Mike Mussina telling manager Joe Torre 'No, stay there!' from the mound was a sign he'd go to the Hall of Fame
On Tuesday, the news came down that Mike Mussina was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame as part of a 2019 class that also includes slugger Edgar Martinez, the late Roy Halladay and historically dominant reliever Mariano Rivera.
For Mussina, this was a long time coming, but it isn't that much of a surprise to anybody who watched him pitch throughout his 18-year career, all of which was spent with either the Orioles or Yankees. He was a fierce, confident competitor on the mound, the type you wouldn't want to cross when he was in his element. And though he came up short in a couple no-hit bids and never won a Cy Young, he was 270-153 with a 3.68 career ERA.
On May 31, 2006, Mussina held the Tigers in check for most of the night at Comerica Park, taking a shutout attempt into the ninth. After allowing a run, manager Joe Torre made motions toward emerging from the dugout to remove Mussina from the game. But "Moose" was not having it:
Bellowing "No, stay there!" at your manager in the heat of the moment is a power move, for sure.
Mussina then buckled down, striking out Carlos Guillen to nail down the complete-game win on just 101 pitches.
That type of take-no-prisoners performance from Mussina more or less sums up who he was when he was at his best, and it was a "best" that led to Cooperstown -- right where he belongs.
Congratulations, Moose!