"When he was 3-3 at the end of April, with an ERA hinting at 5, it was easy enough to wonder how the Yankees would handle the inevitable day this summer when they would have to have a serious sit-down with Mike Mussina, discuss everyone's options, everyone's future.

When he was 8-4 at the end of May, his ERA still uncomfortably north of 4, it was a neat tale to talk about how veterans know how to win. And how they pitch to the scoreboard, how of course a guy who has had the career Mussina has had could grind his way toward usefulness.

When he was 10-6 at the end of June, with his ERA consistently lurking in the mid-to-high 3s, there was a serious (and justified) movement that Mussina be included among the All-Stars who would perform at Yankee Stadium. And it was clear that this had become one of the feel-good stories of the baseball season, a cagey old codger fooling the kids with his smoke and his mirrors.

And now, as we near the end of July, Mike Mussina's record is 13-6 and his ERA is 3.26, and when the question was posed to manager Joe Girardi after yesterday's 5-1 victory over the Twins, the Yankees skipper was unflinching in his agreement:

Is Mike Mussina your MVP?

"You could make an awfully good case for that," Girardi said.

Mussina wouldn't touch that, of course. Same as he wouldn't touch the possibility of presently sitting seven games from winning 20 for the first time in his career. Same as he's reluctant to approach the notion of reaching 300 wins for his career (from which he's just 37 away)."