Mussina

Just call it Mike Mussina making a point.His 4-3 record and 4.15 ERA going into yesterday's game had prompted some skeptics to say that Mussina had lost his dominating edge. A team-high 11 home runs allowed sparked more questions about how long it would take for Mussina to return to form.Consider the questions answered during yesterday's 8-2 Orioles victory over Seattle.Mussina threw 69 strikes in 98 pitches. He retired 19 of the last 21 batters he faced in the 91-degree heat.More importantly, Mussina yielded two runs in eight innings and never allowed the Mariners to carry over the momentum from their comeback victory on Wednesday.

It's no secret why new Orioles Hall of Famer Mike Mussina evokes mixed feelings from the baseball fans of the Baltimore area. He is a controversial figure in Orioles history - the guy who left here in the prime of his career to pitch for the rival Yankees  and, some might say, left the Orioles to wallow in defeat and despair for the next decade. He is also the guy who played a very pivotal role on the last Orioles team that made this city proud and the pitcher who ranks third on the club's all-time win list.

On May 16, 1993, Orioles right-hander Mike Mussina tied a club record with 14 strikeouts in a 3-2 victory over Detroit. He threw 141 pitches that afternoon and later missed six weeks with a sore shoulder. To this day, no one knows if his injury was caused by the strain of his performance, a brawl three weeks later against Seattle, or some combination of both. On Saturday, Mussina threw 138 pitches, his most since Sept. 6, 1995, the night Cal Ripken broke Lou Gehrig's consecutive-games record.

Today marks the one-year anniversary of the death of Mike Flanagan at his home in Monkton. He would be 60 years old. My thoughts are with his family and friends. Suicide is an exceptionally difficult issue for survivors to deal with. From my personal experience, that first-year anniversary is a real difficult day. I wouldn't be surprised if the Orioles have a moment of silence in honor of Flanny's memory tonight. On the flip side, today is also Cal Ripken Jr.'s 52nd birthday. If you can't tell him “Happy Birthday” today, wait for two weeks.

He looks like a kid who once got sand kicked in his face, and he puts maximum effort behind every pitch. Sounds like the blueprint for an injury-prone career, but Mike Mussina threw 241 innings last season, and no doubt he'll prove that durable again.It won't happen this season, not after the 141-pitch outing in Detroit, the brawl against Seattle, the lost month resulting from the muscle strain below his right shoulder. Still, Mussina will learn from this, probably even get better."You've never actually been through everything," Mussina said last night after coming off the disabled list to beat the Texas Rangers, 10-5.

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Something awful happened to the Orioles after all those glowing preseason reviews, all the anticipation of the indomitable rotation and the powerful lineup. Something really terrible.They were forced to play games."It's going to be a long year," said Orioles ace Mike Mussina, who blew an early 4-0 lead on the way to a 6-5 loss to the California Angels at Anaheim Stadium last night, and then questioned the heart of the team.The Orioles also suffered the indignity of having their former closer, Lee Smith, finish them off in the ninth inning.

BOSTON -- As far as John Oates was concerned, Mike Mussina's latest effort was just another night at the ballpark."He's mechanically sound, so he's going to be able to do the things he's supposed to do," the Orioles' manager said of his rookie righthander after the 9-2 win over the Red Sox.Mussina scattered 10 hits in recording his first major-league complete game -- and the first by an Orioles pitcher in Fenway Park since Mike Boddicker went the distance in...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Orioles ace Mike Mussina limited the opposition to three runs or less last night for the 11th time in his 13 starts this season.The Orioles' offense being what it is, every out was a big one, and Mussina had to sweat out a 4-2 victory over the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium before an announced crowd of 25,781.Mussina (8-3, 2.78) pitched 7 1/3 innings and allowed two runs on seven hits and one walk. He struck out three and threw 126 pitches, grabbing a piece of the league lead for wins with Chicago's Wilson Alvarez and the starters tonight in the second game of a three-game series, Ben McDonald and David Cone.

Contract negotiations between the Orioles and pitcher Mike Mussina have been moving about as fast as Monday morning Beltway traffic. But they're moving. Slowly but surely, they're moving: Mussina said yesterday that the Orioles have made a third offer, drawing the two sides closer together.Mussina said he didn't know exactly how much the Orioles increased their offer -- he'd yet to talk to his agent to get specifics -- but there isn't much more room to negotiate. The Orioles offered $8.25 million on a three-year contract, Mussina countered by asking for $13.5 million.

DETROIT -- He was matched with the opposition's best starter again, weathered that problem and made only one mistake pitch the entire game.But another splendid effort by Baltimore Orioles rookie Mike Mussina went unrewarded by victory yesterday.All Mussina received was his second no-decision during a half-season in which, he said, "I've gotten their No. 1 or 2 pitcher four or five times in 11 starts."This time, it was the Detroit Tigers' Bill Gullickson, who was denied in a bid to become the major leagues' first 20-game winner.

Mike Mussina is now four years into retirement. He sports a salt-and-pepper goatee. His days include coaching his two sons in baseball and basketball. Happy with life after baseball, Mussina remains in his hometown of Mountoursville, Pa., just three hours from Baltimore, where he became one of the top pitchers in Orioles history. But this week marks Mussina's first trip back to Baltimore since he retired after the 2008 season. Mussina will be honored, along with former Orioles second baseman Rich Dauer and the late longtime scout Walter Youse, as the newest members the Orioles Hall of Fame before Saturday night's game against the Toronto Blue Jays at Camden Yards.

June 25, 1997: For the second time in 27 days, the Orioles' Mike Mussina (9-2) flirts with a no-hitter before surrendering an eighth-inning single in a 9-1 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers. Earlier, in a 3-0 win over the Cleveland Indians, he had carried a perfect-game bid into the ninth before allowing a hit. "I took a run at it. It didn't happen, again," Mussina said afterward. "Maybe I'll get another chance. " June 26, 1978: The Orioles set a record for futility with a 24-10 loss at Toronto.

The hard work Orioles right-hander Jake Arrieta put in this offseason rebounding from elbow surgery would have happened regardless. But on Monday came its reward. Arrieta came into camp as a question mark. He ended it with an exclamation point. Arrieta wasn't necessarily aiming for his return to be on Opening Day, but eight months after he had a bone spur removed from his throwing elbow, he will be on the mound when the Orioles open the season Friday at Camden Yards against the Minnesota Twins.

Mike Mussina in the Orioles Hall of Fame? ("When Mussina, Dauer return, Hall doors to open," March 29). In his 10 seasons with O's, he never had a 20-game win. He snubbed the people in the stands as though they didn't exist. Throughout the many seasons I traveled to Ft. Lauderdale to watch spring training, I never once saw him wave, smile or autograph a ball for anyone, neither child nor adult. He wanted to play for the Yankees - let them induct him. Helen Smith

Here are some quotes from Rich Dauer and Mike Mussina regarding their election into the Orioles Hall of Fame, which was announced today. The induction ceremony will be on Aug. 25. Mussina on whether he considers himself an Oriole or Yankee:  "I consider my career almost split evenly with Baltimore and New York. I have to say I consider myself both. To start in one place and have one organization to give you a chance to show what you think you can do and go out there and let you do it for that long of a period of time.

  SARASOTA, Fla. -- Roughly a dozen years after he fled the Orioles for the greener pastures of the rival New York Yankees, leaving behind a bitter fan base and a franchise that hasn't been competitive since, Mike Mussina will return to Baltimore this summer to be inducted into the club's Hall of Fame. The Orioles announced Wednesday that Mussina, who pitched 10 of his 18 big league seasons with the club, and former infielder Rich Dauer, whose entire 10-year career was spent in Baltimore, will be inducted into their Hall during an on-field ceremony Saturday, Aug. 25, at Camden Yards.

Only the New York Yankees, it seems, could spend $88.5 million on a pitcher, and never expect him to be their ace. Such is life for Mike Mussina, who left the Orioles after the 2000 season and signed a six-year deal with George Steinbrenner's band of traveling All-Stars. Mussina was very good his first three years in New York, as he went 17-11, 18-10 and 17-8, but it was easy for him to slip into the background on a pitching staff that included Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte and David Wells, who was there in 2002 and 2003.

Barring a dramatic concession by Mike Mussina or the Orioles, the All-Star pitcher will become a free agent and he'll wear another uniform in another city next year.The Indians uniform. In Cleveland.That's just a guess, but an educated guess. Logically, Mussina with the Indians is a perfect fit.He could be joined there by Brady Anderson. If you think the breakdown of Mussina's negotiations increases the chances of Anderson, another potential free agent, re-signing with the Orioles, think about this: The breakdown may actually increase the chances of Anderson departing.

On December 15, 2008, ANNA WEIGOLD MUSSINA; beloved wife of the late George A. Mussina; devoted mother of John R. Mussina; also survived by many nieces and nephews. Friends may call at the family owned Duda-Ruck Funeral Home of Dundalk Inc., 7922 Wise Avenue on Wednesday from 7 to 9 P.M. A funeral service will be held at 8:30 P.M. Further visitation at Dale Ranck Funeral Service, 125 N. Front Street, Milton, PA, on Thursday from 1 to 2 P.M. Graveside services will be held at Harmony Cemetery on Thursday at 2:30 P.M. In lieu of flowers, expressions of sympathy may be directed to The Friends of the Wanamaker Wurlitzer Organ Restoration, 105 Charles Drive, Suite G3, Bryn Mawr, PA, 19010.

News item: Former Orioles pitcher Mike Mussina, who won 20 games this year for the first time in his career, announced his retirement, saying he made the decision before the start of the season and never wavered on it. My take: It remains to be seen whether his 270 victories and terrific winning percentage will be enough to get him into the Hall of Fame. My heart says yes, but my head says maybe not. Bonus take: Most players would have stayed around another year or so to remove all doubt, but Moose has never been consumed with individual achievements and honors, so no one should be surprised he chose to go out after his winningest season.