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Jesse Orosco: World Champion Mets Pitcher (1979-1987) & All Time MLB Leader in Appearances

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Jesse Russell Orosco was born on April 21st 1957 in Santa Barbara, California. He was the fifth of seven children to Ray & Tomasa Orosco. Jesse began playing baseball at age six. His father founded, funded & played on the semi pro team, the Santa Barbara Jets. Jesse & his brother were bat boys on the team. The six-foot two lefty attended the local high school & City College at Santa Barbara. He turned into a local star pitcher as well, getting drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the second round of the 1978 amateur draft. In December of 1978, Shea Stadium was a already a sad place. Then one of the last pieces of the 1969 Championship team; Jerry Koosman was traded away to his home state of Minnesota.  Koosman went to the Twins & a young Jesse Orosco came to the Mets. Little did anyone know that the player sent over in exchange for Koos would help be another piece to a future Championship. Mets Debut: In 1979 Orosco made the team out...
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Remembering Mets History (2005) Mets Hit Seven HRs & David Wright Hits First Career Grand Slam in a 16-4 Win at Philadelphia

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April 19th, 2005: Willie Randolph's Mets (7-7) were off to a positive start with good things expected for now & the near future.  After four disappointing seasons, the Mets had added some power to the line up with all-star free agent Carlos Beltran & top pitcher Pedro Martinez. The Mets would improve by 12 wins from the previous year & a divisional title was just a year away. Tonight, the Mets visited the City of Brotherly Love facing Charlie Manuel's Phillies. The Phils would have one of their bests stretches in their hundred-thirty year plus history, finishing second six straight years making one playoff appearance before winning the 2009 pennant.  A crowd of 28,063 came to see what turned out to be a big night for the visiting Mets. The Mets Victor Zambrano started for the Mets as Vicente Padilla started for the Phillies. In the top of the first Mets Jose Reyes started the game with a lead off HR.  In the bottom frame, Zambrano had trouble allowing hi...
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Remembering Mets History (1976) Keith Hernandez Tries to Body Block Dave Kingman During a Mets Cardinals Bench Clearing Brawl

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Tuesday April 20th, 1976:  Early on in the 1976 season, the New York Mets managed by Joe Frazier were in second place in the NL East, 1.5 games behind the Pirates.  Tonight, the Mets were at Bush Stadium in St. Louis, to play Red Schoendienst's sixth place St. Louis Cardinals, who were just 3.5 games behind the Astros.  This Cardinals team featured two future Hall of Famers, the reigning All-Time stolen base leader Lou Brock & the 2020 HOF inductee, catcher Ted Simmons.  Also on the Cardinal team was young first baseman, Keith Hernandez. Keith was playing in his third season overall & his first full season as a regular player. That year the Cardinals would finish in fifth place (72-90).  As for the 1976 Mets, they would win 86 games but finish in third place. Once again, they had one of the leagues top  pitching staffs with Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman & tonight's starter Jon Matlack.  Their star slugger was Dave Kingman who fi...
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Remembering Mets History (1970) Nolan Ryan Tosses His First Career One Hit Shut Out

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Saturday April 18th, 1970: On this afternoon matinee at Shea Stadium, Gil Hodges' reigning World Champion New York Mets were still flying high, nine games into the 1970 season.  The previous night Tom Seaver had thrown an eight hit shut out victory over the Phillies in the series opener.  The Phil's were on a six game losing streak & playing so bad that manager Frank Lucchesi called a team meeting before this series began calling the team out to play better. The Mets were 5-4 at this point playing their first weekend home stand of the season. 23,500 fans came to Shea as young flame thrower Nolan Ryan made his first start of the season taking on Jim Bunning. Trivia: Back on Fathers Day 1964, Jim Bunning threw a perfect game over the Mets at Shea Stadium. The Young Nolan Ryan was one of the hardest throwers in the game but was still having control issues at this point of his career. This drove manager Gil Hodges crazy & with the abundance of young pitching tale...
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