Jesse Orosco
From The Met Wiki
Jesse Orosco was a lefthanded relief pitcher for the Mets in 1979 and from 1981 to 1987. He recorded 107 saves and 506 strikeouts while posting a 2.73 earned run average as a member of the team. Orosco, who wore uniform #47, had 47 wins and 47 losses during his time with the Mets.
Orosco came to the Mets from the Minnesota Twins’ organization in a trade for Jerry Koosman on December 8, 1978. In the ’79 season opener at Chicago on April 5, he made his major league debut by retiring the Cubs’ Bill Buckner for the final out of the Mets’ 10-6 victory. Jesse recorded his first career win in a 4-2 Mets triumph at Philadelphia on April 22. Before returning to the minor leagues in June, Orosco pitched a total of 35 innings in 18 games for the Mets in ‘79.
Jesse spent the 1980 season at AA-level Jackson, Mississippi. After pitching at AAA-level Tidewater (Norfolk, Virginia) in 1981, he rejoined the Mets for the final month of the season. On September 18, Orosco got his first major league save with three shutout innings in the Mets’ 8-1 win over the Cardinals at Shea Stadium.
In 1982, Orosco had a 2.72 ERA in his first full season in the major leagues. He won four games and recorded four saves during the year. After losing his first five decisions, Jesse got his first win of the season in the Mets’ 5-1 victory in the first game of a doubleheader at St. Louis on June 18. At San Francisco on July 21, he pitched four scoreless innings for a save in a 6-2 Mets win. Orosco also recorded a save with three shutout innings in the Mets’ 10-2 victory over the Reds at Shea on September 5.
Orosco had a breakout season in 1983. He led the Mets with 13 wins and 17 saves while compiling an ERA of 1.47 in 62 games. In August, he won two consecutive National League Player of the Week awards and was named the NL’s Pitcher of the Month. Jesse also pitched in the All-Star Game at Chicago’s Comiskey Park and finished third in the National League Cy Young Award voting.
On July 31, 1983, Orosco was the winning pitcher in both games of a doubleheader against the Pirates at Shea. He pitched a total of five shutout innings as the Mets came away with 7-6 and 1-0 victories. Each of these games went 12 innings. At San Francisco on August 19, Jesse struck out five batters in two innings for the win as the Mets beat the Giants, 7-6, with a run in the 10th. He also pitched three and one-third innings with four strikeouts to get the save in the Mets’ 6-3 victory over the Giants at Shea on August 27.
In 1984, Orosco set a Mets’ record with 31 saves for the season. He led the team with 60 relief appearances and had a 10-6 won-lost record. On June 21, Jesse got the win in a 10-7 triumph over the Phillies at Shea that put the Mets into first place in the National League East Division. In the second game of a twinbill against the Reds at Shea on July 6, he struck out four batters in two perfect innings for the win as the Mets came out with a 6-5 victory. Against the Padres at Shea on September 1, Orosco recorded his 28th save of the year to break Tug McGraw’s team record (set in 1972) in the Mets’ 7-4 win.
Orosco had a 2.73 ERA in 54 games pitched in 1985. He had a won-lost record of 8-6 and a strikeouts-to-walk ratio of 2 to 1 (68 strikeouts, 34 walks) for the year. At Houston on May 15, Jesse got a save with two and two-thirds scoreless innings and five strikeouts in a 5-3 Mets win. He got a win and a save in the Mets’ doubleheader sweep of the Astros (16-4 and 7-3) on July 27 at Shea. Orosco also recorded a win in the Mets’ 1-0 victory in 11 innings at St. Louis on October 1.
In the Mets’ World Championship season of 1986, Orosco had 8 wins and 62 strikeouts in 81 innings pitched. He saved 21 games while posting a 2.33 ERA. Jesse struck out four batters in two scoreless innings for a save in a 5-2 Mets win over the Phillies on April 18 at Shea. He shut down the Expos in the bottom of the ninth, securing a 10-8 Mets win to become the team’s all-time save leader with his 86th on August 9. At St. Louis on September 16, Orosco held the Cardinals hitless in two and one-third innings pitched for the save in the Mets’ division tie-clinching 4-2 victory.
Jesse was the winning pitcher three times in the 1986 National League Championship Series. He held the Astros with four shutout innings in the Mets’ wins in Game 3 and Game 5 at Shea. At Houston in Game 6, he pitched the final three innings of the Mets’ 7-6 victory that sealed the pennant. Orosco struck out Kevin Bass in the bottom of the 16th to end an epic battle. In Game 7 of the World Series, Jesse got a run-scoring single and struck out the Red Sox’ Marty Barrett to nail down the title for the Mets.
Orosco recorded 16 saves in his final season with the Mets in 1987. He struck out 78 batters in 77 innings pitched during the year. In the season opener at Shea on April 7, Jesse pitched the final two innings for the save as the Mets defeated the Pirates, 3-2. He got his 100th career save in the Mets’ 3-2 win at San Francisco on May 26. Orosco also struck out four batters in three scoreless innings for his last save as a Met in the team’s 12-3 victory over the Pirates on September 27 at Shea.
On December 11, 1987, Orosco was sent to the Dodgers in a multi-team deal that brought Kevin Tapani and Wally Whitehurst to the Mets. He pitched 16 more seasons in the major leagues, ending his career at the age of 46 with a total of 1252 game appearances.
