Mike Mussina and the Hall of Fame Debate

Mike Mussina has retired as an enigma for Cooperstown. While he got plenty of media attention throughout his career, people seem to forget about him when naming the most dominant pitchers of the past 15 years or so.

The names that always come up: Roger Clemens, Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, Pedro Martinez, Randy Johnson, and John Smoltz. Most fans would tell you that if at least five of those guys don't make the Hall of Fame, something is seriously wrong.

Why all the questioning of Mussina's credentials? Starting from his days on the Orioles, Mussina was always in consideration for Cy Young votes. He finished in the top six in Cy Young voting eight out of 10 years from 1992 to 2001.

It's been made a fact that he got plenty of attention during his prime and even after it. The troubling fact is that these days, you rarely hear his name when people talk about the most dominant pitchers in those years.

Watching Mussina during his years with the Orioles left everyone dazzled. His curve could go from your chest to your shins in a matter of milliseconds. It was impossible to get more than a groundball off his changeup.

And when he did get groundballs, he could field more than almost any pitcher besides Greg Maddux. One of the best defensive pitchers ever, amassing seven well deserved Gold Gloves.

He pitched his whole career against the A.L. East, which consisted of facing four championship Yankee teams, two championship Red Sox teams, and two championship Blue Jays teams.

Let's take a look at the most common misconception.

But he doesn't have 300 wins

You always hear this argument. It's from the guys who think wins and RBI are the most important stats. How should you contest?

The only active pitchers with more wins than Mussina are Maddux, Glavine, and the Big Unit. Below him is Pedro Martinez and John Smoltz.

300 win pitchers who had around 270 wins by Mussina's age include: Tom Glavine, Gaylord Perry, Phil Niekro and Nolan Ryan. All of which are Hall of Famers besides Glavine, who obviously hasn't retired yet.

Then they think they're still in the argument and contest: Wins aren't the only thing that matter.

No s***. You want Mussina's other credentials?

Besides the aforementioned defense, you have the following:

38th all-time in win/loss percentage.

13th all-time in K/BB ratio.

85th all-time in adjusted ERA.

1.192 WHIP.

Next argument: All you did was look at him compared to who was voted into the Hall of Fame. Wouldn't the fact that you're going by their standards mean that you're an idiot?

No. That was not the point of this writing.

The point was to compare Mussina to those who people would put in the Hall of Fame instantly to show his lack of respect when it comes to whether he should be in or not.

Mussina was one of the top five or six pitchers in terms of dominance in the '90s and early 2000's.

He may have not reached the typical stats considered for Hall-of-Fame-caliber pitchers, such as 300 wins or 3,000 strikeouts. But he left when he wanted, and he could have reached those milestones.

Mussina to Cooperstown? No doubt.