Even Mike Mussina did not think he would get in the Baseball Hall of Fame this year.
The former Yankees pitcher had been trending slightly above the 75 percent threshold, but remained unfazed by it and did not plan anything special for the announcement on Tuesday night.
In fact, he revealed on Tuesday that he was coaching his son's high school basketball team when he received the phone call at the end of his practice.
"I knew jumping from 63 last year to over 75 was going to be a big jump, I've been doing okay, but when the votes not publicized come in you don't know where you're going to be," he told the YES Network. "We had practice after school and we were just finishing up and my phone rang ... had to take the call and leave the gym and get some place where no one can hear me. They don't want me to tell anybody until it's on television. I came back and had to make up some bunch of crap and told my son we had to go. So that's how it ended and out the door we went."
Mussina received 76.7 percent of the vote, narrowly getting the nod to be inducted alongside Mariano Rivera, Edgar Martinez, Roy Halladay, Lee Smith and Harold Baines.
One of the questions Mussina faces now will be whether or not he goes into the Hall of Fame in an Orioles cap or Yankees cap on his plaque.
"I won't be able to choose how that's going to be," he said. "Started my career in Baltimore, had 10 seasons and had some success there. Went to New York, eight seasons and had some success there. I wouldn't be able to do this without one place or the other. I'm proud to play for both organizations, I'm glad I had the opportunity to play for both organizations but I couldn't sit here and choose one over the other."