Jerry Koosman, the Lefty Who Clinched the 1969 Miracle Mets Title, Dies at 83

Jerry Koosman, the left-hander who helped turn the Mets from a punchline into world champions, died Sunday, Nov. 1. He was 83. The Mets announced his death on social media and said they were saddened by the loss of a key piece of the 1969 championship team.

CBS Sports reported that Koosman died in Osceola, Wisconsin, and that the club said he had been dealing with several illnesses.

The man on the mound for the biggest win in team history

Koosman is best remembered for Game 5 of the 1969 World Series at Shea Stadium. He went the distance against the Baltimore Orioles to wrap up the Mets' first title, and it is the moment most Mets fans picture first when they think of that team. Earlier in that Series, in Game 2, he held Baltimore without a hit into the seventh inning, and the Mets won 2-1 to even the Series.

He was the number two starter behind Tom Seaver that October, and the two of them gave the Mets the kind of one-two punch that few teams in baseball had at the time. Seaver and Koosman broke in together in 1967, within a day of each other, and they stayed linked for the rest of their careers.

From Army pitcher to rookie standout

Born Dec. 23, 1942, in Appleton, Minnesota, Koosman was signed by the Mets in August 1964 after they watched him pitch while he served in the U.S. Army. He made his big-league debut in April 1967 and became a full-time member of the rotation in 1968.

That 1968 season was something else. He went 19-12 with a 2.08 ERA, made the All-Star team and finished second to Johnny Bench in the National League Rookie of the Year vote. In 1969 he was an All-Star again, with a 2.28 ERA over 241 innings, before the postseason run that made him a legend.

More big moments in 1973 and 1976

Koosman was not a one-year story. In 1973 he beat the Reds in Game 3 of the NLCS, and he took the ball in the World Series against Oakland, earning a win and a no-decision as the Mets pushed that Series to seven games. In 1976 he won a career-high 21 games and finished second to Randy Jones in the National League Cy Young voting.

The losing years were just as much a part of his story. In 1977 he lost 20 games despite a 3.49 ERA, a reminder of how little offensive help those Mets teams gave their pitchers.

The numbers that still stand

• Mets career: 12 seasons, 140 wins and a 3.09 ERA.
• Left-handed club records: 346 starts, 108 complete games, 26 shutouts (tied with Jon Matlack), 2,544 2/3 innings and 1,799 strikeouts.
• Wins: The most by a left-hander in franchise history, and third overall behind Seaver and Dwight Gooden.
• Major-league career: 19 seasons, 222-209, a 3.36 ERA and 2,556 strikeouts.

After New York

The Mets traded Koosman to the Minnesota Twins in December 1978, in a deal that eventually brought left-hander Jesse Orosco to New York. Koosman pitched for the Twins, then the White Sox, and finished his career with the Phillies in 1985 at age 42.

Honored by the club he helped build

The Mets inducted Koosman into the team Hall of Fame in 1989. On Aug. 28, 2021, they retired his No. 36, making him the third player in franchise history to have his number retired, after Seaver's No. 41 and Mike Piazza's No. 31. Former teammate Ron Swoboda called him a warrior when the number went up, and few who watched him pitch would argue.

For a franchise that spent its first years losing, Koosman was one of the pitchers who showed what the Mets could become. MetsXMFanZone sends its condolences to his family, friends and the generations of Mets fans who grew up on his story.

Sources: MLB.com, ABC7 New York and CBS Sports reporting.