New York Mets say goodbye to Jerry Koosman

Sadly, Jerry Koosman is yet another member of the 1969 Miracle Mets to pass away.

Koosman was lucky to be a Met and Mets fans were lucky to have him. The story goes that he was discovered while in the military by a Shea Stadium usher who recommended him to then farm director Joe MacDonald. And once signed, the only reason he was kept around was because the Mets had loaned him money to buy a car and they wanted to make sure he paid them back.

Koosman paid the Mets back by being one of the prized pitching arms in franchise history and winning some of the biggest games on the biggest stages.

Unfortunately, Koosman seemed to always play second fiddle to someone, looming in the shadows of someone else who would garner the spotlight.

In 1968, a season in which he went 19-12 with a 2.08 ERA, throwing 263 2/3 innings with 17 complete games and 7 shutouts, Kooz would finish second in the Rookie of the Year award voting to the future Hall of Famer, Cincinnati Reds catcher Johnny Bench.

In 1976, he pitched to a 21-10 record with a 2.69 ERA, tossing 247 1/3 innings with 17 complete games and 3 shutouts, with 200 strikeouts. That season, he would finish second in the Cy Young award voting to San Diego Padres southpaw Randy Jones who didn’t have nearly the season Kooz had.

But for a very long stretch – 10 ½ seasons from 1967 through mid 1977 – Jerry Koosman would play second fiddle to Tom Seaver.

Seaver and Koosman were an amazing one-two punch at the front of the rotation. For those of us lucky enough to have seen them up close…they were comparable to such other one-twos like Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale, Bob Feller and Johnny Sain, Whitey Ford and Alley Reynolds, or Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling.

While Seaver came from a more urban background in Southern California, Koosman was the exact opposite…he was a “good ole country boy” from Minnesota. And while Seaver was outgoing and comfortable as the team spokesperson, Koosman was quiet and liked flying under the radar.

But the quiet demeanor was not indicative of his instinctive fight and hard play on the field. His teammates described him as a “warrior” and his success on the mound and his support of his teammates was never in doubt.

During the 1969 season Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Bill Hands threw at the head of Mets leadoff hitter Tommie Agee. Koosman admitted that he was not going to allow that to happen to one of his teammates. And the next inning, when the Cubs star third baseman Ron Santo came up to the plate, he drilled him in the forearm…on purpose. Koosman would go on to pitch a complete game victory and that would start an amazing run where the Mets would win 75% of their remaining games on their way to 100 victories.

Koosman would win two World Series games against the Baltimore Orioles including the clincher in 1969 pitching to a 2.04 ERA, and win another against the Oakland A’s in 1973 pitching to a 3.12 ERA.

Overall, Koosman would win 222 games against 209 losses with a 3.36 ERA for his career. With the Mets, he went 140-137 with a 3.09 ERA pitching for some of the worst offensive teams the Mets have ever fielded. His won-loss record is nowhere near indicative of how good of a pitcher he was.

While guys like Tom Seaver, Dwight Gooden, and Jacob deGrom would fascinate fans with their presence on the mound, Jerry Koosman was the one on the mound when it most counted and the guy that his teammates would say was the real “money pitcher” and the guy you could most count on.

There aren’t too many guys like that around…and now there is one less.