Mussina was always good, but never the best, and as his career tailed off over the last few years, it seemed extremely unlikely that he would end up in the Hall of Fame or even be remembered among the greats of his era. Then in 2008, he followed up the worst season of his career with one of his best—his first ever 20-win campaign. Rather than ride that to another contract and an outside shot at 300 wins, he's going out on top, avoiding the pathetic downward slide of so many athletes who never recognize when it's time to give up. That's completely appropriate and very dignified. What a jerk.

Here's what others are saying about Moose's retirement:

Yanks' Mussina to retire after first 20-win season [Fox Sports]

Only 20 other pitchers in major-league history have finished 100 or more games over .500. Sixteen are in the Hall of Fame, and the other four — Roger Clemens, Pedro Martinez, Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine — are not yet eligible.

Only five pitchers in history have as many victories as Mussina (270) with a higher winning percentage (.638) — Lefty Grove, Christy Mathewson, Clemens, Randy Johnson and Grover Cleveland Alexander.

Mussina [Shysterball]

As I wrote at the end of the season, it's probably a good political move for him to hang it up, because whereas never having won 20 could have been an irrational liability for his Hall of Fame chances, winning 20 in his last season may be an irrational asset. Now, instead of knocking him for not having attained a rather arbitrary milestone, the writers will credit Mussina for having achieved an arbitrary milestone, all because Xavier Nady hit a three run homer off of Matsuzaka in the fourth inning of a meaningless game on the last day of the season.

The Merits Of Mike Mussina Leaving On Top [High & Tight]

For every Mussina and Koufax and Williams, there's a Willie Mays or Steve Carlton or Jim Palmer, guys who had greatness, lost it with age, but couldn't let go. Joe DiMaggio had a very good season in 1950 and a pretty good season in 1951, at the age of 36. But he sensed the inevitable and left. He was done. Why tarnish what would soon become legendary?

People are going to look back at Mike Mussina's 2008 season, as time passes, and consider it a greater achievement than they do now. That's how history works. Good things become better, bad gets worse.

Mike Mussina Will Retire

That discussion is an interesting one, but a less pressing one than what Mussina's retirement means to the Yankees. The team had hoped to bring him back on a one-year deal to round out a rotation fortified by, they hope, CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett. Now they may feel it necessary to re-sign Andy Pettitte as a final piece. If not, they'll be rolling the dice on Phil Hughes, a reasonable bet but a risky one for a team that's loading up in the rest of the rotation. Having Mussina would have been a nice safety blanket but one they'll have to do without.

Is consistency good enough? (From August) [Hall of Very Good]

To bowl me over and consider enshrining you, you’ve got to DO something, BE a somebody. Mussina is simply not that guy. Do a Google search and the most interesting thing you’ll find ISN’T a bloody sock or five World Series rings…it’s crossword puzzles and hopefully, after today, some lame comparisons to Hillary Clinton.

Mussina walks away from game on his own terms [Newsday]

He was never the most popular guy in the clubhouse, especially with baseball writers, who like to believe they are the smartest guys in the ballpark. It was always tougher to make that argument with Mussina in the house. He never let you forget he had gone to Stanford, even if his speed in crossword puzzles ran more to USA Today than the Saturday Times.

A lot of guys thought him arrogant, or even surly, but I preferred to see him as challenging. If you had a dumb question, it was best not to ask it of Mussina, because he would give it all the respect it deserved. Which was none. However, if you had a sincere interest in getting an honest - sometimes painfully so - answer to a legitimate question, then Mussina was your man.

An Appreciation of Mike Mussina [Tyler Kepner]

He could be amused by his surroundings or curmudgeonly about any inconvenience. He did crossword puzzles, of course, and read novels and issues of Old Car Trader magazine. He wore funny T-shirts from 80stees.com – the Flux Capacitor, Abe Froman: Sausage King of Chicago, and many more. And he guzzled Mountain Dew all day long.

Mike Mussina [Baseball Reference]

So the O's sweep the M's to go 5-1 and take first place in the AL East. That's their first four-game sweep since 2004, and their best start since 1999. What? The season is only two weeks old? Do not rain on the Orioles' parade with your calendar! This is Huff's day! Of course all Orioles' fans recall when, in the preseason, Mr. Huff called Baltimore "a horseshit town" on Sirius Radio's Bubba the Love Sponge show, then revealing in the same interview that, when on the road, he often wakes up hung over and "jacks off."

In Huff's defense, who hasn't appeared on the Bubba the Love Sponge Show and blurted something controversial? But Orioles' fans never seemed to forgive him, booing Huff lustily in the home opener, and even razzing him a bit on Monday when he came up in the eighth. But after his homer, all now seems forgiven. George Sherrill pitched a perfect ninth for his fourth save (third in the series) and Adam Jones scored the tying run to set the stage for Huff (and the kerosene-soaked relief stylings of Seattle's Eric O'Flaherty). You may recall Sherrill and Jones from the big 5-for-1 deal that sent Erik Bedard to the Mariners. Bedard, by the way, has only pitched one game this season.

And now on to my big question: What's with the attendance at Camden Yards? Only 10,744 on Monday afternoon — the second-smallest crowd in the park's 17-year history. What gives? First-rate ballpark; first-place team; horny, hung over star player; why wouldn't people show up?

• What About Bob? Mike Mussina has tied Bob Gibson for 44th on the career wins list. OK, Gibson won 20 or more games in a season five times, and Mussina has never done it. And Gibson could peel paint from a wall just by staring at it. But Mussina gets to pitch against Tampa Bay several times per season, so it all evens out. Mussina went six innings and Bobby Abreu homered and went went 3-for-3 as the Yankees prevailed against the Rays 6-1. Oh yeah, Derek Jeter is out indefinitely with hurt feelings gender confusion a strained quadriceps.

• Hockey Chants At Your Home Opener? Nice. Fun graph from the Chicago Tribune's game story on the Cubs and Pirates at PNC Park: "It was so ugly early on that the sellout crowd of 37,491 was chanting "Let's Go Pens" during the Cubs' six-run third, a reference to the Penguins' quest for the Stanley Cup, which begins at home Wednesday." The Cubs went up 7-0, of course lost the lead and then came back to win 10-8 in 12 innings. Aramis Ramirez's sacrifice fly off Evan Meek brought home Ryan Theriot with the winning run. Also: Chicago's Kosuke Fukudome, who entered the game hitting .500 and is currently hitting .458, is still batting fifth. WTF, Lou?

• Hunter Harnesses Mysterious Monkey Powers. Torii Hunter left the Twins for a five-year, $90 million contract with the Angels in November, then started the season 0-for-10 at the Metrodome. But back in Anaheim — where keeps a stuffed Rally Monkey toy in his locker — he's 11-for-23. That includes a walkoff grand slam and an eighth-inning solo homer in the Angels' 6-4 win over the Indians on Monday.

• Your First-Place Florida Marlins. Dan Uggla's solo homer in the sixth and Robert Andino's two-run shot in the ninth led Florida to a 10-7 in over Washington, as the Marlins took sole possession of first place in the NL East. It was the fifth straight loss for the Nationals after a 3-0 start. Paid attendance for the second game at brand new Nationals Park was 20,487 (capacity is 41,888). Also, the $611 million scoreboard malfunctioned through most of the first inning.

• Big, Big Opener. Anyone going to the Royals' home opener today? Mark Mangino is throwing out the first pitch, so I hear. Also it's the debut of the CrownVision video board, which at 84-by-105 feet is the largest in the world!

We'll be back tomorrow with that last player revealed, but for now ... enjoy!

Not So Blind Items [On The DL]
That Drunk, Impregnating Farnsworth [Deadspin]
Bronson Arroyo Photo Album [Webshots]