Jerry Koosman may not have the national glamour that Tom Seaver or Mike Piazza had, but he has a special spot in the hearts of Mets fans and helped bring the first World Series championship to the Mets. The organization will retire the No. 36 in 2020 and the honor is well deserved.
Mickey Callaway will switch his number to 26 with the Mets announcing the retirement of Jerry Koosman's #36. pic.twitter.com/NQh6P2sMag
— SNY (@SNYtv) September 24, 2019
Koosman was dominant during his 12 years with the Mets. He won 140 games, pitched to a 3.06 ERA, and was on the mound for the final out of the 1969 Miracle Mets World Series victory.
Playoff Success
He picked up half of the Mets wins in that World Series and another in the 1973 World Series against the Oakland A’s. Koosman also has the most postseason wins in Mets history. Though he was always overshadowed by the great Seaver, he had years where he was just as dominant as the future Hall of Famer. It helped create the dominant Mets rotation.
You figure David Wright’s number 5 will be retired in short order, along with Jerry Koosman’s 36. We will see if that also takes place in 2020.
Jeff Wilpon said the plan is to loosen their number retirement policy going forward. #Mets
— Michael Baron (@michaelgbaron) September 24, 2019
Koosman finished second in the Cy Young voting of the 1976 season, and was a two-time All-Star as a Met. He will join Piazza (31) and Seaver (41) as Mets players to have their number retried. Casey Stengel (37) and Gil Hodges (14) are the only two managers to have their number retired by the team. The universal No. 42 of Jackie Robinson is not only retired by the Mets, but by all of Major League Baseball.
Koosman is the sixth overall honoree by this Mets and going forward David Wright has to be next on the list. Since the Mets are going to loosen their number retirement policy there could be a whole new list of retired numbers over the next few years.