran clubhouse presence having pitched 21 seasons and won 5 Cy Young Awards (including 4 consecutive for the those crazy Diamondbacks.) Let's also not forget he's got a career ERA in the very low 3's and is only 5 wins shy of 300. Watching chase win #300 will bring in a lot of media attention and fans to their games.

Bottom line, Johnson is likely done in Arizona but will end up pitching somewhere to get win #300 - let's just hope it isn't in New York.

Arizona down - 28 teams to go.

City of Brotherly Love?

Check this out: Philly Fix My Car.

I am not sure what to make of this... So, we just won the World Series, now what? Why don't we vandalize our city and destroy other people's property? 

After winning the World Series, Philadelphia fans celebrated in a fashion normally reserved for riots and coups in Eastern European countries.  This is not surprising, given the history of Philadelphia fans - I will still never forget when Philly fans cheered as Jose Reyes lied face down at second base earlier this season.  The Tampa Bay Rays had a downtown rally/party for finishing second - what a lame way to celebrate.  Maybe they should have flipped a few cars...