Jerry Koosman

[William Malone]

Jerome Martin Koosman was born on December 23, 1942 in Appleton, Minnesota.

The New York Mets signed him as an amateur free agent after he was discharged from the army in 1964. Koosman had often played baseball with fellow soldiers while stationed at Fort Bliss in Texas, and one of his catchers had been the son of a Shea Stadium usher.

He made his Major League debut for the Mets in 1967, pitching 22.1 innings late in the year. Koosman was a regular in their rotation the next season, winning 19 games with a 2.08 ERA. Cincinnati Reds catcher Johnny Bench beat him by one vote in a tight Rookie of the Year race. New York won the World Series in 1969, carried by the elite rotation duo of Koosman and Tom Seaver. They reached the World Series again in 1973, but fell to the Oakland Athletics.

Koosman had a 3.09 ERA during his 12 seasons with the Mets. He was the NL Cy Young runner-up in 1976. His number 36 has been retired by the club, and he's in their team Hall of Fame.

The Minnesota Twins acquired a 36-year old Koosman in 1979. He went 20-13 with a 3.38 ERA during his first year with the Twins, finishing sixth in the AL Cy Young voting. It was the second 20 win season of his career, but this wasn't accomplished easily. After beginning the year 7-0, Koosman had an 11-11 record through the end of July. He then produced a dominant month of August, going 6-1 with a 1.76 ERA.

Koosman got off to a slow start in 1980. His ERA through ten starts sat at 5.33, but things got better after that. He finished the season with a 4.03 ERA and a 16-13 record, making 34 starts and four relief appearances. Koosman registered two saves in those four relief outings. A slow start in 1981 had him receiving even more bullpen reps. He was 3-9 with a 4.20 ERA and five saves before getting traded to the Chicago White Sox. Between his time with the Twins and White Sox that season, Koosman compared 13 losses. This led the American League in a year that was shortened to just 110 games due to a player's strike.

He spent two full seasons with the White Sox after that, then pitched for the Philadelphia Phillies in 1984 and 1985. Koosman was 42-33 with a 4.00 ERA and five saves during that four year stretch, retiring after the 1985 campaign.

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