Ronnie Damien Jackson (born May 9, 1953 in
Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...
) is a
coach
Coach may refer to:
Guidance/instruction
* Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities
* Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process
** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers
Transportation
* Co ...
and a former player 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), ...
. He was the hitting coach for the
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eigh ...
in 2004 when they won their first
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 ...
in 86 seasons.
From 1975 through 1984, Jackson played
first base and
third base
A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...
with the
California Angels (1975–78, 1982–84),
Minnesota Twins (1979–81),
Detroit Tigers (1981) 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 ...
(1984). He batted and threw right-handed.
Jackson was called up to the Angels after hitting .281 in 144 games for the
Salt Lake City Gulls
Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quantitie ...
of the
Pacific Coast League, and made his
major league debut
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), ...
on September 12, 1975.
In a 10-year career, Jackson compiled a .259
batting average
Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic.
Cricket
In cricket, a player's batting average is ...
with 56
home run
In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...
s and 342
RBI in 926
games.
Jackson played for
managers
Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business.
Management includes the activities o ...
Gene Mauch,
Sparky Anderson
George Lee "Sparky" Anderson (February 22, 1934 – November 4, 2010) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) player, coach, and manager. He managed the National League's Cincinnati Reds to the 1975 and 1976 championships, then added a third ...
,
Dick Williams and
Jim Fregosi
James Louis Fregosi (April 4, 1942 – February 14, 2014) was an American professional baseball shortstop and manager, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from to , primarily for the Los Angeles / California Angels. He also played for th ...
. With the Angels, he hit a career-high .297 in 1978, and in 1979 posted personal highs in
hits (158),
doubles (40), home runs (14), RBI (68),
runs (85) and
games (153) for Minnesota. In that season, his .9943
fielding percentage at first base broke
Rod Carew
Rodney Cline Carew (born October 1, 1945) is a Panamanian former professional baseball player and coach. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a first baseman, second baseman and designated hitter from 1967 to 1985 for the Minnesota Twins ...
's Twins' record.
Following his retirement as a player, Jackson coached for the
Brewers,
Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...
and
White Sox
The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...
systems. The
2006 season marked his 18th year as a major league or
minor league hitting coach, and his fourth with the Boston Red Sox. In his first two seasons with Boston, the Red Sox led the majors in runs, batting average, doubles,
extra-base hits
In baseball, an extra-base hit (EB, EBH or XBH), also known as a long hit, is any base hit on which the batter is able to advance past first base without the benefit of a fielder either committing an error or opting to make a throw to retire ano ...
,
total bases
In baseball statistics, total bases is the number of bases a player gains with hits. It is a weighted sum with values of 1 for a single, 2 for a double, 3 for a triple and 4 for a home run. For example, three singles is three total bases, whil ...
,
on-base percentage and
slugging average
In baseball statistics, slugging percentage (SLG) is a measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats, through the following formula, where ''AB'' is the number of at bats for a given player, ...
. In
2003 the Sox set ML records for extra-base hits, total bases and slugging, finishing one off the major league lead with 238 home runs. The Red Sox tied an ML record with 373 doubles in
2004.
Jackson served as the hitting coach for the
Round Rock Express
The Round Rock Express are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers. They are located in Round Rock, Texas, and play their home games at the Dell Diamond. The team is named ...
, then the top affiliate of the
Houston Astros from 2007 to 2009.
He currently serves as a guest instructor at the
New York Baseball Academy and coached Birmingham's Willie Mays Youth Baseball team to the 2014 championship of the
Junior RBI Classic in Minneapolis.
References
External links
, o
RetrosheetPura Pelota:
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, Ron
1953 births
Living people
African-American baseball coaches
African-American baseball players
American expatriate baseball players in Canada
Baltimore Orioles players
Baseball players from Birmingham, Alabama
Boston Red Sox coaches
California Angels players
Chicago White Sox coaches
Detroit Tigers players
El Paso Diablos players
El Paso Sun Kings players
Fort Myers Sun Sox players
Idaho Falls Angels players
Louisville Redbirds players
Major League Baseball first basemen
Major League Baseball hitting coaches
Milwaukee Brewers coaches
Minnesota Twins players
Minor league baseball coaches
Quad Cities Angels players
Rochester Red Wings players
Salt Lake City Gulls players
Spokane Indians players
Tiburones de La Guaira players
American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela
Vancouver Canadians players
21st-century African-American people
20th-century African-American sportspeople