After 18 big league seasons, Mike Mussina announced his retirement Thursday, just weeks after recording his first 20-win season. The Yankees right-hander, who turns 40 on Dec. 8, finished his career with 270 wins, 2,813 strikeouts and a 3.68 ERA.

Mussina retired just shy of numerical indicators that many Hall of Fame voters look for -- 300 wins and 3,000 Ks -- and he doesn’t have a Cy Young Award or World Series title to go with his single 20-win campaign, which he secured on the final day of his career. His case for Hall of Fame induction would be stronger if he were to stick around another year or two, but during Thursday’s conference call with reporters, Mussina said he had no regrets and “this is the right time” to call it a career. He isn’t the kind to hang around to pad numbers.

So, on the surface, Mussina may appear to fall short of Hall of Fame credentials. That perspective may be reinforced by the collection of 40-something peers who are retiring with him or within a year of him -- Roger Clemens, Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and Randy Johnson.

Take another look, though. Mussina, who spent his entire career in the power-laden American League East, is the only AL pitcher to post double-digit wins in 17 consecutive seasons. In 18 seasons -- 10 with Baltimore and another eight in New York -- he recorded a 3.68 ERA that was nearly a run better than his AL peers during those years (4.53).

Consistency should count for something, as should the fact that Mussina has posted the seventh-highest winning percentage among the 33 major league pitchers who have won at least 270 games.

Highest Winning Percentage, All-Time
(minimum 250 wins)

Pitcher. . . . . . . . . . . . . W-L. . . . . . . . .Pct
Lefty Grove. . . . . . . . . .300-141. . . . . . .680
Christy Mathewson. . . . .373-188. . . . . . .665
Roger Clemens. . . . . . . .354-184. . . . . . .658
John Clarkson. . . . . . . . 327-177. . . . . . .649

Randy Johnson. . . . . . . .295-160. . . . . . .648
Pete Alexander. . . . . . . 373-208. . . . . . .642
Mike Mussina. . . . . . . . .270-153. . . . . . .638
Jim Palmer. . . . . . . . . . 268-152. . . . . . .638

Among the 33 pitchers to win at least 270 games, Mussina is one of only nine who are not in the Hall of Fame. He and four others -- Maddux (355 wins), Clemens (354), Glavine (305) and the Big Unit (295) -- are not yet eligible for induction. Four more are eligible and still await the call: Tommy John (288), Bert Blyleven (287), Tony Mullane (287) and Jim Kaat (283). Among this group, only Clemens and Johnson have higher winning percentages than Mussina.

There’s a lot more to Mussina’s career than his flirtation with milestone numbers. He’s a five-time All-Star who has seven Gold Gloves. In half of his 18 seasons, he finished in the top six in Cy Young voting. Whether Mussina is Hall of Fame material is up for debate, but baseball writers should look beyond milestone numbers when Mussina becomes Hall-eligible in 2013.