NEW YORK (AP) – Mike Mussina struggled so mightily last season that Joe Torre finally came to an agonizing realization. As the New York Yankees scratched and clawed to stay in the playoff race, the veteran starter had become a liability.
The zip was gone from his overpowering fastball, the one that so often nipped the corners of the plate. Mussina’s pinpoint command was wavering, his steadfast confidence shot, his win total the lowest it’d been in seven years.
“One of the toughest things I’ve had to do,” said Torre, now the manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers, “was go tell him last year that we were taking him out of the rotation.”
So forgive Mussina for arriving at spring training early this year still smarting, his main motivation to lock up a spot on the hill for an 18th season, and just maybe show the organization and all those youngsters running around the clubhouse that a 39-year-old with slivers of silver in his jet-black hair could still get it done.
How would he go about it? By reinventing himself.
Relying more on guile and grit than brawn, Mussina has quietly put together one of the finest seasons of his career. After losing three of his first four starts, the right-hander rattled off five straight wins, making new manager Joe Girardi and the club’s front office forget all about his previous struggles.
Mussina became the AL’s second 16-game winner on Sunday, retiring his final 14 batters against Kansas City, the earliest he’s reached that win plateau since 1994.
He was going for No. 17, a number he hasn’t sniffed in five years, on Friday night at Baltimore against his former team.
“I had a feeling about him in spring training. He was just throwing the ball great and was really, really consistent,” Girardi said. “His sense of how to pitch is unbelievable, and with his experience, he knows how to get hitters out.”
The fastball might not be so fast anymore, but it’s offset by a devastating cutter, a bewildering changeup and a curveball with plenty of bite.
Not to mention he’ll fearlessly throw any pitch in any situation.
“He obviously doesn’t have the power fastball like he used to anymore, but he’s still the same guy he’s been for the last three years,” Orioles first baseman Kevin Millar said. “He makes a living away, he doesn’t like pitching in and he makes you get yourself out.”
No pitcher since Early Wynn in 1959 has led or tied for the American League lead in wins at age 39 or older, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
With six or seven more starts before the season’s out, depending on whether he stays healthy and the Yankees remain in the playoff hunt, the five-time All-Star could reach 20 wins for the first time in his career.
“I know he has pitched against us at least twice, maybe three times. Every time it’s been a little different,” Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek said. “I’m not there every day to know why, but I would have to say he’s probably executed his pitches the way he wants to.”
The success has caught even the cerebral Stanford grad by surprise.
“I wasn’t worried about how many games I was going to win,” Mussina said, shaking his head as he stood in front of his tidy locker in the Yankees clubhouse earlier this week. “It’s still August, so hopefully I can get a few more here before the season’s over.”
He’s come oh-so-close to 20 wins so many times, winning at least 15 games in a season on 11 occasions. But that incredible consistency was rivaled by the innumerable disappointments that often seemed to defy everything he’s accomplished.
Remember, Mussina was on his way toward 20 wins in 1994 when a labor dispute cut short the season. He won 19 games two consecutive years when he was at his best in the mid-90s, and reached 18 wins in 1999 even after missing four starts late in the year because of injury.
Twice he’s had no-hitters broken up in the ninth inning, including a perfect game against the Red Sox in September 2001.
Even his first career start, marvelous as it was, ended in disappointment. Mussina held the White Sox to four hits at Comiskey Park in Chicago but lost 1-0 on Frank Thomas’ home run.
“I’ve just been pleased I’ve been able to go out there every time it’s my turn and pitch well,” Mussina said. “And to win some games is a bonus.”
Several times Mussina has finished in the top five in voting for the American League Cy Young Award, including a narrow second to Pedro Martinez in the 1999 balloting. The six-time Gold Glove winner has never captured a World Series championship, either, despite playing for winning clubs in Baltimore and New York.
Those deficiencies make baseball conservatives question whether Mussina should be considered for the Hall of Fame, despite 266 wins that match Hall of Famer Bob Feller for 34th on the career list and surpass Hall members Jim Bunning, Catfish Hunter and Bob Lemon.
A year ago it wouldn’t have been much of a debate, but the magical run Mussina is on has suddenly made all things possible – including 300 wins, a surefire ticket to Cooperstown and something he could accomplish with a couple more seasons like this one.
“It depends on what his motivation is. Is it something we want for him more than he wants for himself?” Torre asked. “I think he could get it if he decided to. And I think the excitement of this year maybe will motivate him to do that. I know it would mean a lot to him, but he’s also understanding of how much this game takes you away from your family.”
The two-year contract extension Mussina signed in 2006 expires after this season, but the offers will certainly be on the table if he wants to keep pitching.
He’ll be 40 in December, but is competing like a youngster half his age.
“Moose had to do what he had to do,” said Yankees closer Mariano Rivera, who’s saved 47 of Mussina’s wins, third-highest total for any pair of pitchers since the save stat began in 1969.
“He’s giving the other guys the opportunity to fight.”
The Yankees began the season with high hopes for a young rotation led by Ian Kennedy and Phil Hughes, but injuries and poor performances ransacked that plan. Instead, it’s been Mussina and 36-year-old Andy Pettitte keeping New York in the playoff hunt, two bright spots in a difficult season.
“I was hoping I’d be important to the club this year. I was hoping I’d have a role like I’ve had in the past,” Mussina said. “Coming off of last year and the way things were setting up in spring training, you’re not sure how it will be. And now here it is, me and Andy, the two old guys that have been going out there.
“Hopefully we can keep doing it. We’re just trying to hold it together and win some ball games and give us a chance to sneak back into this thing.”
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AP Sports Writer David Ginsburg in Baltimore contributed to this report.
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