Mussina, Yankees, and Retirement

Mike Mussina...why did he retire? 

He had just had a 20-win season, he was 30 career wins from 300, and he had 2,813 strikeouts.  A couple more years, and he'd be a shoo-in to the Hall of Fame.  And anyway, he wasn't even 40 years old.

"I don't think there ever will be a point when I look around and say, 'You know what? I'm going to change my mind,'" Mussina said Nov. 20 in a conference call to discuss his retirement.  He's not coming back. 

Why Moose retired: 

"I didn't want to be one of those guys that bounces all over the place," Mussina said. "That's not how I feel about the game. If I can't contribute at the level I want to contribute at, then someone else should be doing it."

He figured he could only win about 10 games a year.  And he could have been right.

"I'm just proud that the Yankees asked me to come in and do a job for them, and I was able to do it." 

Moose is happy with his career and, "happy to have some free time to enjoy." 

And lets face it; the man a heck of a career. Most likely, a hall of fame career.

Will the Yankees survive? 

Of course.  If they make all the great signings they want to make, they'll have a great rotation, even without the Moose. 

But he may not be in retirement too long.

I think he will be a coach of some sort very soon for his beloved Yankees.

"It was a great pleasure playing against—and even more so—with Mike Mussina since I entered the league in 1995," Derek Jeter said of the Moose.  "He was a true professional both on and off the field. Moose's accomplishments in the game over the last 18 years represent a Hall of Fame player."

I think Mike Mussina liked hearing this quote.