Turns out Mike Mussina knew exactly when to quit.
He grew up in Montoursville, Pa., six miles from South Williamsport, home of the Little League World Series, and will wind up in Cooperstown.
An incredible ride — with long stops in Baltimore and The Bronx — as the right-hander did it his way.
The former Orioles and Yankees star beat the odds and made it into the National Baseball Hall of Fame Tuesday night on his sixth try with 76.7 percent of the vote, just clearing the 75 percent threshold needed for enshrinement, from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.
Mussina finished with 270 wins, winning 20 games in the final year of his career with the Yankees. Many thought Mussina should hang on for a few more years to get to the magical 300-win total, but he wanted to live his life and knew it was time to retire. Good for him.
Moose had enough wins to make it to Cooperstown. Mussina knew how to pitch and to keep his team in games. He did it his way, his brilliance covering 10 years with the Orioles, then eight with the Yankees.
“I’m surprised a little bit,’’ Mussina said in a conference call Tuesday night. “This is my sixth year and it’s been a steady climb. I appreciate people staying with me and doing the research. It’s going to be tremendously challenging for somebody to ever get to 300 [wins] again. I don’t know if this changes how writers feel about pitchers, but I’m glad they felt that way about me.
“I had a great career and I got out at the right time for me and for my family. To be from small-town America and to even get the chance to play professional baseball is great stuff. You don’t ever expect to be on a phone call like this.’’
His first year of eligibility Mussina received 20.3 percent of the vote, but every year he grew on the voters.
“I’m just thankful that first year that 20 percent of the writers felt I deserved a vote,’’ he said. “There are a lot of very, very good players who don’t make it past the first ballot.’’
Mussina was coming off the basketball court at Montoursville Area High School, where he coaches boys basketball, when he got the Hall call, surely a Hall of Fame first.
As for what cap will be on his plaque, Mussina said, “I wouldn’t be here talking to you guys if it wasn’t for Baltimore and for New York. We’ll get that figured out and by July we’ll have something worked out.’’
While Mussina can make a request about the cap, it is the Hall that ultimately decides. Or he could go with no team logo on his plaque, as Greg Maddux did.
Mussina was elected along with former teammate Mariano Rivera, who captured 100 percent of the vote — the first time in HOF history a player has done so. They’ll be joined by Edgar Martinez and the late Roy Halladay.
No performance better shows Mussina’s grit than Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS against the Red Sox at Yankee Stadium. After Roger Clemens gave up four runs over three innings, Joe Torre called on Mussina to come on in relief to save the day. He did so by pitching three shutout innings.
The Yankees won in 11 innings on Aaron Boone’s walk-off home run, getting the final three shutout innings from Rivera. Now both men will be on the stage this July in Cooperstown as the village becomes a pinstripe party the next two years as Derek Jeter will join them in 2020.
From 1992-2008 Mussina won at least 10 games every season. He finished with a career ERA of 3.68. In the voting he was a strong finisher as he was in his career, winning 20 for the first time his last season at the age of 39, when he led the majors with 34 starts.
“The guy you saw at the end was not the guy at the beginning,’’ Mussina said of his career.
Mussina pitched in the monster AL East his entire career, a nightmare for pitchers.
“It’s just how it was’’ Mussina said. “I just kept trying to make adjustments.’’
His 82.9 pitching WAR ranks 19th since 1901, according to Baseball-Reference. Mussina never was the best pitcher, but was always among the best.
Moose kept adjusting and did his job his way in the toughest division in baseball.
