Elect Mike Mussina

Longing For Yesterday

noreply@blogger.com (J-Boogie) — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 00:38:00 +0000

It's the weekend before the Super Bowl. Now that may not mean much to most people, but for those of us that were members of the Mike Mussina Fan Club, it was a special time. It was when Moose fans from all across this great land would converge on Williamsport, PA for the annual Mike Mussina Fan Club dinner. What better way to spend the weekend than to celebrate all things Moose. Unfortunately, with Mike retiring last year, there are no more dinners. I found myself reminiscing yesterday about the handful of dinners I was able to attend. It was always a good time.

Hopefully, in about 4 years, the gang will get back together and descend upon the great baseball Mecca known as Cooperstown, where we can celebrate Moose in a whole new way......as a Hall of Famer.

So on this anniversary of the MMFC dinner, raise your glasses and join me in a toast. To Moose. May he continue to enjoy his retirement. See you in four.

J-Boogie

Blyleven Is A No-Go

noreply@blogger.com (J-Boogie) — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 19:11:00 +0000

Color me shocked and disappointed. Bert Blyleven was NOT inducted to the HOF. Bert finished with 74.2% of the vote, falling 5 votes short of induction. Ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous. The BBWAA should be ashamed of themselves. Epic fail guys.

If there has to be a silver lining it's this: No one who has ever received that high of a percentage has not been inducted. Odds are high that Bert gets in next year, but it's a shame that he has to wait another year. Bert's induction into the HOF can only help Moose's chances. Hopefully the BBWAA gets is right next year. Ridiculous.

J-Boogie

Moose's Competition In 2014

noreply@blogger.com (J-Boogie) — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 15:01:00 +0000

Here is an updated list of the players who will be 1st time nominees on the 2014 HOF ballot:

Moises Alou, Armando Benitez, Sean Casey, Jose Cruz Jr., Ray Durham, Damion Easley, Jim Edmonds, Keith Foulke, Eric Gagne, Tom Glavine, Luis Gonzalez, Mark Grudzielanek, Scott Hatteberg, Jacque Jones, Todd Jones, Jeff Kent, Jon Lieber, Esteban Loaiza, Paul Lo Duca, Greg Maddux, Matt Morris, Mike Mussina, Trot Nixon, Hideo Nomo, Jay Payton, Kenny Rogers, Richie Sexson, J.T. Snow, Shannon Stewart, Frank Thomas, Mike Timlin, Steve Trachsel, Jose Vidro

Here's who I think has a shot:

Greg Maddux - slam dunk
Tom Glavine - slam dunk
Frank Thomas - slam dunk
Jeff Kent - should be slam dunk
Mike Mussina - should get in but I wouldn't be writing this blog if he was a slam dunk

My gut is telling me that Mike won't get in on the first ballot because the writers won't want him going in with Maddux and Glavine. It's BS how the writers withhold votes in year one because they don't think a guy is a "first ballot" HOFer. I don't get that whole "1st ballot HOFer" thing to begin with. You're either a HOFer or you're not. If you think a guy is a HOfer, vote him in. I don't see the point in waiting to vote for him.

If Moose doesn't make it in 2014, 2015 might be hard as well. Randy Johnson announced his retirement and he'll be on the 2015 ballot. The Big Unit is a slam dunk as well. As with Glavine and Maddux, I can see writers withholding votes from Moose because they don't want him getting inducted with Johnson. I really hope it's not the case in either year, but the typical voting history of the writers tells me Moose might have to wait until at least year 3 on the ballot.

The worst thing that could happen, and it probably will, is Pedro Martinez retiring after 2010. That would make his 1st year on the ballot in 2016 and we're looking at the same song and dance all over again. Ideally, Petey doesn't pitch in 2010 and he goes on the 2015 ballot. I think the odds of that happening are really low.

Moose should go in year one, no question. I have a bad feeling he'll have to wait until at least 2017 because of the writers. Looks like we have some convincing to do.

J-Boogie

2010 HOF Class Announced Today

noreply@blogger.com (J-Boogie) — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 14:33:00 +0000

The 2010 HOF class is going to be announced later today. I'm really hoping Bert Blyleven gets inducted. A lot of people argue that Moose shouldn't be inducted if Blyleven isn't in the HOF. I obviously think Moose is a HOFer regardless of what happens to Blyleven, but it would help the case for Moose, so I hope Bert gets inducted. Honestly, I think he deserves to and I'm surprised he's not in the HOF already. I think this is his year. Fingers crossed.

J-boogie

The Mussina Curse?

noreply@blogger.com (J-Boogie) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:06:00 +0000

As you probably know if you're familiar with my other blog, Baseball & The Boogie Down, I'm a huge Yankees fan. I was really excited back in 2001 when the Yankees signed Mike Mussina. It is definitely one of Brian Cashman's best free agent signings. As I watched the Yanks finish off the Phillies, winning the franchise's 27th world title, I couldn't help but to think of Mike, wishing he was still a part of the team. That would have been awesome.

It sucks for Mike that his tenure in Pinstripes fell right between 2 World Series wins. Mike joined the team after their 2000 WS win and left before their 2009 WS win. Jokingly, I'll refer to that 8 year period as the "Mussina Curse." Moose is in good company though. Don Mattingly's time in Pinstripes also fell between WS wins. Sort of. Mattingly joined the Yanks in 1982, a year after the team appeared in the World Series. He departed in 1995, 1 year before the team won it all in 1996.

Mike, at least, appeared in the World Series. He was a hard-luck loser. If not for Mariano Rivera's blown save in game 7 of the 2001 World Series, Moose would have his ring. Those of you that use the argument "he has no rings" when talking about Mike's Hall-worthinees need to remember that.

J-Boogie

It's Been A While

noreply@blogger.com (J-Boogie) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 17:44:00 +0000

Wow it's been a while since I've posted. I'm still around and I plan on doing quite a few things once the MLB season wraps up. So stay tuned and within the next few weeks I hope to post plenty of new content.

Enjoy the World Series and go Yankees! How awesome would it be right now if Moose was still wearing the Pinstripes? That would be off the hook.

J-Boogie

The Moose HOF Debate Rages On

noreply@blogger.com (J-Boogie) — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 21:22:00 +0000

I was just doing some web surfing and came across an interesting debate about Moose and his HOF-worthiness. Right now it comes in 3 installments and a 4th is on the way. It's kind of like a point/counter-point, back-and-forth between a whole bunch of people. Oh what I would give to get in on this discussion. The author of the blog, Tom I believe, writes this at the beginning of the post: I don’t usually get in to Hall debates because of the stupid subjectivity. But, eventually I found the arguments against to be so bad I had to respond.

I'm finding that most of the "reasons" people come up to keep Moose out of the HOF are stupid and ridiculous, many of which are included in their back-and-forth. Here are some of my favorites:

Moose has no rings
Moose has no Cy Young awards
Moose was only an all-star 5 times
Rarely the 3rd best guy on his staff
Only one good postseason start
Played for teams with almost a 600 winning percentage and only won 20 games once
Retired not b/c he didn't want to play anymore but b/c he wasn't getting paid

Wow. Some people need a really good schooling. Normally, I'd pick these arguments apart one-by-one, but that work has already been done for me. I suggest you give their post a look. Remember, it comes in multiple installments so make sure you click on each one.

The sad thing is that I'm sure there are many voting members of the BBWAA who share those opinions. When the time is right, I'll be taking them on.

J-Boogie

Moose Shelled In Return To Mound

noreply@blogger.com (J-Boogie) — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 17:44:00 +0000

Moose made his return to the mound today at the 63rd annual Old Timer's Day at the new Yankee Stadium. It wasn't pretty. Moose got hit hard. Moose got hit often. Moose got tagged with the loss. It wasn't the outing that we Moose fans wanted to see. I'm kidding of course.

How awesome was it to see #35 on the hill again? It was definitely a sight for sore eyes. Gene "Stick" Michael was interviewed by Kim Jones during the game and he commented how Moose could easily be a 5th starter for the Yanks, and that he could be better than a 5th starter on most teams in MLB. I'd take him back in a second. Moose sounds very happy with his life after baseball. Hearing him talk about it makes me appreciate the fact that he walked away on his own terms even more. Not many guys can say they went out on top. Right, Tom Glavine?

Reminder: Mike's Yankeeography premieres tomorrow after the Yankee game. Make sure to tune in.

J-Boogie

A Few Moose Updates

noreply@blogger.com (J-Boogie) — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 01:38:00 +0000

Just wanted to pass along a few Moose updates:

Moose will in fact be at Old Timer's Day this Sunday. I received an e-mail from Super Moose fan, Doris, a regular poster over at the Moose Lodge letting me know he will in fact be there. Ken Singleton also made mention of it during tonight's Yankees/Tigers game. All I can say is Moooooooooooooooooooose!
Set your DVRs. Mike's Yankeeography episode airs this Monday after the Yankees post game show. If you do set up your DVR, make sure to record the shows after it's scheduled air time. I highly doubt it'll start on time and if you record the show itself, you're likely going to have some of it cut off.
Al Leiter mentioned on tonight's Yankees' game that he didn't think Moose was a HOFer, saying that Bert Blyleven needs to get in first. While I appreciate that argument, Al needs to get with it. Moose, like Blyleven, is a HOFer. Ken Singleton dropped some stats on Al and he kind of warmed up to it, now saying it might take Mike a few years. If I see Al when I'm up in Toronto, assuming he's there and our paths cross, I'll drop some knowledge on him. As I've written before, Moose is a better pitcher than Tom Glavine. The numbers don't lie.

Take care and enjoy Moose's return.

J-Boogie

Will Moose Make It To Old Timer's Day?

noreply@blogger.com (J-Boogie) — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 20:31:00 +0000

The Yankees issued a release today about the upcoming Old Timer's Day on July 19th. The release includes a list of people scheduled to attend and Mike's name is not on the list. I'm bummed but am still holding out hope as the release says, "The New York Yankees announced today that four Hall-of-Famers and at least six rookie Old-Timers will be on hand at the 63rd annual Old-Timers’ Day on Sunday, July 19 at Yankee Stadium."

I bolded what I'm hoping means there's still a shot that Moose makes an appearance. The release also includes a "partial list" of who is scheduled to attend. I did read over at the Moose Lodge that Mike is scheduled to appear so I'm hoping that's true. I imagine the Yankees want some things to be a surprise. I'm inclined to think Mike will be there because my friends at the Moose Lodge are in the know. If they say he'll be there, he'll be there.

So maybe Mike will show up? I'm hoping he does because it would be nice to see Moose in Pinstripes again. Fingers are crossed.

J-Boogie

Moose Receives Award From PA. HOR

noreply@blogger.com (J-Boogie) — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 15:59:00 +0000

Hey everyone. Like time no talk. Things on the Moose front have been pretty quiet, as they should be seeing that he's retired. That still kind of bums me out. It's been weird watching games and not seeing #35 in the dugout. Spring training was especially weird. I've been laying low when it comes to this blog, but my Yankee blog has been pretty active. Seeing that Moose's 1st year on the HOF ballot is quite a ways away, there isn't a lot to discuss. There's some good info on this site already and more will follow in the future. I've got a lot of ideas that are in the pre-planning stages that I'll roll out when i can get them off the ground. Anyway......

Mike has been honored by the State of Pennsylvania House Of Representatives (I think) for his many achievements during his athletic career. The link will take you to the actual resolution filed by the HOR. It outlines a lot of Mike's accomplishments, dating back to his high school days, where he was a 10-time varsity letter winner and an 8-time All-conference performer in several sports. I always knew mike was a great athlete but damn that's impressive.

The ending of the resolution sums things up perfectly: That the House of Representatives honor Michael C. Mussina upon his retirement for his outstanding athletic career and extend best wishes for continued success and happiness in all his future endeavors.

Congrats Moose!

J-Boogie

Good News For Moose's Chances On 1st Ballot

noreply@blogger.com (J-Boogie) — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 17:37:00 +0000

Mike's chances to get inducted into the HOF on his 1st ballot just got a little better. Tom Glavine has signed on to pitch another season, which will keep him off the ballot for at least another year. Moose is still going on the ballot with Greg Maddux, and getting inducted with him is a tall order in itself. It would have been near impossible to go in had he been on the ballot with both Maddux and Glavine, and even John Smoltz. The voting members of the HOF, the BBWAA, is a weird bunch. Many of them don't view guys as "first ballot HOFers" and also won't vote for guys on the same ballot as guys they feel are better than them. And for my money, Moose is, was, and will always be, better than Glavine, so I'm not sure why it would matter in the 1st place, but it does. I've still got my fingers crossed that sometime between now and 2014, the BBWAA wises up and realizes how good Moose really is. There's plenty of time to change their minds. Plenty of time.

J-Boogie

Moose Interview With Mike Francesa

noreply@blogger.com (J-Boogie) — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 14:15:00 +0000

Hat tip to Sam Borden who is holding down the fort at Pete Abraham's blog for pointing out that Mike did a radio interview yesterday with WFAN's Mike Francesa. I didn't have time to check out the interview this morning but it's definitely on my list of things to do tonight. I'm sure the focal point of the interview will be about the comments Moose made about Mariano Rivera in Joe Torre and Tom Verducci's book, The Yankee Years. As I discussed in my last entry, I don't think Moose was bashing Mo, which many people thought he was doing. It'll be interesting to hear what Moose has to say and I'll be back with my thoughts on the interview once I've given it a listen. If anyone has checked it out, I'd love to know your thoughts.

J-Boogie

Moose Bashes Mo? Say It Ain't So

noreply@blogger.com (J-Boogie) — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 23:09:00 +0000

I was at work this morning, sifting through the comments on Jason (from Heartland Pinstripes) guest blog at Pete Abraham's blog and a particular comment caught my eye. It mentioned Mike Mussina and it referenced comments he made about Mariano Rivera. It basically said that Moose said Mo isn't as good as he used to be. Unfortunately, some work came up so I didn't get to scour the net or the rest of the comments to find where that came from.

It was posted in an article at the NY Daily News. The article had to do with what else, Joe Torre and his book. Surprise surprise. The article was written by Mike Lupica, who I've never really liked. Moose comes into the story on page 2 of the article. I'm guessing the book talks about the collapse to the Red Sox in the 2004 ALCS and it quotes Mussina:

"We were up 3-0 and Mo (Rivera) came in again with the lead and lost it. He lost it again. As great as he is, and it's amazing what he does, if you start the evaluation again since I got here, he has accomplished nothing in comparison to what he accomplished in the four years before. He blew the World Series in '01. He lost the Boston series. He didn't lose it himself but we had a chance to win in the ninth and sweep them, and he doesn't do it there. I know you look at everything (Rivera's) done and it's been awesome. I'll admit that. But it hadn't been the same in those couple of years. That's what I remember about the '04 series."

Let's break that quote down, my comments are bolded.

We were up 3-0 and Mo (Rivera) came in again with the lead and lost it. He lost it again. True.
As great as he is, and it's amazing what he does, if you start the evaluation again since I got here, he has accomplished nothing in comparison to what he accomplished in the four years before. Hard to argue with that considering the Yankees haven't won the World Series since 2000. Mo was invincible in that run and as Moose points out in the next part of the quote, Mo wasn't as invincible since Moose joined the team.
He blew the World Series in '01. He lost the Boston series. He didn't lose it himself but we had a chance to win in the ninth and sweep them, and he doesn't do it there. It's hard to argue with that. I know it's a team game but when Mo came in during the World Series run, the game was over. Mo did blow the lead in 2001, something he had never done. Mo also blew it in 2004.
I know you look at everything (Rivera's) done and it's been awesome. I'll admit that. But it hadn't been the same in those couple of years. That's what I remember about the '04 series. Again, it's hard to find fault with that statement. Mo was and still is awesome. But in 2001 and again in 2004, he wasn't the Mo from before Moose made it to NYC.

I know some people think I'm biased to Moose. This is after all a Mike Mussina blog. But come on. If anyone out there really thinks Mike was bashing Mo with his comments, I'd like to know why. I definitely don't read it that way. All Moose is saying is Mo was automatic before the 2001 World Series and he hasn't been since. I don't think he's bashing Mo. He's merely stating his opinion, which I find to be deeply rooted in fact. Mo hasn't been as automatic since 2001. He did blow the 2001 World Series. He did blow game 4 of the 2004 ALCS. Pre-2001 Mo wouldn't have done that. That's all Moose was saying.

So, Moose bashes Mo? It ain't so.

J-Boogie

Moose = Award Winner

noreply@blogger.com (J-Boogie) — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 16:05:00 +0000

Just passing along that Mike won the "Casey Stengel You Can Look It Up" award at the 2009 BBWAA awards dinner that was held last night in NYC. The award was presented by the NY Chapter of the BBWAA and it recognizes an accomplishment that that NY Chapter of the BBWAA had previously overlooked. I'm not 100% sure what the award was for, but my guess is Mike got the award because his 20 wins last year made him the oldest first-time 20 game winner. I spent a few minutes looking around the web but came up empty. If anybody comes across the info, let me know and I'll be sure to post it if and when I find it.

Congrats Moose!

J-Boogie

update at 3:15 pm- I was right. He won the award b/c he was the oldest first-time 20 game winner. Here's a link to the AP story. Hat tip to GoMoose1208 over at the Moose Lodge for finding the article.

Pics Of Mussina Dinner Swag

noreply@blogger.com (J-Boogie) — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 03:29:00 +0000

Here are some pictures of the things I picked up on Saturday at Mike Mussina's fan club dinner. To read a recap of the dinner, check out my previous entry.

A 2009 magnet schedule

A Nike water bottle, napsack, and some sports bands

The table's centerpiece, a piggy bank full of candy

The bank's booty

The logo on the fleece pullover given to all fan club members

2 signed baseballs

The new gem of my collection, can't wait to have him add his induction year

The thank you note attached to the centerpiece.

No Mike. Thank you. It was truly a pleasure watching you pitch and I look forward to seeing you in Cooperstown.

J-Boogie

Dinner With Moose

noreply@blogger.com (J-Boogie) — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 00:53:00 +0000

I'm back from my road trip to Williamsport, PA, where I attended the 16th and final Mike Mussina Fan Club Appreciation Dinner. Like last year, which was my first time attending, I had an absolute blast. A good time was had by all.

The day kicked off at 9am when I left Buffalo with my friends Dan and Joe. According to Yahoo Maps, we had about a 4-hour drive ahead of us. We made great time as we rolled into Williamsport at about 12:30. The doors to the dinner didn't open until 4pm, so we decided to go to our hotel to see if we could check in early. As we approached the hotel, I saw one of the most beautiful sites I had ever seen sitting in our hotel's parking lot, a Sheetz gas station. Aw yeah. For those of you who have never had the pleasure of visiting a Sheetz, it is one of the greatest places on Earth, solely because it has the best food on the planet. Anytime I pass one, I have to stop and grab something to eat. There is one in Scranton, PA and anytime I travel to the Bronx for a Yankee game, I stop there on the way down and on the way back. I love the food that much. So of course, we popped into Sheetz before checking in. I ordered a bag of fryz and a burger cordon bleu on a pretzel roll. It was absolute heaven. After finishing that glorious meal, I quickly began thinking about eating there again after Moose's dinner.

We checked into the hotel, an Econolodge, at about 1:15 or so. Dan hung out in the hotel lobby and took advantage of the free wi-fi. Joe hung out in his room. I hung out in mine and Dan's, watching reruns of iCarly, killing time until about 2:45, when we left for the Genetti Hotel, where the event was being held. We got to the Genetti at about 3pm, an hour or so before we could even get in. There were already 4 or 5 people ahead of us. Seating at the dinner is first-come first serve, and the best way to ensure you get to sit up close to moose is to get there early. At about 3:15, there were about 40 or so people in line so we made it there at just the right time. We spent the hour chatting with an older couple that was in line just front of us. What's weird is that it was the exact same couple that was right in front of us last year. We remembered them. They remembered us. That made the time go a little faster.

4pm rolled around before we knew it and we quickly went inside and grabbed a table right up front, a little to the right of the head table. When you first walk in you get your first treat of the night, a little gift bag of sorts. This year's bag had in it a 2009 Yankees magnet schedule (with Moose and Molina on it), a Nike napsack, some Nike sports band, a Nike water bottle, and a picture of Moose, which is kind of like a custom 8x10 that they created. The head table was adorned with all sorts of Moose memorabilia. He had a ball from each one of his wins last year. He had the glove he used in each one of his wins. He had the ball from his last pitch ever in Fenway. He had the ball from his last strikeout. He had Jose Molina's glove, which was signed by Jose. He had a signed ball/glove that Jamie Moyer sent him in response to Hank Steinbrenner's comments about Moose after the 2007 season. For those that don't remember, Hank said Moose needed to learn how to pitch like Jamie Moyer. He also had his first ever glove used in the majors, the first jersey he ever wore as an Oriole, the jersey from his last home start in Yankee Stadium, as well as his Yankee Stadium clubhouse chair. The coolest stuff though were some of the t-shirts that Moose wore under his jersey throughout the years. My favorites were a Sanford & Son t-shirt, as well as a Captain America t-shirt, which Moose said he busted out for all big games. It was all very cool.

At 5pm, the event started, and it was kicked off by an introduction from Mike's brother Mark. Before he talked about Moose's season and his career, they showed a 3-minute clip of photos from Moose's career set to the song "My Way" by Frank Sinatra. The video was created by Shelley, who runs a Moose fan site/discussion board called the Moose Lodge. Shelley and Doris (a poster at the Moose Lodge), then presented Mike with a gift, a framed Wheaties box with Moose's photo on it and something else I couldn't make out. Moose was grateful and in return gave each one of his game-issued gloves. They were floored to say the least. His brother Mark then made his opening comments, then the mic got passed to Moose for a Q&A. Moose did a Q&A for about 45 minutes to an hour. Prior to the start of the Q&A, they asked a trivia question, where the winner would get a signed Mike Mussina bat. The question was: name all of the players Moose played with in both Baltimore and New York. People had until after dinner to submit their answers. I totally blanked and knew none. But more on that later.

The Q&A was pretty interesting. People asked all sorts of questions. Unfortunately, I don't really remember many of them. My friend Dan asked about what the conversation on the mound was like after he got hit by the line drive in his 19th win. Moose said he had to convince Gene Monahan to leave him in the game by letting him throw 2 pitches. The rest of course is history. Joe, a Moose dinner virgin if you will, asked what Moose's favorite road city was and why. Moose answered Chicago, but only after commenting that he seems to get that question every year. Some other answers that I recall are, he didn't take the flagpole, he's not really missing the game, and I kind of get the feeling that if he gets inducted into the HOF, he'd prefer to go in as a Yankee. At least that's what I took away from it. The Q&A ended at about 6pm and it was time for dinner. Dinner was a nice healthy portion of chicken parm. It was good, but it was no Sheetz. As I mentioned earlier, they asked a trivia question to see who could name all of the players that played with Moose in both Baltimore and New York. People had until after dinner to submit their answers. Dan had put together a nice list of about 10 or so, but unfortunately had 1 wrong, and finished 1 behind a kid from our table who had 10. Lucky jerk. There were 11 players in total and they were: David Dellucci, Al Reyes, Karim Garcia, Sidney Ponson, Scott Erickson, David Wells, Buddy Groom, Armando Benitez, Jesse Orosco, Todd Zeile, and Kevin Brown. Dan didn't have Reyes and Groom on his last, but had Luis Polonia, which was incorrect. I thought he had it for sure and was a little irked we missed out.

Once that piece of business was out of the way, they raffled off a bunch of stuff. The raffle started with about 35 signed Moose baseball cards. We didn't win. After that, he raffled off about a dozen or so signed baseballs (all signed by Moose, all were Yankee BP balls. We again didn't win. They then raffled off a signed team ball, a signed ball by Reggie Jackson, and a signed ball by Mariano Rivera. We struck out there also. Lastly, they raffled off about 5 signed Moose bats. Swing a miss. For the second year in a row we came up losers. Last year, people at our table won a signed bat and also tickets to the home opener. This year, our table won 2 signed cards, the Reggie Jackson ball, and the trivia contest. 4 people at our table didn't win anything, 3 of which were us. Bummer. I did win the table's centerpiece. Every table has a centerpiece and they give it away every year. The winner this year was the person whose birthday was closest to Moose's 20th win. Last year, it was whose birthday was closest to Mike's. I won that also. This year's prize was a baseball bank that is about the size of a basketball. In the bank was about 24 different candy items. My pregnant wife was happy to hear that.

The evening concluded with an autograph session. Moose pretty much sat at his table and signed 2 autographs for each person there. So he probably signed about 500 or so autos. I think that alone took almost 2 hours. My friend Dan was only looking to get a ball signed so he used his 2nd ticket on a 3rd thing of mine. I ended up having Moose sign a Rawlings Gold Glove baseball (inscribed with 7x--which is the # of GGs he won), a Yankee final season baseball (inscribed with his career record of 270-153 and his record from last season which was 20-9). My third item, which has instantly become the gem of my collection, was a signed Yankees home jersey. He signed his name on the "5" and also inscribe some stats for me on other parts of the jersey number. It looks awesome. I'll post pictures of that and everything else I got from the event later. That reminds me. Every fan club member was also given a fleece sweatshirt, which was had a little something-something embroidered on the left breast. It was a pretty nice parting gift if I must say.

After we left, which was about 9pm, the three of us went into the hotel lounge and had some adult beverages. We hung out there for a few hours and then went back to our hotel. When we got back, Dan and I dropped our stuff off in our room and headed to Sheetz. Joe skipped Sheetz and went to his room. We took the Sheetz to go (I had a 6-inch steak sub and onion ringz) and when we got back, Joe was standing outside his room with the front desk clerk. Apparently, his door wouldn't open with his key or the master key. It was about 5 degrees outside so it wasn't the best night to get locked out of your room. The lock to the door had apparently frozen shut. The maintenance guy got it open by taking a blow torch to it for about 2 minutes. The hotel ended up refunding Joe the room cost. At least they made things right.

We left Williamsport at about 10am, stopping of course at Sheetz for breakfast. God, I love that place. This time I went with 2 breakfast burritos. They were so good. And that ladies and gentleman was my trip. It was definitely a great time. Much fun was had by all. If you made it thru this rather lengthy post, I applaud you. I'll post some pictures later of all the stuff. Feel free to check back. It should be up later tonight or possibly tomorrow.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

On The Road Again

noreply@blogger.com (J-Boogie) — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 19:35:00 +0000

Greetings from the road everyone. This post comes courtesy of my friend Dan's Blackberry, so forgive me if it's all whacked out.

Right now we're in a car travelling south to Williamsport, PA, headed to Mike Mussina's annual fan club dinner. Every year Moose invites his fan club members to his hometown for dinner, a Q&A, and an autograph session. Last year was my first time attending and it was a blast. I've been waiting all winter for today and am excited it's finally here! I'll be back tomorrow with a full recap so check back if you're interested.

Blogging on a Blackberry is tough. For some reason it's hurting my shoulders? Weird.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Not Much Of An Update

noreply@blogger.com (J-Boogie) — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 00:37:00 +0000

As expected, not much is going on out there in terms of Mike Mussina news. This might be a good time to take a brief hiatus. If anyone is coming here for the 1st time, there's a lot of good info that can be found by looking through the previous posts. In the meantime, if anything Moose-related stirs up, I'll be here to blog about it.

I did get my tickets for the annual Mike Mussina Fan Appreciation Dinner in the mail today. I'm a confirmed guest and the tickets are now under lock and key. The dinner is about 5 weeks away and I'm already pretty excited. I still though can't figure out what I want to have Moose sign for me. I'm going to have him sign a Mussina Yankees home jersey for sure. It's a toss up for the 2nd item. Should I go with a Rawlings Gold Glove baseball and ask him to inscribe it with the # of Gold Gloves he won, which is 7. Or should I go with a Yankees final season baseball and ask him if he'd inscribe it with "Final Season 20 Wins!", or something to that effect. If anyone has some thoughts, let me know.

J-Boogie

Dinner With Moose

noreply@blogger.com (J-Boogie) — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 14:09:00 +0000

I received my invite to the annual Mike Mussina Fan Club dinner the other day. I quickly sent in my RSVP because this is 1 dinner that I don't want to miss. For those not familiar with the MMFC, Mike holds an annual dinner in his hometown every year, usually the weekend before the Super Bowl -- this year it's on Saturday January 24th.

In addition to dinner (chicken parm), there's a Q&A period with Mike (lasts about an hour), giveaways, an auction, and an autograph session (2 autos per person). Last year he auctioned off some game used stuff (hat, jersey, bat, glove) as well as raffled off the same items in addition to some signed balls and baseball cards. Last year was my 1st trip and it's a pretty fun time. Well worth the thirty-five bucks it costs for the ticket. With Mike retiring, I'm not sure if this will be the last dinner. I'm guessing it will be so this year is a can't miss.

If anyone wants more info about the dinner or Moose's fan club in general, drop me an e-mail, or check out Moose's website. I'll definitely post a recap of the evening after the event happens.

Moose Interview With Jim Rome

noreply@blogger.com (J-Boogie) — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 01:06:00 +0000

For those that missed the great interview Mike did on 12/5/08 with Jim Rome, it can be viewed here. I love how he went out on his own terms and didn't try to bounce around from team to team trying to pick up 300. If you've got about 7 minutes to spare, give it a look.

Thanks to Knucklecurve35 @ the Moose Lodge for posting the link at the Lodge.

Lordy Lordy Look Who's Forty

noreply@blogger.com (J-Boogie) — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 05:01:00 +0000

Mike Mussina turns the big four-oh today!

Happy Birthday Moose!

Maddux to Retire

noreply@blogger.com (J-Boogie) — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 21:32:00 +0000

Just got a text message from my buddy and fellow Moose fan, Danny Mac. It was a forward of an ESPN text alert: Greg Maddux to announce retirement Monday.

I was kind of hoping that he'd pitch this year. I'm worried that Moose's chances for election on the first ballot are going to go down if he's on the ballot with the likes of Maddux, Glavine, and even Smoltz. There's no question in my mind that they're all HOFers. There's also no question in my mind that Greg Maddux is ahead of Moose in terms of Hall-worthiness. If Maddux doesn't get 100% of the vote, I'll be shocked. Moose right now is borderline. I think some members of the BBWAA are going to keep Moose off the ballot that first year because they won't think it's right that he goes in with Maddux. It's definitely going to happen. IHopefully, some writers look at it the other way. How cool would it be if Maddux, Glavine, and Moose all went in on the same ticket? The best pitchers of this era all being celebrated at once? That would be awesome. They all deserve the honor.

Either way with Maddux retiring, my job just got a little tougher. I'm up to the task.

J-Boogie

Did You Know?

noreply@blogger.com (J-Boogie) — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 02:45:00 +0000

This "Moose fact" comes from Baseball-Reference, as put together by "GoMoose1208", a poster over at the Moose Lodge.

Per GoMoose's lookup, the following are the only pitchers in baseball history who have 10 or more seasons in which they posted 15+ wins, a winning record, and an ERA better than league average:

Greg Maddux (17) - future HOF
Cy Young (16) -HOF
Pete Alexander (15) - HOF
Warren Spahn (15) - HOF
Eddie Plank (14) - HOF
Walter Johnson (14) - HOF
Tom Seaver (13) - HOF
Roger Clemens (12) - for all intents and purposes future HOF
Kid Nichols (12) - HOF
Mike Mussina (11)
Steve Carlton (11) - HOF
Gaylord Perry (11) - HOF
Lefty Grove (11) - HOF
Christy Mathewson (11) - HOF
Randy Johnson (10) - future HOF
Jim Palmer (10) - HOF
Tom Glavine (10) - future HOF
Bob Feller (10) - HOF
Whitey Ford (10) - HOF
Bob Gibson (10) - HOF

Quite an impressive list. Take special note of #10.

J-Boogie

We Have A Convert

noreply@blogger.com (J-Boogie) — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 21:26:00 +0000

Not that this matters much, but my friend and co-worker Jeff, who comments as Larry Wayne Jones on my other blog, Baseball & The Boogie Down, has finally come around to thinking that Moose is a HOFer. Despite my valid arguments and breakdown that Moose is better than his boy Glavine, He doesn't credit me though with turning him. All the credit here goes to Tom Veducci and the points I mentioned of his in my last post. Here's what Jeff e-mailed me about it:

"He (Tom Verducci) makes valid arguments, and is not a biased Yankee fan like someone else I know…the red paragraph did it for me, because those guys are the best of the best…so I think I give in…but still not first ballot!!!!!!!!!"

The red paragraph he's referring to is:

• Mussina finished in the top five in ERA eight times -- more than such greats as Tom Seaver, Bob Gibson, Steve Carlton, Nolan Ryan, Juan Marichal, Whitey Ford and Bob Feller. Of the 34 pitchers to win 270 games, only seven pitchers had more top five ERA finishes than Mussina.

Jeff's admission that Moose is a HOFer kind of excites me. It gives me a little hope. There are a lot of extremely valid arguments in favor of Moose getting in. And even though Jeff is not a member of the BBWAA, he changed his mind when hearing them. Sometime between now and 2014, others will too. I guarantee it.

In the immortal words of Yankee fan extraordinaire, Nick Galfo: "Moose rocks!"

J-Boogie