Cooperstown Chronicles – Jerry Koosman
Photo courtesy of TSN Archives/Icon SMI
Jerry Koosman was suggested by Ark_Razor, a friend of mine from Sporting News. Here are my findings.
The Numbers
527 Starts
3839.3 Innings (47th All-time)
222-208 (71st All-time)
.515 Winning %
3.36 ERA (League average 3.70)
1.259 WHIP
2556 Strikeouts (28th All-time)
140 Complete Games
33 Shutouts (87th All-time)
17 Saves
Playoffs: 7 Games, 6 Starts, 40.1 innings, 4-0, 3.79 ERA, 31 Ks
Awards
2 All-Star Appearances
Cy Young Votes in 2 Seasons
MVP Votes in 3Seasons
Top Ten Finishes
Wins - Five times
ERA – Six times
WHIP – Three times
Win-Loss % - Three times
Strikeouts – Eight times
Complete Games – Five times
Shutouts - Four times
Starts – Four times
Innings Pitched – Four times
I’m afraid that with Koosman we’re talking good-not great. He racked up a lot of victories, but he was never one of the very best pitchers in the game. He only won 20 games on two occasions. The most strikeouts he had in a season was 200. The highest he ever finished for Cy Young voting was 13th. He never led the league in any major pitching category for a season. He had an amazing World Series for the Miracle Mets, but it’s going to take a miracle to make me change my mind on Koosman. I give him a little credit because he was born in Minnesota, but I can’t put him in. I have no problem with Koosman in the Mets’ Hall of Fame. That’s just as far as it goes.
References
Baseball Reference
Past Chronicles
Bert Byleven
Andre Dawson
Dale Murphy
Mark McGwire
Bobby Matthews
Tommy John
Buck O’Neill & Minnie Minoso
Jim Rice
Ted Simmons
Lee Smith
Jack Morris
Al Oliver
Steve Garvey
Jim Kaat
Pete Ro$e
Shoeless Joe Jackson
Dave Concepcion
Lou Whitaker
Alan Trammell
Ron Santo
Ron Guidry
Gil Hodges
Dave Parker
Tony Mullane
Keith Hernandez
Don Mattingly
Dwight Evans
Ralph Houk (Manager)
Jimmie Dykes (Player/Manager)
Charlie Grimm (Player/Manager)
Billy Martin (Player/Manager)
Harold Baines
Gene Mauch (Manager)
Whitey Herzog (Manager)
Tom Kelly (Manager)
Joe Carter
Rusty Staub
Gary Gaetti
Jimmy Ryan
George Van Haltren
Roger Maris
Lance Parrish
Mo Vaughn
Mark Grace
Dennis Martinez
Chuck Finley
Fred McGriff
Wes Parker
Steve Finley
Orlando Cepeda
Albert Belle
Willie Randolph
Graig Nettles
Luis Gonzalez
Lefty O’Doul
Rocky Colavito
Boog Powell
Larry Novak
April 1st, 2008 at 5:25 pm #
I was a big koosman fan with the Mets. I wanted him to have the ball in a Big Game, But he played on some medocre teams with both The mets and Twins, so he never got to play on big hitting teams, how he would have done if he played on the Big Red Machine. But I have to agree with you, No Hall of fame for him. But ask any mat fan and he is in their Hall Of Fame along with Ron Swaboda, Tommy Agee, Cleon Jones among many others in that magical 1969 year.
Ryan Lester
April 1st, 2008 at 10:02 pm #
Larry – Great points. There are a ton of guys who would have been better in diff’t situations. That’s why making the HOF is so difficult. Thanks for adding as usual.
Terry
April 2nd, 2008 at 6:49 am #
It would be interesting to compare Koosman with Tom Glavine. I bet you would find that the only glaring advantage Glavine has is wins, and that’s obviously because of the great Braves teams he played on for so many years. In other important categories – ERA, Shutouts, and complete games, Koosman ranks better.
Another side note on Koosman, which is important to Mets fans. He was traded for a very young Jesse Orosco to Minnesota at the end of his career. Orosco, as all Mets fans know, was instrumental in the 1986 pennant and World Series victories.
Ryan Lester
April 2nd, 2008 at 7:01 am #
Winning % – Glavine .604, Koosman .515
All Star Games – G 10, K 2
Cy Youngs – G 2, K 0
20 Win Seasons – G 5, K 2
You can’t compare the ERAs because Glavine pitched in the offense heavy steroid era, but he has the better adjusted ERA
119 (tied for 119th) to Koosman’s 110 (tied for 309th)
Top Ten ERA’s G 8, K 5
Complete games and shutouts have gone down. That’s just the nature of baseball today. Koosman is good, but Glavine is a notch higher.