Danny Lynn Jackson (born January 5, 1962) is an American former

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

who played 15 seasons in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

from 1983 to 1997. He played for the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

, St. Louis Cardinals, and San Diego Padres. Jackson is best known for pitching an immaculate inning during Game 5 of the

1985 World Series The 1985 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1985 season. The 82nd edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the American League (AL) champion Kansas City Royals and the Na ...

, which remains the only immaculate inning pitched in postseason play. He would go on to win the World Series that year with the Royals, as well as the

1990 World Series The 1990 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1990 season. The 87th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the defending champions and heavily favored American League (AL) ...

with the Reds.

Early life

Danny Lynn Jackson was born on January 5, 1962, in

San Antonio, Texas ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

. His family moved to the greater

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

area, where Jackson starred in three sports at

Aurora Central High School Aurora Central High School is a high school in Aurora, Colorado. It was originally named Aurora High School and was the first high school in Aurora Public Schools. When Hinkley High School was built in 1963, this school was renamed to its presen ...

. The

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The te ...

drafted him in the 24th round as a high school senior in 1980, but Jackson opted to go to the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two Territories became the state of Oklahom ...

. He played for the

Sooners Sooners is the name given to settlers who entered the Unassigned Lands in what is now the state of Oklahoma before the official start of the Land Rush of 1889. The Unassigned Lands were a part of Indian Territory that, after a lobbying campaign, ...

in 1981 before opting to transfer to Trinidad State Junior College in

Trinidad, Colorado Trinidad is the home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Las Animas County, Colorado, United States. The population was 8,329 as of the 2020 census. Trinidad lies north of Raton, New Mexico, and s ...

. In 1982, the Royals, with the first pick in the January secondary phase draft, chose Jackson.

Career

Kansas City Royals (1983–1987)

A key member of the World Series winning Royals in 1985, Jackson made one of the most important starts in Royals history in the

ALCS The American League Championship Series (ALCS) is a best-of-seven playoff and one of two League Championship Series comprising the penultimate round of Major League Baseball's (MLB) postseason. It is contested by the two winners of the American ...

. Trailing the Blue Jays three games to one and facing elimination, Jackson tossed a complete-game shutout and kept the Royals alive. Two weeks later, in the

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

, Jackson again took the ball with the Royals trailing three games to one in a Game Five, and again Jackson led the Royals to a crucial victory over the St. Louis Cardinals. In the seventh inning of that game, he pitched, as of 2023, the only immaculate inning in World Series play; his victims were

Terry Pendleton Terry Lee Pendleton (born July 16, 1960) is a former third baseman in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played primarily for the St. Louis Cardinals and Atlanta Braves, but he also spent time with the Florida Marlins, Cincinnati Reds, and Kansas Cit ...

, Tom Nieto and Brian Harper. Jackson's 1.04 post-season ERA with the Royals is the lowest in team history (min 10 IP). The Royals went on to win the World Series in seven games. After disappointing seasons in 1986 and 1987, Jackson was traded along with

Ángel Salazar Ángel Salazar (born March 2, 1956) is a Cuban-American comedian and actor. He is known for saying "Sheck it out" ("check it out") before, during, and after jokes. Career He co-starred with Tom Hanks in the film ''Punchline'' (1988) and with Al ...

to the

in exchange for

Ted Power Ted Henry Power (born January 31, 1955) is a former Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher and a minor league baseball coach. During a 13-year career in the major leagues, he pitched for the Los Angeles Dodgers (1981–1982), Cincinnati Reds (1983� ...

and

Kurt Stillwell Kurt Andrew Stillwell (born June 4, 1965) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) infielder. He played for the Cincinnati Reds, San Diego Padres, Kansas City Royals, California Angels and Texas Rangers from 1986 to 1993 and in 1996. ...

Cincinnati Reds (1988–1990)

Jackson was selected to the National League NL All-Star team in 1988 and 1994. He tied for the National League lead in wins in 1988 with 23 and, Jackson combined with 18-game winner

Tom Browning Thomas Leo Browning (April 28, 1960 – December 19, 2022) was an American left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball who played from 1984 to 1995, spending almost his entire career with the Cincinnati Reds. In his rookie season in 1985, Br ...

for the best pitching tandem in baseball that season. Jackson's great 1988 season went largely unnoticed because of the outstanding season turned in by the Dodgers' Orel Hershiser, who threw 59 straight scoreless innings. Jackson regressed in the following two seasons, when he went 12–17 with a 4.60 ERA, but won his second World Series ring in .

Later career (1991–1997)

After the World Series, Jackson became a free agent and signed with the

. After one and a half seasons where he was unable to pitch effectively, he was traded to the

. He was then taken in the 1992 expansion draft by the Florida Marlins, who traded him to the

. He improved in Philadelphia, putting together two winning seasons and earning his second All-Star nod in 1994. He signed with the St. Louis Cardinals after the 1994 season, but was never able to pitch effectively again. His final season was in 1997, during which he was traded to the San Diego Padres. In total, Jackson played in three World Series for three different franchises: the

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

Kansas City Royals, the

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

Cincinnati Reds, and the

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

Philadelphia Phillies. Jackson only made 29 career relief appearances (324 starts) but did pick up one career save. It came on July 12, 1986, against the Detroit Tigers. Jackson recorded the final out of the game to nail down a 7-4 Royals victory. He saved the game for starter

Charlie Leibrandt Charles Louis Leibrandt, Jr. (; born October 4, 1956) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher who played from 1979 to 1993 for the Cincinnati Reds, Kansas City Royals, Atlanta Braves, and Texas Rangers. Leibrandt was a productive pitcher thr ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, Danny 1962 births Living people Baseball players from San Antonio Major League Baseball pitchers National League All-Stars National League wins champions Kansas City Royals players Cincinnati Reds players St. Louis Cardinals players San Diego Padres players Chicago Cubs players Pittsburgh Pirates players Philadelphia Phillies players Nashville Sounds players Jacksonville Suns players Omaha Royals players Charleston Wheelers players Iowa Cubs players Louisville Redbirds players Northern League (baseball, 1993–2010) managers Oklahoma Sooners baseball players Trinidad State Trojans baseball players