updated 11:20 p.m. ET Aug. 22, 2008

NEW YORK - Mike Mussina struggled so mightily last season that Joe Torre finally came to an agonizing realization. As the New York Yankees scratched and clawed to stay in the playoff race, the veteran starter had become a liability.

The zip was gone from his overpowering fastball, the one that so often nipped the corners of the plate. Mussina’s pinpoint command was wavering, his steadfast confidence shot, his win total the lowest it’d been in seven years.

“One of the toughest things I’ve had to do,” said Torre, now the manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers, “was go tell him last year that we were taking him out of the rotation.”

So forgive Mussina for arriving at spring training early this year still smarting, his main motivation to lock up a spot on the hill for an 18th season, and just maybe show the organization and all those youngsters running around the clubhouse that a 39-year-old with slivers of silver in his jet-black hair could still get it done.

How would he go about it? By reinventing himself.

Relying more on guile and grit than brawn, Mussina has quietly put together one of the finest seasons of his career. After losing three of his first four starts, the right-hander rattled off five straight wins, making new manager Joe Girardi and the club’s front office forget all about his previous struggles.

Mussina became the AL’s second 16-game winner last Sunday, retiring his final 14 batters against Kansas City, the earliest he’s reached that win plateau since 1994.

He settled for a no-decision Friday night against Baltimore, but with six or seven more starts before the season’s out — depending on whether he stays healthy and the Yankees remain in contention — the five-time All-Star could reach 20 wins for the first time in his career.

“I had a feeling about him in spring training. He was just throwing the ball great and was really, really consistent,” Girardi said. “His sense of how to pitch is unbelievable, and with his experience, he knows how to get hitters out.”

The fastball might not be so fast anymore, but it’s offset by a devastating cutter, a bewildering changeup and a curveball with plenty of bite.

Not to mention he’ll fearlessly throw any pitch in any situation.

“He obviously doesn’t have the power fastball like he used to anymore, but he’s still the same guy he’s been for the last three years,” Orioles first baseman Kevin Millar said. “He makes a living away, he doesn’t like pitching in and he makes you get yourself out.”

No pitcher since Early Wynn in 1959 has led or tied for the American League lead in wins at age 39 or older, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

“I know he has pitched against us at least twice, maybe three times. Every time it’s been a little different,” Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek said. “I’m not there every day to know why, but I would have to say he’s probably executed his pitches the way he wants to.”

The success has caught even the cerebral Stanford grad by surprise.

“I wasn’t worried about how many games I was going to win,” Mussina said, shaking his head as he stood in front of his tidy locker in the Yankees clubhouse earlier this week. “It’s still August, so hopefully I can get a few more here before the season’s over.”

He’s come oh-so-close to 20 wins so many times, winning at least 15 games in a season on 11 occasions. But that incredible consistency was rivaled by the innumerable disappointments that often seemed to defy everything he’s accomplished.

Remember, Mussina was on his way toward 20 wins in 1994 when a labor dispute cut short the season. He won 19 games two consecutive years when he was at his best in the mid-90s, and reached 18 wins in 1999 even after missing four starts late in the year because of injury.

Twice he’s had no-hitters broken up in the ninth inning, including a perfect game against the Red Sox in September 2001.

Even his first career start, marvelous as it was, ended in disappointment. Mussina held the White Sox to four hits at Comiskey Park in Chicago but lost 1-0 on Frank Thomas’ home run.

“I’ve just been pleased I’ve been able to go out there every time it’s my turn and pitch well,” Mussina said. “And to win some games is a bonus.”

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