Angelos’ preferred players.
Tellem made sure that Mussina’s unique request was in the agreement with the Yankees. “He plays with all his buddies,” Tellem said. “That’s all he does. He’s a hoops junkie. He built the gym to play. He wasn’t going to have a gym and not play.”
Mussina played out his contract plus two more years in New York before becoming the boys basketball coach at his alma mater of Montoursville High School. He earned nearly $145 million playing baseball. One day, he might be inducted into Cooperstown and the Baseball Hall of Fame with his 270-143 record and 3.68 career ERA.
“Pitching is what I do,” Mussina once told New Yorker magazine. “It’s not who I am.”
Mike Mussina pitched in 17 postseason games over eight seasons with the Yankees.
He never won a World Series in New York.
He never looked back or regretted his decision to leave the Orioles.
That was becoming very common theme amongst the people who escaped the franchise of Peter G. Angelos.
(Author note: This is Chapter 11 of my book “The Peter Principles,” which I was working to finish in March 2014 when my wife was diagnosed with leukemia the first time. I will be releasing the entire book for free online this fall – chapter by chapter. These are the true chronicles of the history of Peter G. Angelos and his ownership of the Baltimore Orioles. If you enjoy the journey, please share the links with a friend.)
