Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Goodbye Moose

The New York Yankees have dropped former starter Mike Mussina from the starting rotation. Mussina has really been struggling lately and at age 38 I'm not sure how much gas he has left in the tank. Watching him yesterday in the post game interview after being pummeled by the Tigers, I realized that he looked like an old, defeated man. A shell of his former self, who was quite good back with the Orioles and early Yankee days. I never thought of Mussina as a power pitcher who would overpower a hitter with his velocity. I mostly thought of him as a pitcher with above average speed and great stuff. If he wants to continue to play in the MLB he is going to have to adjust his approach and focus even more on locating his pitches. Greg Maddux comes to mind although I think he probably should have hung up the boots several years ago. Michael Jordan markedly changed his game during his latter years in the league. Less flash, more skill, and more mind games. It worked fairly effectively for a while. Maybe it is time for Moose to retire. You can only change your game so much. The age thing will catch up to anyone.

On a different, but slightly related topic Reggie Miller has decided not to make the comeback to the NBA. Good option Reggie.

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