Hank Discusses Mussina's Turnaround

From Anthony Rieber:

HOUSTON - On April 20, Hank Steinbrenner was quoted as saying Mike Mussina "just needs to learn how to pitch like Jamie Moyer."

At the time, Mussina had just been beaten up by the Red Sox and was 1-3 with a 5.75 ERA. Since then, he's gone 9-1 and has put himself in contention for the American League All-Star team for the July 15 game at Yankee Stadium.

So, Hank, what do you think of Mussina's turnaround? Do we score one for the Baby Boss' motivational skills?

"I'm not going to take credit for that," Steinbrenner said in a telephone interview Sunday morning. "He's smart enough to figure that stuff out himself. He's been playing baseball a long time."

Not only does Steinbrenner not want the credit - is he really George Steinbrenner's son? - he also admonished himself for talking about Mussina in the first place.

"I don't think it was necessary for me to say anything, truthfully, at that point," he said. "He was going to figure it out himself. He's the ultimate pro veteran and a very smart guy. He made the changes he thought he had to make. He's still him, though. It's still his pitches. He's throwing them differently, different speeds. He's approaching it different, but he figured out what he had to do and he did it. He's done it."

I wonder what Hank would be saying if Mussina's ERA was still over 5. Oh well that's not important now.

Hank is right, though, Moose has made changes since his early struggles and it's helped him greatly, I'm just happy Hank isn't taking credit for it. But I wouldn't be surprised if deep down he does believe he deserves some credit for this, after all he is a Steinbrenner.

In the same article Hank also had a few things to say about Joba, and his move into the rotation:

"This is just the start for Joba and already on the third start, he was pitching extremely well," Steinbrenner said. "And it's only going to get better for him. He's obviously contributing right now, big time. It's still a process and I'm just really, really happy and so is Brian about how great he's doing, even by the third start.

"I talked to Doc Gooden and he was thinking maybe by the fourth start, the fifth start, we'll really start seeing something. [Chamberlain] is the real thing, there's no question, and he'll continue to improve. He's 22."