Comments on: Moose Hunting

By: KHAZAD

KHAZAD — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 08:00:40 +0000

Bert Blyleven is the single biggest omission in the HOF

By: c r

c r — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 06:43:57 +0000

One thing i have yet to hear anyone mention . . . which probably means i haven’t read enough, but here goes.

When it comes time to vote on Mussina, the writers will remember that not only did he pitch in a high-run era, he pitched in the STEROIDS era. As it will hurt hitters who have put up numbers (Jim Thome?), this fact will help pitchers. Sets the context of his numbers in a very different light.

By: The Girl Who Loved Andy Pettitte » Blog Archive » Pro Mike Mussina Hall of Fame Argument Round-Up

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 00:17:43 +0000

[...] It’s officially five years away but there’s already some talk about whether Moose is a Hall of Fame caliber pitcher or not. I happen to believe that he is. One thing that I hate is when people try pluck a random once in a lifetime talent out of the air and say “Well, he’s not as good as this guy!”. Yes, he’s not as good as Sandy Koufax but isn’t that a little unfair? You could, however, say with a straight face he is about as good as Juan Marichal. [...]

By: David in NYC

David in NYC — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 18:58:10 +0000

Moose is actually 7th in all-time AL wins (Johnson, Clemens, Plank, Wynn, Grove, Ruffing, in order ahead of him).

And, Joe, I am surprised you didn’t do this while you were researching at BB-Ref: if you neutralize their stats, you get this:

ERA
Marichal 3.22
Mussina 3.25

WHIP
Marichal 1.176
Mussina 1.111

W-L/Pct
Marichal 230-148/.607
Mussina 247-161/.605

There really isn’t a dime’s worth of difference between them statistically — so why was Marichal considered a mortal lock for the HoF when he retired, and we are all here debating whether Mussina should even be in the conversation?

As for his crankiness, I think Kyle Litke correctly described it as a lack of patience with stupid questions (I know how he feels). Wallace Matthews makes a similar point in today’s Newsday:

http://tinyurl.com/5a5h7v

He gets my vote (if I had one).

By: Wickethewok

Wickethewok — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 16:03:10 +0000

As Pronk points out above, Kevin Brown’s overall numbers don’t stack up too poorly against Mussina. Additionally, his ERA/ERA+ is substantially better than Glavine’s. I’m not quite sure where the HoF cutoff is here.

Also, I didn’t realize Glavine had such extremely pedestrian 5.3 K/9 and 3.06 BB/9 ratios. It’s impressive that he’s been able to be as successful as he has with those numbers.

By: Kevin S.

Kevin S. — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 03:09:11 +0000

Joe, love your work, but there are a couple of very interesting stats you left out in the comparison:

Marichal: 11 times All-star (started game twice)
Mussina: 5 times All-star (never started)

Marichal: 1 time top 10 Cy Young voting
Mussina: 9 times top 10 Cy Young voting (all in top ^6)

Isn’t that weird? I’m not sure what to make of it…

By: sidd finch

sidd finch — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 15:59:49 +0000

Sounds like the Royals just got Coco from the Sawx for Ramon Ramirez.

By: sidd finch

sidd finch — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 15:58:46 +0000

Joe, Check out Scott Ferrall on ‘The Wheelhouse’ on SNY, next time you are in New York. I’m not sure his schtick ever worked.

By: gogiggs

gogiggs — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 14:28:09 +0000

Darn nice posts, Godfrey and Kyle. As for Sox Fan Sammy, I’m assuming that’s a deliberate parody of ignorance, mainly because it’s less depressing.

By: Ken Burke

Ken Burke — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 14:12:50 +0000

A certain Fox commentator remarked during a game this year that all pitchers who had ended their careers with W-L records 100 or more games over .500 were in the hall. I emailed him specifically re:Mussina and the answer was he needs 300 wins to get in. Joe- thanks for your thoughtful and much needed analysis about a great pitcher.