Mussina: the Curse of the Futility Infielder?

A few weeks ago, I reported on how the great Mariano Rivera has stumbled during the times I’ve seen him in person this year. Today, I discovered that I hold a hex on another key Yankees pitcher, Mike Mussina. I’ve been to four games he’s pitched this season, and the Yanks have lost all four; what’s worse, Mussina’s gotten bombed. Here’s his cumulative line: 0-3, 6.65 ERA, 23 IP, 27 H, 17 ER, 4 BB, 22 K. That even includes seven innings of shutout ball against the Mets on July 7. His record in all other games is 11-6, 3.42 ERA.

There’s no day-night split which explains this trend the way it does when it comes to Rivera; in fact the opposite is true. Mussina’s ERA is 3.22 in the day (a scary 1.06 without me in the building!), and 4.66 at night (4.69 without me). Go figure.

If the Yankees rotation stays in place over the next three turns, I’m scheduled to see Mussina face the Seattle Mariners on August 18. God forbid the Yanks should fall behind the Red Sox in the next two weeks, but I’d consider trading my tickets if that were the case. Like the veteran slugger who knows he should sit against the occasional tough lefty, we’ve all got to do our part to help our team.