Topic: Jesse Orosco

Jesse Russell Orosco (born April 21, 1957 in Santa Barbara, California) is a former relief pitcher in Major League Baseball who holds the major league record for career pitching appearances. He pitched most notably for the New York Mets in the 1980s. He won a World Series in 1986 with the Mets and in 1988 with the Dodgers. He threw left-handed, but batted right-handed. He retired in 2003 after having been with the Mets, Dodgers, Cleveland Indians, Milwaukee Brewers, Baltimore Orioles, St. Louis Cardinals, San Diego Padres, New York Yankees, and Minnesota Twins. He retired when he was 46 years old, one of the oldest players to still be playing in the modern age.

Orosco's longevity was greatly aided by the increasing use of left-handed specialist relief pitchers from the 1990s onward; in his last several years, he was used almost exclusively in this role.

Orosco was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 1978 Major League Baseball Draft. In February 1979, the Twins traded Orosco to the New York Mets to complete a deal that had been made two months earlier. In December 1978 the Mets traded veteran starter Jerry Koosman to the Twins for two players, one of whom was a player to be named later. The deal of that player, Orosco, completed the deal.