Louis Clarence Jackson (July 26, 1935 – May 27, 1969) was an American

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 leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who ...

. Jackson, an

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to c ...

, played

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), ...

and

Nippon Professional Baseball or NPB is the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning ''Professional Baseball''. Outside Japan, it is often just referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league can be traced back to the formation ...

between and , appearing in 34 games over parts of three seasons in the Majors for the Chicago Cubs and

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

, and in 329 games over three seasons in Japan for the Sankei Atoms. He attended

Grambling State University Grambling State University (GSU, Grambling, or Grambling State) is a public historically black university in Grambling, Louisiana. Grambling State is home of the Eddie G. Robinson Museum and is listed on the Louisiana African American Herita ...

, threw right-handed, batted left-handed, and was listed at tall and .

Chicago Cubs

Jackson was originally signed by the Cubs in as an amateur

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

. That season, he played for the class-C

Magic Valley Cowboys The Magic Valley Cowboys were a minor league baseball team in the Pioneer League for a total of 17 seasons between 1952 and 1971. The team was based in Twin Falls, Idaho — the largest city within the Magic Valley region — and succeeded the ...

, batting .310 with 15 home runs. The following season, he was moved up to the class-A

Pueblo Dodgers The Pueblo Dodgers were a Class A minor league baseball team that was located in Pueblo, Colorado and played in the Western League from 1947 to 1958. History An affiliate of the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers (1947-1957 and the Chicago Cubs (195 ...

, and made his major league debut in July. He played 24 games for the Cubs, with just 6 hits in 35 at-bats, including his first and only major league home run off

Ray Semproch Roman Anthony Semproch (born January 7, 1931), also known as Baby and Ray, is a retired right-handed Major League Baseball pitcher who played from 1958 to 1961 for the Philadelphia Phillies, Detroit Tigers and Los Angeles Angels. He was signed by ...

of the Philadelphia Phillies on August 3, 1958."Cubs at Phillies, Sunday, August 3, 1958

Connie Mack Stadium Shibe Park, known later as Connie Mack Stadium, was a ballpark located in Philadelphia. It was the home of the Philadelphia Athletics of the American League (AL) and the Philadelphia Phillies of the National League (NL). When it opened April 12, ...

." ''www.baseballreference.com.'' Retrieved November 28, 2016. In , Jackson spent most of the season back in the minors, most of it with the class-A

Lancaster Red Roses The Lancaster Red Roses baseball team, originally known as the Maroons, changed its name at the start of the 1906 season during a bitter match with the York, Pennsylvania-based White Roses. Some sources indicate that the rival teams were named fo ...

. He did play in 6 games for the Cubs that September, but had just four at-bats. During the offseason, he was traded with two other players to the

Cincinnati Redlegs Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line w ...

for Frank Thomas. Jackson wound up spending just one season in the Cincinnati organization before being acquired by the independent

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...

. After one season with Maple Leafs, he was picked up by the Milwaukee Braves. He lasted just a single season with the Braves, and spent with the Washington Senators organization.

Baltimore Orioles

After the 1963 season, he was drafted by the Orioles. He started the season with them, but played just four of the team's first 23 games. He spent the rest of 1964 and all of 1965 with the Rochester Red Wings, the Orioles' top minor league club.

Japan

In 1966, Jackson signed with the Sankei Atoms. In his first season in Japan, he hit 20 home runs in 97 games, batting .254. In 1967, he improved to a .296 batting average, with 28 home runs. The following season, however, he slumped at the plate, hitting just .219, and one day collapsed at home plate while batting. He died the following year of

pancreatitis Pancreatitis is a condition characterized by inflammation of the pancreas. The pancreas is a large organ behind the stomach that produces digestive enzymes and a number of hormones. There are two main types: acute pancreatitis, and chronic pancr ...

at age 33.Moffi, Larry, and Jonathan Kronstadt
Crossing the Line: Black Major Leaguers, 1947-1959. p. 231.
. ''Google Books.'' Retrieved October 21, 2013.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, Lou 1935 births 1969 deaths 20th-century African-American sportspeople African-American baseball players American expatriate baseball players in Japan Baltimore Orioles players Baseball players from Louisiana Chicago Cubs players Deaths from pancreatitis Fort Worth Cats players Grambling State Tigers baseball players Havana Sugar Kings players Hawaii Islanders players Jersey City Jerseys players Lancaster Red Roses players Magic Valley Cowboys players Major League Baseball outfielders People from Caldwell Parish, Louisiana Pueblo Dodgers players Rochester Red Wings players Sankei Atoms players Toronto Maple Leafs (International League) players American expatriate baseball players in Cuba