Bill Madden criticizes the new Joe Torre and Tom Verducci book today. Nothing particularly noteworthy there, but this passage caught my eye:

Torre said he stands behind everything in the book, even though it is written by Verducci in the third person. That means, he fully approved Mike Mussina's insensitive critique of Mariano Rivera on Page 312: "As great as he is, and it's amazing what he does, if you start the evaluation again since I've been here, he has accomplished nothing in comparison to what he accomplished the four years before. He blew the World Series in '01. He lost the Boston series. He didn't lose it himself, but we had a chance to win in the ninth and sweep them and he doesn't do it there. . . . That's what I remember about the '04 series."

This is not what I'd expect from Mike Mussina, a guy who usually pretty well considers what he says, in my opinion. Sure, he may not have the postseason stats he had before Moose came to town, but really, for much of that time, he was considered by many (most?) to be the best closer in the game. I think this is a little unfair, to say the least.

Via Diane Firstman.