Jesse Orosco

Jesse Russell Orosco

• Bats Right, Throws Left
• Height 6' 2", Weight 185 lb.
• School Santa Barbara City College
• High School Santa Barbara High School
• Debut April 5, 1979
• Final Game September 27, 2003
• Born April 21, 1957 in Santa Barbara, CA USA

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Biographical Information

The all-time leader in games pitched, Jesse Orosco also had the rare distinction of playing in the major leagues in four different decades. His son, Jesse Orosco, Jr., was drafted in the 2008 amateur draft. He first came up with the New York Mets in 1979, after having been acquired in a trade for P Jerry Koosman before the season, and stayed with them through the end of the 1987 season. He was a key member of the Mets' World Series-winning team in 1986.

He lated played for a number of other teams, inlcuding the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1988, when he won a second World Series ring, although he was not used in the Dodgers' win over the Oakland A's. He pitched three seasons each with the Cleveland Indians (1989-1991) and Milwaukee Brewers (1992-1994). He then had a five-year stretch with the Baltimore Orioles, from 1995 to 1999, and appeared in a few games for the St. Louis Cardinals in 2000. His career appeared over at that point, but he found a second wind, laying three more seasons after that to reach a total of 1,252 games pitched. In one of these games, with the Mets in 1986, he also played in right field for part of the game: the Mets had run out of players in an extra-inning game, and both he and righty Roger McDowell took two separate turns on the mound during the game, being parked in right field in between their mound work in one of the strangest games in recent memory.

He only started four games during his career, all with the Mets: two in his rookie season in 1979, and two more in 1982; his 1,242 games in relief are also an all-time record. He was used as a closer or co-closer by the Mets starting in 1983, and in his season with the Dodgers in 1988, but was largely a LOOGY after that; his last time pitching as many as 50 innings in a season was in 1998; he never pitched even 40 innings in any of his final five seasons. He was an All-Star twice, both times in his days as a closer with the Mets, in 1983 and 1984. As a closer, he was often paired with a right-handed counterpart: McDowell with the Mets, and Jay Howell with the Dodgers, with his manager calling on one or the other depending on whether right-handed or left-handed batters were due up at the end of the game.

Orosco saved the Baltimore Orioles' historic 3-2 win over the Cuban national team in the 1999 Baltimore Orioles-Cuban National Team Exhibition Series.

Notable Achievements

• 2-time NL All-Star (1983 & 1984)
• AL Games Pitched Leader (1995)
• 30 Saves Seasons: 1 (1984)
• Won two World Series with the New York Mets in 1986 and the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1988 (he did not play in the 1988 World Series)

Records Held

• Games pitched, career, 1252
• Games pitched, left-hander, career, 1252
• Games in relief, career, 1248

Related Sites

• Jesse Orosco at the SABR Bio Project