Oct
27
2011

Jesse Orosco’s Glove Has Been Found!

An article by Ed Leyro

So do you think Jesse Orosco looks happy in the photograph to the left? Just wait until he finds out that we located his glove! Then he’ll experience joy like he’s never felt before!

You know the glove we’re talking about. It’s the one Orosco threw up in the air triumphantly after he struck out Marty Barrett of the Red Sox to end the 1986 World Series. Well, where exactly did that glove go after he threw it up in the air? After all, what goes up must come down, right?

If you own the 1986 World Series DVD set, pop Game 7 into your DVD player. If you recorded the game on a VHS tape like I did, good for you! Now try to find a VCR to play it in, if one still exists.

Fast forward to the final out of the game where Orosco throws his glove up in the air. After Jesse flings his glove skyward, he falls to his knees and then gets up just in time to have catcher Gary Carter jump into his arms as the rest of the Mets (and Paul the Bat Boy) rush from the dugout to pile on top of Carter and Orosco.

I should say ALMOST the entire team piles up on top of Gary and Jesse. (This is where you have to watch the DVD or VHS tape in slow motion.) Watch as third base coach Buddy Harrelson (wearing #23) runs around the pile of jubilant players. Notice that he has nothing in his hands as he does this. Right before he goes off-camera, you can see him start to bend over. When he comes back a split second later to celebrate with the team on the mound, he has a glove in his left hand. That’s Jesse Orosco’s glove!

Now let’s fast-forward a quarter century to the present day. Earlier this summer, I had the pleasure of meeting and talking with Jesse Orosco (see photo, right) and I asked him if he knew who had retrieved his glove for him after he recorded the final out of the World Series.

For 25 years, he was under the impression that it was bullpen coach Vern Hoscheit, but wasn’t sure. When I informed him that it was Buddy Harrelson and explained how he retrieved it, he was surprised to hear the news and thanked me for finally giving him confirmation.

Hey, it was the least I could do for the man who gave me one of my fondest Mets memories!

It’s been exactly 25 years since Jesse Orosco started the celebration for millions of Mets fans everywhere. The Mets may not have returned to the top of the baseball world since then, but the memories from that magical season will always be with us.

About the Author: Ed Leyro

Ed Leyro was hatched in the Bronx, but spent most of his youth in Queens at Shea Stadium. Apparently, all that time spent at Mets games paid off as Ed met his wife (The Coop) for the first time at Citi Field during its inaugural season. Guess the 2009 season was good for something after all. In addition to his work at Mets Merized Online, Ed also owns, operates and is head janitor at Studious Metsimus, where he shares blogging duties with Joey Beartran. For those not in the know, Joey is a teddy bear dressed in a Mets hoodie. Clearly, Studious Metsimus is not your typical Mets blog.

11 Comments + Add Comment

Steve S. October 27, 2011 at 8:36 am

A cool story, Ed! Thanks!
Matt October 27, 2011 at 9:15 am

Awesome story.. I never knew where his glove went.. Very interesting!
Metstheory22 October 27, 2011 at 9:28 am

And Harrelson kept the glove?
Nester October 27, 2011 at 9:36 am

This is awesome, you are a super sleuth!
jessep October 27, 2011 at 9:09 am

Nice job.

I gotta be honest, I was under the impression saberheads stole his glove.
- any October 27, 2011 at 9:48 am
  
  that makes no sense. We all know Sabergeeks have no need for equipment, since they have no actual interest in the game, just spreadsheets.
- alex68 October 27, 2011 at 11:22 am
  
  was this somehow a joke??
David M October 27, 2011 at 10:29 am

No. This was a DUMB story. Where is the glove? You still didn’t get to that part. What a waste of 2 minutes.
- kevin October 27, 2011 at 11:19 am
  
  Are you mentally challenged or just stupid? Harrelson has the glove try and keep up.
Alan October 27, 2011 at 10:29 am

Not enough information to complete the story you wrote….Was the glove returned immediately or did it take a long time for Jesse to get it back?

And if by chance it was returned immediately, then what the hell was the purpose of this blog in the first place?

Why would anyone care or have interest unless the glove was indeed missing for a long time unless Harrelson had kept it with the intention of possibly profiting from selling the glove at a later date?
Des October 27, 2011 at 11:53 am

Ed,
Great ‘feel good’ story. Thanks.

Recently another story of this sort was in the news. John Schmitt cherished his Super Bowl ring. He earned it as the starting center of the New York Jets when the AFL Jets upset the Baltimore Colts of the NFL in Super Bowl III on January 12, 1969. (Schmitt, incidentally, was from Long Island and graduated from Hofstra College.)

Two years later Schmitt lost his ring while surfing in Hawaii. But it has been found after 40 years. Read and see on video the rest of the story. It shows the best of human nature.

http://www.kplctv.com/story/15476691/super-bowl-ring-found-40-years-after-lost-in-ocean-off-waikiki?clienttype=printable

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