Mike Mussina still can't get used to the fact he can call himself a Hall of Famer.
On his sixth year on the ballot, Mussina received 76.7 percent of the Baseball Writers' Association of America's vote, and will join Mariano Rivera, Edgar Martinez and the late Roy Halladay in Cooperstown.
But Mussina has a question to answer: Which cap will he don?
Mussina, who had a 270-153 record with a 3.68 ERA and 2,813 strikeouts in his career, pitched 10 seasons with the Baltimore Orioles and eight with the Yankees. And though it hasn't even been 48 hours since hearing of his induction, Mussina said he has yet to make a decision.
"I think this is January and we've got a little time to figure out what the best plan is," Mussina said on Tuesday night, according to the Baltimore Sun's Peter Schmuck. "I know that a few guys have gone in without anything on their hat. And like I've said, both organizations were tremendously valuable and important in my career and I wouldn't be sitting here if it wasn't for Baltimore and New York. ... So I can't sit here and make a decision on how we're going to go with that. We'll get that figured out and by July we'll have something worked out."
Typically, the Hall of Fame makes the decision on which hat the player wears, although the players give their recommendation. A third option could be no logo, which is the route Halladay will take even though he split his time between the Toronto Blue Jays and Philadelphia Phillies.
It surely won't be an easy call for Mussina. Here is how his career developed with each franchise.
The case for the O's hat
Mussina was drafted by the Orioles twice -- in the 11th round in the 1987 MLB draft out of high school and in the first round out of Stanford in 1990. In 1991, he made his debut.
He spent 10 seasons with the Orioles, going 147-81 with a 3.53 ERA in 288 career starts. But more than the longevity, Mussina arguably had his best individual seasons with Baltimore.
He was a five-time All-Star, each time as a member of the Orioles. And five of his six top-five finishes in the AL Cy Young voting came when he was with Baltimore, including his runner-up finish to Pedro Martinez in 1999.
Assuming Harold Baines wears a White Sox hat in the Hall, Mussina could become the seventh person to wear an O's cap in Cooperstown, as he could join Earl Weaver, Eddie Murray, Jim Palmer, Brooks Robinson, Frank Robinson and Cal Ripken Jr.
But Mussina's decision isn't as clear cut.
The case for the Yankees hat
Mussina does not have a plaque in Monument Park. The Yankees did not retire his No. 35 after 2008, and three players have worn it since: David Aardsma in 2012, Brendan Ryan in 2013 and Michael Pineda from 2014 to 2017.
But that's not to say Mussina didn't have a lasting legacy with New York. He went 123-72 with a 3.88 ERA in 249 games (248 starts) and had his only 20-win season as a member of the Yankees.
Granted, he had more regular-season success with Baltimore. As a Yankee, he had just one top-five Cy Young finish, and that was his first season in pinstripes. He joked how his career was filled with "almosts," from almost winning a Cy Young to almost pitching a perfect game to almost winning a World Series.
Of the 23 playoff games he appeared in during his career, 17 were with the Yankees, going 5-7 with a 3.80 ERA. He threw three scoreless innings of relief in Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS (as did Rivera), then threw seven strong innings in Game 3 of the World Series. No, Mussina never won a championship -- the Yankees' 26th and 27th titles were sandwiched around Mussina's tenure.
While Mussina ranks seventh on the franchise strikeouts list and 13th in wins, he is among the top pitchers in Yankees postseason history. He has the fourth-most starts (15), sixth-most strikeouts (92) and is tied with Ron Guidry and three other pitchers for 13th in wins (five). For a franchise as storied as the Yankees, that speaks volumes.
Of course, should Mussina don a Yankees cap in the Hall, he and Rivera would be the 23rd and 24th Yankees to go into Cooperstown with one.
The case for no logo
Granted, the Hall of Fame makes the decision in the end, so it may not be up to Mussina even if he provides a recommendation. He would hardly be the first one to not have a logo on his plaque, either.
Tony LaRussa, Greg Maddux and Catfish Hunter are among other Hall of Famers to not have a logo on their plaques. And Halladay won't either.
"We decided. We talked about it," Halladay's wife, Brandy, said, according to the Associated Press. "There's no way to decide between the two teams, and I know we've spent the majority of our time in Toronto. Toronto gave us that chance, that base at the start, but Philly also gave us a chance to win and the passion that we wanted, and there's no way to choose and so we decided that he'll go in with no team."
When Mussina was asked about it at a press conference on Wednesday, he was diplomatic.
"I almost split my career down the middle with two organizations," Mussina said. "Right now I couldn't sit here and choose one or the other. They're both instrumental in me sitting here."
So why choose? He wasn't just an Oriole or just a Yankee. He enters the Hall of Fame with a lasting legacy for two teams. And that's what he will be remembered for.