On February 7, 1979, the Mets completed a trade that had sent pitcher Jerry Koosman to the Minnesota Twins two months prior. They received a young pitcher to go with Greg Field, a hurler they received when the trade was originally made. The young pitcher who came to the Mets to finalize the deal was Jesse Orosco.
Orosco would go on to pitch in the major leagues for 24 seasons, eight of which were with the Mets. He carved a place in Mets’ lore being on the mound for both the last out of the 1986 NLCS and 1986 World Series.
As a Met over eight seasons, Orosco saved 107 games and posted a 2.73 ERA. He struck out 506 hitters in 595.2 innings pitched. He logged an ERA+ of 133 and a 1.209 WHIP. In his career, the Santa Barbara, CA native recorded 144 saves with nine teams.
When Mets fans think of Orosco, a couple of things come to mind. The first of which is his heroic performance in the extra innings of Game 6 of the 1986 NLCS. Orosco had come on to protect a one-run lead in the 14th inning, and after striking out Bill Doran, surrendered a tying home run to Billy Hatcher.
While that was clearly a huge blow to Orosco and the Mets, Jesse persevered and retired the side in the 14th inning. After the Mets scored three runs in the top of the 16th, a tiring Orosco tried to protect the lead in the bottom of the frame. Two runs were in with two outs, and Jesse appeared to be out of gas. He found a trickle of reserve fuel to snap off a sweeping curve ball that struck Kevin Bass out swinging, and the Mets were off to the World Series.
Twelve days later, the Mets were leading Game 7 against the Red Sox by three runs with six outs to get. Roger McDowell gave up two runs and had the tying run on second base with no one out in the eighth inning when Davey Johnson made the call for his closer.
Orosco got out of the inning with no further runs scored, drove in a run in the bottom of the eighth, then retired the side in order in the ninth to give the Mets their second championship. We still have no proof that his glove ever came down.
After the 1987 season, the Mets dealt Orosco to the Los Angeles Dodgers as part of a three-team trade. He had a chance at revenge against his old team in the 1988 NLCS. In a pivotal Game 5, Jesse replaced another former Met, Tim Leary, in the bottom of the 12th inning with the Dodgers clinging to a one-run lead, and runners on first and second with one out.
Orosco walked Keith Hernandez to load the bases, then induced Darryl Strawberry to pop up to second base. Orel Hershiser came in to get the last out, and the Mets lost the series in seven games.
Orosco remains active with the Mets, and has made several appearances at Citi Field over the years. While he came in a deal for Koosman, who is Mets legend himself, the Mets clearly got the better end of that deal, as Koosman was 36 years old at the time of the trade.
Here’s a tip of the cap to number 47, a key cog in the Mets championship team 35 years ago.
