Plum Crazy

While I wait for author privileges on Coalition of the Dark Side, I repeat my call last year in this same space to give Mike Mussina his due:

When Mike Mussina walked the tightrope today, a co-worker got hysterical and asked when the Yankees will be free of his contract. Whenever newspapers write about the Yankees failure to win the World Series since 2000, they point to Mussina as one of the free agent acquisitions who has disappointed and bemoan that he’s not an ace pitcher.

It is time to set the record straight (again). Mussina has done everything the Yankees hoped he would. He had a miserable season last year, but he pitched terrifically down the stretch when it mattered most and it looked like the Red Sox might catch the Yankees. He would have had a claim to the ALCS MVP last year on the strength of two outstanding games if the Yankees bullpen hadn’t lost game five. The Yankees don’t win game seven of the ALCS in 2003 without his Rivera-like outing in relief of Clemens early in the game. He put the Yankees in position to win game five against Arizona in 2001, and it’s not his fault that Rivera lost the title in game seven. He has been a regular season workhorse every season except for last year.

Sounds like an ace to me. I say give the man his props!