Jerry Koosman, the left-handed pitcher who closed out his 19-year major-league career with the Philadelphia Phillies, died Sunday at age 83 in Osceola, Wisconsin, after battling multiple illnesses for about a year.
He was surrounded by family, according to longtime Mets spokesman Jay Horwitz.
While Koosman is best remembered as a cornerstone of the 1969 “Miracle Mets” World Series champions—where he earned wins in Games 2 and 5, including the complete-game clincher—his final two seasons came in Philadelphia after a February 1984 trade from the Chicago White Sox that completed a deal sending reliever Ron Reed to Chicago.
At 41, the veteran provided durable innings for a Phillies club coming off a 1983 National League pennant.
In 1984, he made 34 starts (36 appearances total), going 14-15 with a 3.25 ERA over 224 innings and striking out 137. It was his last productive season as a workhorse in the rotation.
One indelible moment from that year came on April 13 at Montreal’s Olympic Stadium, when Koosman surrendered Pete Rose’s 4,000th career hit—a double in the fourth inning of a 5-1 Expos win.
Rose, then with Montreal, joined Ty Cobb as only the second player to reach the milestone, exactly 21 years after his first major-league hit.
Koosman returned in 1985 but was limited by knee problems. He posted a 6-4 record with a 4.62 ERA in 19 games (18 starts) and 99⅓ innings before his final appearance on August 21 against the Dodgers.
The Phillies released him that December, ending a career that finished at 222-209 with a 3.36 ERA, 140 complete games, 33 shutouts, and 2,556 strikeouts.
Across his two Phillies seasons he went 20-19 with a 3.67 ERA in 55 games (52 starts) and 323⅓ innings.
For a franchise that valued veteran arms in the mid-1980s, the Appleton, Minnesota native offered experience and reliability even as his best days were behind him.
Koosman, a two-time All-Star who also pitched for the Minnesota Twins, was inducted into the Mets Hall of Fame in 1989; New York retired his No. 36 in 2021.
He is survived by sons Michael and Shawn and daughter Danielle.
The Phillies join the baseball community in remembering a durable left-hander whose late-career stop in Philadelphia capped a long, notable run.
