Mike Mussina possesses pretty much anything you could want from a major league pitcher. He has great control, he?s consistent, he keeps himself in good shape, and he?s one of major league baseball?s best fielding pitchers. His two hundred and thirty-two wins are good enough for fifth overall among active players, behind only men named Clemens, Maddux, Glavine, and Johnson. His position on the active wins leader list is above much more heralded pitchers like Pedro Martinez, Curt Schilling, David Wells, and John Smoltz. What?s even more impressive? Mussina has pitched several hundred fewer innings than the men above him on the active wins list, leading some to believe he may be able to overtake a few of them before he hangs up his cleats. Mussina, who has received six gold gloves in the last ten years, has yet to bring home a Cy Young award, despite winning eighteen or more games in his career five times. In just his first full season in the big leagues, he posted a win-loss record of 18-5 with a stellar ERA of just 2.54. The Cy Young award was given to future hall of fame reliever Dennis Eckersley of the Oakland Athletics that year, who had a record of 7-1 and an ERA of 1.91 in 1992. Towards the end of his solid career, at thirty-seven years old, Mussina has used his superior control to get hitters out rather than blowing the baseball past them as today?s younger pitchers do. However, if Mussina is to earn himself a spot in Cooperstown, like the rest of today?s active win leaders almost certainly have, does he have to finally win twenty games in a season? Clemens, Maddux, Glavine, and Johnson have all won twenty games at least twice in their careers, while Glavine has done it five times and is threatening once again this season with a 10-2 record through June 18th. Mussina, who is 8-3 heading into a start against Philadelphia on Tuesday, will likely have anywhere from fourteen to twenty more starts this season. Even with his excellent start and respectable ERA of 3.14, chances of him winning twenty games in a season look bleak once again. He?s on pace for his best season in pinstripes, even with all the injures hampering the Yankees line-up. Mussina, who has a seventeen-million dollar option left on his contract, doesn?t expect New York to want to keep him for such a high price. His options would include settling for an extension worth less money, or signing with another AL or NL contender. Mussina, who would like to remain close to his Pennsylvania home, has listed the Yankees, Red Sox, Mets, and Phillies as his most desired locations. Regardless of where he pitches next season, the question remains ? is time running out on his bid for a twenty-win season? Mussina told the New York Times a few weeks ago, ?You know, I?ve been close a couple of times.? He?s right. One could argue that he?s not the one to blame for never having won more than nineteen games in a season. In the strike-shortened 1994 season, Mussina pitched his way to an incredible 16-5 record in just twenty-four starts. If the 1994 season was a full season Mussina might pitch ten to twelve more times, giving him a great chance to win even more than just twenty games. In 1995, another strike-shortened year, Mussina went 19-9 and would have likely won twenty if he hadn?t lost out the extra starts he would have made without the labor issues. It?s easy to make a case for Mussina being the best pitcher this generation to never win twenty games, but should he unfairly have that label placed upon his shoulders? In the modern era, it has become more and more difficult to win twenty games in a single season. Hall of Fame guys like Cy Young and Jim Galvin each won well over thirty games in a season, with Galvin winning an amazing 46 games in a single season. So does it really matter that he hasn?t accomplished the feat? According to the Elias Sports Bureau, only seven men have racked up more wins in their first 450 starts during the modern era ? Tom Seaver, Bob Gibson, Juan Marichal, Jim Palmer, Roger Clemens, Randy Johnson, and Greg Maddux. In my opinion, that?s even more impressive than winning twenty games in a season. We?ll have to wait and see what Cooperstown has to say about that?