Jesse Orosco

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Jesse Orosco
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Jesse Orosco

Jesse Russell Orosco (born April 21, 1957 in Santa Barbara, California) is a former relief pitcher in Major League Baseball who holds the major league record for career pitching appearances. He pitched most notably for the New York Mets in the 1980s, with whom he won a World Series in 1986. He threw left-handed, but batted right-handed. He retired in 2003 after having been with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Cleveland Indians, Milwaukee Brewers, Baltimore Orioles, St. Louis Cardinals, San Diego Padres, New York Yankees, and Minnesota Twins. He retired when he was 46 years old, one of the oldest players to still be playing in the modern age (see list of oldest MLB players). Orosco's longevity was greatly aided by the increasing use of left-handed specialist relief pitchers from the 1990s onward; in his last several years, he was used almost exclusively in this role. He also credits part of his longevity to "having a positive outlook and good eating".

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[edit] Biography

He made his debut on April 5, 1979 with the Mets. He played his last game on September 27, 2003 with the Twins.

Orosco had his best seasons in the early and mid 1980's with the Mets. He had a career best 1.47 ERA in 1983. That year, he also won 13 games and saved 17, with 110 innings pitched, making his first All-Star Team and finishing third in the National League Cy Young Award voting. He had 31 saves in 1984, which was 3rd in the National League, and went 10-6 in 60 appearances; good enough for his second All-Star selection. In 1985, he began sharing closing duties for the Mets with right-hander Roger McDowell, giving the Mets a vaunted lefty/righty combo coming out of the bullpen to close games.

Orosco's clutch relief pitching in the 1986 postseason was one of the key reasons the Mets were world champions. He was on the mound for the final pitch of the final game of both the 1986 National League Championship Series against the Houston Astros, and the 1986 World Series against the Boston Red Sox. Orosco ended both series by striking out the final batter. Orosco also provided one of the most memorable images of that World Series; after striking out Marty Barrett to end the series, he threw his glove way up in the air and immediately dropped to his knees while catcher Gary Carter ran out to the mound to embrace him. For many years-and probably to the chagrin of Red Sox fans-this was the final scene shown during the ending credits of the syndicated Major League Baseball news show This Week in Baseball. Having also become the first (and only) relief pitcher to get three wins in one playoff series (which he accomplished in the NLCS against the Astros), Orosco would always be remembered primarily for that year.

After getting traded away by the Mets in a huge deal involving over 7 players, he found a very brief one year home with the Dodgers, and then signed with Cleveland and stayed there for 3 years.

His only real recognizable home besides the Mets came in Baltimore when he stayed with the Orioles for the latter half of the 1990s. While his best seasons came in New York, he would have an excellent 1997 season, finishing with a 2.32 ERA, his best since the '80s.

His seasons of being a very good reliever were still not finished though. He even helped the Yankees in his final season, 2003. That year, he was on 3 different teams and finished with 33 innings pitched. He would retire after that season, and finish a historic career. He will become eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2008, however, his lifetime stats make him a longshot for the Hall.

He finished his career with an ERA of 3.16, and is the all-time record holder for Games, with 1252. He has almost 200 more than fellow Mets closer John Franco who is second with 1088.

[edit] Career totals

[edit] Pitching

[edit] Batting

[edit] Information

  • Made the NL All-Star team in 1983 and 1984.
  • Went 3-1 in postseason play in 24 games all-time.
  • Pitched 5 scoreless innings in the 1986 World Series, and had an RBI single in his only career postseason at-bat in the deciding Game 7.
  • Led the league in Games in 1995 (65).
  • Committed only 4 errors in 1,295 career innings pitched over 24 MLB seasons for a .985 fielding percentage.
  • Ranks #1 in Games Pitched on the All-time leaderboard All-time G leaderboard from BaseballReference.com.
  • Ranks #17 in Strikeouts/9 Innings Pitched on the All-time leaderboard with 8.194/9 ip All-time K/9 ip leaderboard from BaseballReference.com.
  • Ranks #23 in Hits Allowed/9 Innings Pitched All-time with 7.332 Hits/9 ip All-time H/9 ip leaderboard from BaseballReference.com.
  • Ranks #30 in Games Finished on the All-Time leaderboard with 501 [ All-time S leaderboard from BaseballReference.com http://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/GF_career.shtml]
  • Ranks #64 (tie) in Saves on the All-time leaderboard All-time S leaderboard from BaseballReference.com.
  • The last player who played in the 1970s to play a major league game, 8 days after Rickey Henderson's final game.
  • The last player from the 1986 Mets championship team to play a major league game.
  • Pitched the last pitch of the 1986 NLCS against the Astros and the 1986 World Series against the Red Sox. He struck out the opposing hitters with both pitches.
  • The Minnesota Twins acquired Jerry Koosman in the same trade that set Orosco to the Mets. Coincidentally, Koosman was on the mound for the final out in the only other World Series the Mets have won to date, in the 1969 World Series. In another coincidence, the final batter Koosman retired in that Series, Davey Johnson, would manage Orosco on the Mets' 1986 World Series Championship team.
  • Oldest active MLB player from 1999-2003. He was also the fifth-oldest player in 1996 and 1997, and the third-oldest in 1998.

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