I guess there will be no more Moose calls up in the Bronx next year since Mike Mussina announced his retirement.  I’m sure that the Yankees will use the Moose’s salary to boost their offer to Sabathia or A.J. Burnett, but still you would have liked to have Mussina for another few seasons, just to see him get to that 300 plateau and a sure Hall of Famer.

 

If you’ve seen interviews with Mussina at his house, you know it’s in the country, and I thought what’s more symbolic of a moose “hanging them up” then putting his antlers above the mantle?  So I settles on the log cabin design with a stone fireplace.  And yes, even the bearskin rug - though I am aware that it is a little strange that a moose has a fur rug on his floor - kind of an animal homicide, huh?

 

I worked on this cartoon for a very long time, simply because of all the lighting effects on the wood and in the corners and the shadows.  The fire turned out well, but the biggest decision was whether or not to even had it because of the shadows it would cast.  I taught myself a new technique, and even though it’s off the cartoon page, you can see a little bit ion the bottom edge of the contours and on the andirons as well.  Notice that they’re baseballs and bats?