NEW YORK -- Mike Mussina took a secret to the ballpark every day this season. Maybe that's why he was so successful on the mound, so jovial in the clubhouse.
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From spring training, he knew this was his final year in Major League Baseball -- even if it meant giving up bids for 300 wins, a World Series ring and a better shot at the Hall of Fame.
The New York Yankees pitcher retired on Thursday after his only 20-win season, a month shy of his 40th birthday with a still-potent right arm.
"I don't have any regrets. This is the right time," Mussina said on a conference call.
"I don't think there was ever a point where I looked around and said, 'You know what, I'm going to change my mind,' " he said. "It was like the last year of high school. You know it's going to end and you enjoy the ride."
Mussina finished 270-153 with a 3.68 ERA in 18 seasons with Baltimore and New York. A thinking man's pitcher who relied on sharp control and did more than overpower hitters, he ranks 32nd on the MLB career wins list and 19th in strikeouts with 2,813.
His dad and brother tried to talk him out of retirement and Yankees general manager Brian Cashman called to ask about his future. Instead, "Moose" became the first healthy pitcher to leave on his own accord following a 20-win season in more than a century.
He was amazingly consistent -- after going 4-5 as a rookie with Baltimore in 1991, he became the only American League pitcher to reach double figures in wins for 17 consecutive years. He was a five-time All-Star and won his seventh Gold Glove this month.
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