Yesterday, one of the most dominant left-handed relief pitchers of all-time turned 63 years old. That man is Jesse Orosco.
Orosco was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in 1978 and was traded to the Mets in February of 1979. He made his MLB debut two months later.
After a rocky start in 1979, Orosco spent the entirety of the 1980 season and most of the 1981 season in the minors. He then became a mainstay in the Mets bullpen in 1982, pitching to sub-3.00 ERA across each of the next five seasons. In 1983, his ERA was 1.47, a career-best, and he made his first of two consecutive All-Star appearances, finishing third in the Cy Young voting that year.
In 1984, he saved 31 games, posted a 10-6 record and struck out 85 batters over 87 innings. He became a part of a devastating lefty-righty duo in 1985 when the Mets brought Roger McDowell up from the minors.
And this was all leading up to the “big bang” of his career, which occurred during the 1986 season, and more specifically, the postseason.
On MLB network, Ron Darling described Orosco as “The Anchor” of that season, and he did just that. He posted a 2.33 ERA over 81 innings pitched, saved 21 games, and struck out 62 batters.
In the NLCS, he shut down the 96-win Astros over and over again, earning three wins in the series. His final win came in Game 6 of the series, when he got the final out of the 16-inning game via a strikeout on three sliders, sending the Mets to the World Series.
In the World Series, he earned two more saves, including the infamous Game 7, in which he struck out Marty Barrett, tossing his glove into the air and dropping to his knees before being embraced by catcher Gary Carter and the rest of the team.
After the 1987 season, Orosco was traded away to the Dodgers. Across his eight-year tenure with the Mets, Orosco posted a 2.73 ERA, a 133 ERA+ and 107 saves.
Orosco went on to become the all-time leader in appearances for a pitcher, with 1,252 games recorded under his name. He also is one of 29 players to have played Major League Baseball in four separate decades.
