At age 39 Mike Mussina said yes to retirement. Even though the brilliance is still there, a full MLB season is quite demanding, and Mussina is giving his family and other personal matters more importance at this stage of his life.
Mussina had a goal: 300 victories, but even though he did not make it, he wants to rest from baseball and be simply one more fan.
Mike Mussina spent the last 8 years of his career with the Yankees and previously played for the Baltimore Orioles from a period going from 1991 to 2000.
Mussina was drafted by the Orioles in 1987, but the young player decided to go to college instead of signing with the team, he went to StanfordUniversity, where he played for the college team. He went on taking Stanford to two College World Series in the 3 years he spent there.
He played his first full year with the Orioles in 1992, and after a glorious career with the Baltimore team, Mussina went on to sign with the Yankees on a 6-year $88.5 million contract.
Mussina’s achievements include 5 calls to the All-Star team, 7 Gold Glove Awards, 7 nominations for the Cy Young Award, two MVP nominations and reached the World Series twice with the Yankees on 2001 and 2003.
His last season at the MLB was the only one when he could achieve 20 wins, and to retire after coming with such an important number is rare, in fact, it hadn’t happened in more than 100 years.
Mussina is also possibly going to make it to the Hall of Fame, even though there are some baseball critics whom say he does not deserve a space on it, while there are others who assure that his name is ready to be placed among the best players in baseball history.
