Former Met of the Day: "Koos"- Jerry Koosman (1968-1978)

Jerome Martin Koosman was born December 23, 1942 in Appleton, Minnesota. The left hander would become to known forever as Koos to Met fans. Koosman was serving in the military at Ft. Bliss, Texas where he pitched for their baseball team. His friend was the son of an usher at Shea Stadium and told his dad to have the Mets check him out. The scouts came and offered him a contract. Koosman said “It seemed every time we spoke they lowered the offer by a hundred dollars” said Koosman. “I figured I better sign before I owed them money.” He was almost traded away, because he was struggling in the farm system. The organization gave him a loan, and he still owed $500 to the club. Club president George Weiss wouldm’y let him go until the debt was paid off, but soon Koos began pitching well and was no longer on the traded market. He was ;eading the International League in strikeouts in 1967 when he got the September call up going 0-2 but showing a lot of promise.

He had an incredible rookie season going 19-10 leading the team in wins, and 4th best in the NL. He posted an incredible 2.08 ERA, which is still the 3rd best Mets single season mark in history. He struck out 178 batters pitching in 262 innings, throwing 17 complete games the second best mark in Mets history. He pitched seven shutouts, third best in the NL. He set franchise records that year in wins, shutouts, ERA and those totals are still Mets rookie bests. He made his first All Star team, and earned the save, pitching a scoreless 9th inning, striking out Carl Yastremski for the final out in the 1-0 win. Koosman was named to the Topps All-Star Rookie Roster and finished runner-up to Johnny Bench for the Rookie of the Year honors.

He was generally the #2 starter for the Mets behind Tom Seaver for the next decade. Seaver and Koosman became one of the league's top righty/lefty starting combos, sometimes known as “The Tom & Jerry Show”. He was a victim of no run support many times in his career, but the good-natured Koosman never complained, and always went out & pitched his best.

In 1969 Koosman started out slowly but went 7-1 through June & July, including three straight complete games where he never allowed more than one run. He made the All Star team again that summer. He won eight of his last nine decisions down the stretch, including a five hitter & two hitter, both against the Padres. He threw five straight complete games in September, winning all of them including tossing another three hitter, and a four hitter. In that stretch he only allowed five earned runs in 45 innings. He finished the year 17-9 with a 2.28 ERA (5TH in the NL), 180 strikeouts, 241 innings pitched, 16 complete games and 6 shutouts (4th in the league).

On a September 12, double header Koos and Don Cardwell both hurled 1–0 wins while driving in the winning runs in each of their games. In his next start the Mets played the first place Cubs behind by 2 ½ games. Cubs pitcher Bill Hands leveled Tommie Agee in the first inning with a brush back pitch. Koosman returned the favor & took care of Cub loud mouth Ron Santo hitting him with a pitch. Koosman went on to strike out 15 Cubs en route to the Mets win, putting them only 1 ½ games back.

Post Season: In Game Two of the NLCS against the Atlanta Braves, Koosman was shelled from the mound, giving up six runs in 4 2/3 innings, three of those runs coming on Hank Aaron’s fifth-inning home run. The Mets were already ahead 9-6; they added two more runs to win the game.

Koosman was the pitching star of the 1969 World Series against the Baltimore and certainly could have won the MVP award himself. In Game #2 he had a perfect game going until the 7th inning when Paul Blair singled. Blair would score tying the game, but the Mets went ahead in the 9th inning. In the bottom of the 9th after getting the first two outs, he walked Frank Robinson & Boog Powell. Gil Hodges removed him, and the oriole fans gave him a hige ovation for his performance. Ron Taylor saved the game. Koosman got the win pitching 8.2 innings, allowing one run, on only two hits, with four strikeouts and three walks. The Mets won the next two games, and Koosman took the mound at Shea, for Game Five.

He fell behind 3-0 giving up two HRs. He got back into the dugout and told his team, “I’ll hold them here, get me some runs”. Donn Clendenon & Al Weis both homered to give the Mets the lead. Koos went on to pitch a complete game five hit victory, walking only one while striking out five. He leaped into catcher Jerry Grotesarm as the Mets won the World Series.

In 1970 Koosman posted a 12-7 record with a 3.14 ERA (5th best in the league), striking out 118 batters in 212 innings pitched. His best performance was a four hit, ten strikeout shutout in Philadelphia on May 16th. The next season he had arm troubles and posted losing records over the next two years. (6-11 in 1971) & (11-12 in 1972). He threw a three hitter against the Expos in Montreal and then another three hitter at Shea vs. the Giants in 1971. 1972 was struggle as he didn’t pitch into the 8th inning until mid June, but he got stronger throwing three complete games tin Augsut & September.

In 1973 he started out 5-0 in his first six starts, throwing four complete games. He won Player of the week & Player of the month awards that April. Then things went sour for him as he suffered two different five game losing streaks until the end of July by which time his record was 8-14. In August he was back to being himself and would win eight of his last nine decisions helping the Mets capture the NL Eastern title. On the next to last game of the season he beat the Cubs at Wrigley Field pitching a complete game allowing only two runs, both unearned. The win guaranteed the Mets a tie for first place. He finished the season 14-15, with a 2.84 ERA (7TH best in the NL) 156 strikeouts, 263 innings pitched, and three shutouts. At the plate he had 15 sacrifice hits.

Post Season: He got the start in Game #3 of the NLCS against the Reds. Pitching a complete game, 9-2 victory, allowing eight hits, while striking out nine Reds. This was the classic game in which Bud Harrelson & Pete had their famous fight leading to a bench clearing brawl. The victory gave the Mets a 2-1 lead in the Series. In the World Series vs. the defending champion Oakland A’s Koosman started Game #2. He had a rough outing only lasting into the 3rd inning, giving up 3 runs on 6 hits. He got a no decision in the Mets extra inning win. He came back to pitch a gem in Game #5 at Shea Stadium. He held Oakland scoreless for 6 1/3 innings only allowing only 3 hits, as he & Tug McGraw combined for the shutout. This victory gave the Mets a 3-2 lead in the Series heading back to Oakland. Overall in his Post season career Koosman never lost a game. In 6 starts he was 4-0 striking out 31 batters in 40 innings, posting a 3.79 ERA with two complete games. He may very well be the best All Time Mets Post season pitcher.

He had a good 1974 going 15-11 leading the Mets staff in wins. He posted with a 3.36 ERA, with 265 innings pitched and 188 strikeouts. His strikeout totals over the next five seasons would put him in the top eight in the league each season. He followed that year up with a 14-13 record, and a 3.42 ERA in 1975, even earning 2 saves in relief.

In 1976 he had his best season ever, finally reaching the 20 win mark, he was 21-10 (2nd in the league) striking out 200 strikeouts (also 2nd in the league). He posted a 2.69 ERA with 17 complete games, and 3 shutouts. Jerry absolutely should have won the Cy Young Award in 1976 but finished runner-up to of all people, San Diego’s Randy Jones.

In 1977, the Mets traded Tom Seaver as the organization fell apart. Koosman struggled with the bad ball club, falling to 8-20, tied with Phil Niekro for most losses in the league. His ERA was a still respectable at 3.42 and he still threw four shut outs and completed 11 games. In 1978 he won only 3 of 21 decisions on a very bad team, although his ERA was still respectable again at 3.75. Koosman, saw no signs of improvement for the team, and sadly demanded to be traded. His wishes came through and in December of 1978, he was dealt to his home state of Minnesota to pitch for the Twins.

Interestingly the Mets recived another pitcher who would get the final out in a World Series, a youngster named Jesse Orosco.

In his 1st year in his hometown of Minnesota he again won 20 games, 93rd in the AL) going 20-13 with a 3.38 ERA, 157 strikeouts (5th in the league) and two shutouts. He was sixth in the Cy Young voting. Jerry came back to win 16 more games in 1980 (10th best) going 16-13 with 149 strikeouts. He signed with the White sox as free agent in 1981 winning 11 games two seasons in a row, before being traded to the Phillies in 1984. There where he went 14-15 with a 3.25 ERA in his last good season. He retired after going 6-4 in 1985.

Honors: He is still an all time Met leader behind Seaver in most categories on the mound. His 140 wins and 1799 strike outs are third, he is second in starts (346); innings pitched (2544) and complete games, with an incredible 108. He is also tied for second with 26 shutouts and fourth in ERA at 3.09. Koosman was inducted into the New York Mets Hall of Fame in 1989. He was at the closing ceremonies at Shea Stadium in 2008 and on hand for the 40th anniversary of the 1969 team. Jerry’s number 36 should be retired by the Mets and hopefully the many voices that feel that way will be heard.

He served as a minor league pitching coach for the Mets in the 1980’s, before retiring. He was in possession of the 1969 World Series ball, locked away in a safe in his home until he sold it in the 1990’s. This past year he was sentenced to six months in jail for tax evasion.

His 222 career wins put him at #72 on the all-time win list. He ended his career with a 222-209 with a 3.36 ERA, 2556 strikeouts (28th All time) 3839 innings pitched in 612 games.
Trivia: Koosman loves to joke about how "valuable" his 1968 Topps rookie card (#177) is, however its value is mostly due to the fact that it's also Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan's rookie card.