On WFAN: Joe Torre Not Surprised By Mike Mussina Making Hall Of Fame

Related

Mike Mussina has officially been immortalized in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Mussina was inducted in Cooperstown on Sunday alongside his old Yankee teammate Mariano Rivera. Rivera was always destined for the Hall, and he became the first player to be voted in unanimously. It wasn’t as easy for Mussina, who was considered to be a borderline candidate for induction.

But “The Moose” made it, and Joe Torre, his former manager, didn’t seem too surprised that he made the cut. Torre told “Joe and Evan” as much when he joined their live broadcast from Torre’s Safe at Home Foundation Celebrity Golf & Tennis Classic at Sleepy Hollow Country Club.

“You know when you look at his numbers, it’s pretty incredible,” said Torre. “And I just knew Moose was that guy who stayed under the radar, never got excited, he did one time when I went to take him out of a game … but he was such a steady pitcher. If you think of the game we were down 2-0 to Oakland back in ’01, and he wins that 1-0 game. I know all the attention is on Jeter for the flip play, but he got us to that point.” 

Torre and Mussina got to know each other very well during their seven years together in the Bronx. Mussina only played one season in New York when Torre wasn’t his manager.

The 79-year-old Brooklyn native was elected to the Hall of Fame himself back in 2014. Torre won four World Series leading the Yankees, but he was also an accomplished player. During his time in the big leagues he won an MVP award, a batting title and a Gold Glove award.

Torre also elaborated a bit about the time when Mike Mussina told Torre to stay in the dugout so he could finish off a complete game against the Tigers. Torre had been ready to go to his bullpen to secure the final out.

“Mike Mussina, he was so regimented and calm, that I wasn’t worried about that part of it. He can talk me into it anytime.”