September 18th vs. The White Sox
How cool would it have been if Zack Hample had caught Bobby Abreu’s second homer tonight – giving the kid three homers caught in three games in a row? I guess it would have slightly more cooler than finding out the hair on the top of A-Rod’s head is now the same color as the hair in Juan Uribe’s goatee… [Insert Madonna Blond Ambition Tour joke here.]
Was this the last time that Mike Mussina pitched in Yankee Stadium for the home team? If true, he went out in style!
Moose got his 18th win with this game. So far, this season, he only has 9 losses. There have only been 7 pitchers in baseball history with 18+ wins and 9 losses or less in a season where they were 39-years of age (like Mussina now) or older in that year. The list:
Pitcher W L Year Age David Wells 19 7 2002 39 Warren Spahn 23 7 1963 42 Kenny Rogers 18 9 2004 39 Jack Quinn 18 7 1928 44 Gaylord Perry 21 6 1978 39 Jamie Moyer 21 7 2003 40 Roger Clemens 18 4 2004 41
Mussina has an excellent chance to make this into a gang of eight…and be one of the few righties on the list that made it without some sort of help. What an incredible and magical season this has been for him.
I think Moose got pretty UNlucky this year. A pitcher can’t expect to Win all of their ‘quality starts’, but here’s what Moose had this year.
In THREE of his loses, he had Quality starts, giving up (ER/IP) 2/6, 2/6, 2/8…. so there were REAL quality starts, for a combined ERA of 2.70!
In his no decisions, he had FOUR Quality starts, giving up (ER/IP) 2/6, 2/8, 3/7, 2/7 …. so there were three REAL quality starts, for a combined ERA in those 4 no-decisions of 2.89!
So there are SEVEN games that could easily have been Won…. for a combined ERA over thos 7 of 2.81.
Seven games…. 2.81 ERA…. for ZERO wins. BRUTAL. He could be 21 and 9 now and still have been unlucky!