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[Edgy MD]

Yesterday was the 81st birthday of Jerry Koosman, third all-time in wins by a Mets pitcher, second among living pitchers.



Only pitcher in Mets history to pitch a complete game to secure a World Championship.



[fimg=650]https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/h8gAAOSwjWJgKoOl/s-l1200.webp[/fimg]

[Edgy MD]

Jerry Koosman PHAX



1) Threw lefty and hit righty — the least common combination.



2) Totally missed by the scouts, but played for his base team in the army and was recommended by a fellow soldier whose father worked for the Mets as an usher.



3) Shared a rookie card with Nolan Ryan, and the two would eventually total 546 wins combined. There are more pitching wins in the future on this rookie card than on a theoretical Cy Young rookie card. I imagine there are more more pitching wins in the future on this rookie card than on any card ever.



4) He, and not Tom Seaver, and not Dwight Gooden, and not Jacob deGrom, leads all Mets rookies in wins, innings pitched, and ERA.



5) Was t-boned on the way to camp in 1966. Amazingly, the two prospects he was driving with were also Jerrys — Jerry West and Jerry Wild. He called ahead to Mets camp and farm director (and future GM) Joe McDonald wired him $50, later admitting that he wasn't sure Koosman was worth the money.



6) Learned the slider from Frank Lary, and developed it into a slider/fastball hybrid that we'd call a cutter now.



7) Opened his rookie year in 1968 by shutting out both the Dodgers and the Giants.



8) It was supposedly his shoe polish on the ball that got Cleon Jones to first.



9) Trading Koosman for Jesse Orosco; and later trading Orosco for Jack Savage, Kevin Tapani, and Wally Whitehurst; and Savage and Tapani for parts of Frank Viola; and Whitehurst for portions of Tony Fernandez; and Fernandez for Darrin Jackson; the Mets got decades of tenure from that one hot tip from an usher's son. The gift might have kept giving, but Chris Roberts, who the Mets chose as a compensation pick after losing Frank Viola to Boston, suddenly declined at AAA after a prodigious first two seasons in the minors.



10) Gave up Pete Rose's 4,000th hit.



[fimg=700]https://scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t31.18172-8/11699059_913057065399266_8890937368507366685_o.jpg?_nc_cat=102&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=dd63ad&_nc_ohc=lAhUcNt_H90AX8McKvY&_nc_ht=scontent-iad3-1.xx&oh=00_AfAoIf3_r9QkxXzczI9qBy_4btZRxh_gdrBecI3AgDdAvw&oe=65B025A3[/fimg]

[metirish]

Happy birthday, Jerry , some very cool nuggets in there

[Lefty Specialist]

Boy, the only one smiling in that picture is Mrs Hodges. Jerry's kids look like they'd rather be eating vegetables.

[Edgy MD]

I think Riley Hodges is smiling back at his mother too.



The Koosmans (Koosmen?) are clearly all pissed about the crappy chestplate logos the kids got on their uni tops.

[whippoorwill]

Yeah Mrs Koosman looks ready to swat that poor little girl for having a disheveled sock.



I love her jumpsuit though

[Edgy MD]

Yeah, the Intenet needs more Lavonne Koosman.



https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG6BxycFyw9XM--lz0ckEb3qqaBXUCeGjkTNxMNzWufWAuCIkkV6flhjRw-cofo5Fk-LY0P03cF2bR-bHyNwjvSHQ2i4rgyKaHhN36IdzpTVSnTGsgu3eRJCcJiUU6tCb5ymGD9-psnT4G-yMhgZtExs0VjgCzZS32r_YuFr5MLDBidO-xJBeMVxvFlFez/s256/lavonne%20koosman1973.jpg> https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LOIfH0V5U1o/X7gluUjL3lI/AAAAAAABKvo/Vqjpo0g0bKYOFpuO1FqBuC60DXFhWy8gwCLcBGAsYHQ/s526/koos.jpg> https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Kmdzd89nQ7o/XidrS2GzoaI/AAAAAAABHnU/3xq5Z_4FlfwMSv57QfFRvW47xVdhSyi3QCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/mets%2Bwives%2B1968.jpg> http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5kIk16vy0_Q/U8trTeDGyrI/AAAAAAAA1gg/Gm1TxleLvxk/s1600/jerry+koosman+(22)+-+Copy.JPG> [fimg=475]https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/pfsAAOSwQChk~4hJ/s-l1200.jpg[/fimg]

[whippoorwill]

I wonder about women that change their hair color constantly

[Edgy MD]

Also bouncing between up-dos and down-dos.



Jerry and Lavonne sadly split in 2003. And it was immediately during this period that Jerry decided to stop paying his taxes, for which he'd be incarcerated in 2009. I imagine it would take exactly that long for me to start fucking up if I suddenly became a single man.

[Lefty Specialist]

I'd just like to say that Nancy Seaver was awesome looking even in that 60's space-helmet blond bouffant hairdo.

[whippoorwill]

Re: Lavonne—- she just always looks so sad. Beautiful though.



Re: Nancy! Yes she rocks that wig like nobody else could!

[ashie62]

Other than becoming incarcerated a great guy



Those silly Libertarians

[whippoorwill]

Um, huh?

[Edgy MD]

There are foolish and malicious folks out there who will tell you that you don't really have to pay federal income taxes — that the law only requires them to be paid by federal workers and residents of The District of Columbia. This is utter malarkey, of course, but the thinking goes that the government isn't going to tell you that, because they like their money, but if you just stop paying, they won't come after you, because they know that they legally can't compel you to pay.



Jerry, around the time of his split from Lavonne, bought this line of bullshit and ended up doing six months in a federal prison for it.



Say what you want about Lavonne's unhappy face, but she looks like a tough lady to bullshit, so I kind of connect the dissolution of his marriage with his terribly poor judgment.

[Frayed Knot]

In a story written about the group of teammates going out to see Seaver for the final time, Swoboda was quoted as saying

how great it was just to chat with the guys during the drive to Tom's vineyard/home, 'except for when Koosman starts

in with all that right wing stuff' (or words to that effect).

[Edgy MD]

Do you know where one might find a link to that story?

[Frayed Knot]

I don't remember the source, but it was likely reprinted and/or linked here.

[whippoorwill]

https://www.amazon.com/After-Miracle-Lasting-Brotherhood-Mets/dp/150117651X/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?crid=N67B7YMSSRJJ&keywords=after+the+miracle+book&qid=1703721578&sprefix=after+the+miracle%2Caps%2C108&sr=8-2#immersive-view_1703721618273https://www.amazon.com/After-Miracle-Lasting-Brotherhood-Mets/dp/150117651X/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?crid=N67B7YMSSRJJ&keywords=after+the+miracle+book&qid=1703721578&sprefix=after+the+miracle%2Caps%2C108&sr=8-2#immersive-view_1703721618273



I'll bet it's in this. I have this great book and I haven't looked at it in a couple of years but I'm about to.

I was disappointed in jerry koosmans politics because he was always one of my top favorites