Tuesday, May 5, 2009

1976 Topps #64 - Jerry Koosman



Jerry Koosman pitched from 1967-1985 for the Mets, Twins, White Sox, and Phillies. He had a career record of 222-209 with an ERA of 3.36. Jerry was selected to two All Star teams (1968 and 1969). He had a few down years but was a consistent winner for most of his career. As the back of this card says, Jerry went 3-0 in World Series play (including the win in the clinching game 5 for the '69 Mets) and 1-0 in League Championship series play.
Jerry was 21-10 with a 2.69 ERA for the 1976 Mets and was second to Randy Jones in Cy Young balloting, but he fell off badly after that. He was 8-20, 3.49 in 1977 and 3-15, 3.75 in 1978. He wasn't happy with the direction of the Mets and requested a trade. He was traded to Minnesota for minor leaguer Greg Field and future reliever Jesse Orosco before the 1979 season.
Koosman went 20-13 for the Twins in '79 and 16-13 in '80, but he struggled in 1981. He was 3-9 when he was traded to the White Sox on 30 August 1981 for some minor leaguers and cash. Jerry posted 11-7 seasons in 1982 and 1983 for the White Sox, then was traded to the Phillies for Ron Reed before the 1984 season. He did well for the Phillies in 1984 (14-15, 3.25), but wasn't as productive in 1985 (6-4, 4.62) and was released after the season.
After his playing career Jerry became an engineer. Here is a "where are they now" article about him.

1 comment:

  1. Great shot of Koosman in this card. There aren't many action shots like this in the 76 set!

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