Jerry Koosman, the Minnesota native and durable left-hander who returned home to win 20 games for the Twins in 1979, died Sunday at age 83 in Osceola, Wisconsin.

Born Dec. 23, 1942, on a farm near Appleton in western Minnesota, Koosman grew up doing farm chores and pitching in local and American Legion games.

After Army service, he signed with the Mets and became a key piece of the 1969 “Miracle Mets,” winning Games 2 and 5 of the World Series (including a complete-game clincher in Game 5).

He spent 12 seasons in New York (140-137, 3.09 ERA) before requesting a trade closer to home after a 3-15 season in 1978. The Mets sent him to the Twins in December 1978 in a deal that brought reliever Jesse Orosco to New York.

The homecoming proved productive. In his first Twins season, the 36-year-old went 20-13 with a 3.38 ERA over 263⅔ innings for an 82-80 club.

He led the team in WAR (7.2) and finished sixth in American League Cy Young voting.

After starting 7-0, he steadied after a midseason dip and closed strong, including a dominant August.

He followed with a 16-13, 4.03 season in 1980 before a partial 1981 campaign that ended with a trade to the White Sox in August. Across three seasons with Minnesota he was 39-35 with a 3.77 ERA.

Koosman was a workhorse throughout his career—140 complete games and 33 shutouts in 19 major-league seasons—and remained a Minnesota connection even after leaving the Twins.

He was later honored with a parade in Morris, near where he had attended the University of Minnesota Morris.

Overall, he finished 222-209 with a 3.36 ERA and 2,556 strikeouts.

Mets spokesman Jay Horwitz said Koosman had been ill for about a year and died of multiple illnesses (reported in some accounts as heart failure), surrounded by his children.

He is survived by sons Michael and Shawn and daughter Danielle.

The Mets retired his No. 36 in 2021; for Twins fans, he was the local lefty who came home and still had enough left to win 20 games in his first year back.