Jesse Orosco Rookie Card and Autograph

One of my favorite type of players to collect are pitchers that have a career where they pitch forever. Some of my all-time favorites include Hoyt Wilhelm, Gaylord Perry, the Niekro brothers, and Kent Tekulve. 

The all-time king of "pitching forever" is Jesse Orosco who pitched from 1979 to 2003 and holds the record for pitching in 1,252 games. Although he is famous for winning World Series titles with the New York Mets (1986) and Dodgers (1988), Orosco began his career as a Minnesota Twin. He was then traded to the Mets as a part of the trade that brought Jerry Koosman to Minnesota. Orosco would also end his career pitching for the Twins in 2003 for eight games.

It doesn't appear that Orosco has any cards as a Twin from either of his stints with the team ( Add that to the "cards that should have been" list) and you can find his rookie card in 1980 Topps. He shares it with the 1986 Cy Young winner Mike Scott, making it a very respectable 80's multi-player rookie. 


Orosco only has a handful of certified autographs, including 2005 Topps Pristine Legends and 2013 Topps Archives, so I added an  TTM/in-person autograph of Orosco's 1983 Fleer card. I received this one from Reader Mike D. in a trade a while ago and I like how Jesse signed the card without signing over his portrait. 


Comments

Trevor P said…
I like Jamie Moyer and LaTroy Hawkins for that very reason. I would never have guessed Orosco held the record for most games pitched, though.
Fuji said…
Wow. I totally lost track of Orosco after the 80's. Had no idea he pitched until his mid 40's or held the record for most games played. Very cool.