re: Baseball Hall of Fame Announcement Thread- Bagwell, Raines, Pudge Elected to HOF

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The 2017 Baseball Hall of Fame class will be announced on Jan. 18. We're using the interim period to examine each of the 34 candidates on the BBWAA ballot. Remember that a player must be named on at least 75 percent of submitted ballots to be enshrined into Cooperstown.
If you're tuning in late, we've already poked at the candidates who will be removed from the ballot after one season. Recently, we've turned our attention to the players earning serious consideration -- and determining whether they merit entry into the Hall or not.
Today, it's Mike Mussina's turn.
Mussina broke onto the ballot in 2014, earning 20.3 percent of the vote. That number has since increased with each successive year, to 24.6 percent in 2015, then to 43 percent in 2016. The trend remains true so far this voting season, as Mussina has been named on 61 percent of public and anonymous ballots -- though that percentage will drop, perhaps by as much as seven percentage points (as it did last year), when private ballots are considered.
The case for Mussina
The argument for Mussina is that he was a high-quality pitcher for nearly two decades. He started 536 games over parts of 18 seasons, compiling more than 3,560 innings. He won 270 games and posted a 3.68 ERA -- or a 123 ERA+, which is the more telling metric given he spent his career in the American League East, pitching in hitter-friendly ballparks. Additionally, Mussina made five All-Star teams; won seven Gold Gloves; finished top-six in Cy Young Award voting; and performed better (per ERA and strikeout-to-walk ratio) in the postseason than not.

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