Conor Sims Jackson (born May 7, 1982) is an American former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding ...

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the major ...

and

left fielder In baseball, a left fielder, abbreviated LF, is an outfielder who plays defense in left field. Left field is the area of the outfield to the left of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the numbering sy ...

. He played 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) ...

(MLB) between 2005 and 2011 for the

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks (colloquially known as the D-backs) are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. ...

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 t ...

, and

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 eig ...

. His father is actor John M. Jackson.

College and minor leagues

After graduating from El Camino Real High School in

Woodland Hills, California Woodland Hills is a neighborhood bordering the Santa Monica Mountains in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. Geography Woodland Hills is in the southwestern region of the San Fernando Valley, which is located east of C ...

in 2000, Jackson proceeded to have a stellar collegiate career at the

University of California (Berkeley) The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of Californi ...

as a

third baseman 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 u ...

. In 2001, he played

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operate ...

in the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over one thous ...

for the Bourne Braves. He developed a reputation for a patient batting eye and led the

Pac-10 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its College football, football teams compete in the NCAA D ...

with a .538 OBP in . Jackson was drafted in the first round (19th overall) of the 2003 MLB amateur draft. Jackson switched to the

outfield The outfield, in cricket, baseball and softball is the area of the field of play further from the batsman or batter than the infield. In association football, the outfield players are positioned outside the goal area. In cricket, baseball a ...

shortly after being drafted. In his initial debut with

Yakima Yakima ( or ) is a city in and the county seat of Yakima County, Washington, and the state's 11th-largest city by population. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 96,968 and a metropolitan population of 256,728. The uni ...

of the short-season

Northwest League The Northwest League is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Northwestern United States and Western Canada. A Class A Short Season league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Major League Basebal ...

, he batted .319 with a league record 35 doubles. After his minor league debut, Jackson successfully climbed the minor league ladder. After fielding only .964 in the outfield in the minors, he was moved to first base, where his defensive struggles continued.

Major leagues

Arizona Diamondbacks (2005-2010)

He received his first taste of the majors in (debuting July 28, 2005, in

Wrigley Field Wrigley Field is a Major League Baseball (MLB) stadium on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. It is the home of the Chicago Cubs, one of the city's two MLB franchises. It first opened in 1914 as Weeghman Park for Charles Weeghman's Chicago W ...

), where he batted .200/.303/.306 with 2

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 is ...

s in 85

at bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a batt ...

s. In he claimed the Diamondbacks' starting first base job. He finished the season with a .291 average with 15 home runs in 140 games. Jackson played a vast majority of first base for the D-Backs. Although he missed some time in 2007 due to injury, he wound up hitting 15 home runs with 60 rbi's in 130 games, he hit .235 in 17 at bats in the postseason. Conor Jackson on June 8, 2011

In , Jackson started the season with a hot bat as the Diamondbacks took an early lead in the NL West. Conor had the opportunity to hit for the cycle in a game against San Diego on April 18. Facing

Greg Maddux Gregory Alan Maddux (born April 14, 1966) is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played 23 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for four teams. Maddux is best known for his accomplishments while playing for the Atlanta Braves ...

in his last at bat, Jackson hit a deep

line drive In the sports of baseball and softball, a batted ball is a pitch that has been contacted by the batter's bat. Batted balls are either fair or foul, and can be characterized as a fly ball, pop-up, line drive, or ground ball. In baseball, a fo ...

to center field, and instead of stopping at second base for the double and the cycle, he continued on to third base for his second

triple Triple is used in several contexts to mean "threefold" or a "treble": Sports * Triple (baseball), a three-base hit * A basketball three-point field goal * A figure skating jump with three rotations * In bowling terms, three strikes in a row * In ...

of the game. It would have been Jackson's first career cycle. He finished the game with four hits, tying his career high, and was later named National League Player of the Week for his 12 hits, 10 runs, 10 RBIs, and three home runs from April 14 through April 20. Jackson set career highs in Average (.300), plate appearances (612), at bats (540), runs (87) and stolen bases (10) while splitting the season between playing left field and first base. His season was stalled in May when he contracted

Valley Fever A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams over ...

and lost approximately 35 pounds during the illness (per his interview on Chronicle Live 6/21/10). "I'm tired. I'm fatigued. Some days I feel like I'm able to do stuff, and I do stuff. I sleep 12, 13 hours and I'm exhausted." Jackson would play in just 30 games in 2009 batting a .182 batting average with 1 home run and 14 RBI. In 2010, he was hitting .238 for the Diamondbacks before being traded to the A's.

Oakland Athletics (2010-2011)

On June 15, 2010, Jackson was traded with cash considerations to the

for pitcher Sam Demel. After the demotion of Daric Barton in the spring of 2011, Jackson saw the majority of his starts at first-base until the call-up of trade acquisition Brandon Allen. Jackson would only play in 18 games for the A's that year and only 60 for the entire season, finishing with a .236 batting average 2 home runs and 16 RBI. He would play in 102 games for the Athletics in 2011 before being traded to the

Boston Red Sox (2011)

On August 31, 2011, Jackson was traded to the

for a minor league player. On September 19, he hit his first home run in a Red Sox uniform, a grand slam over the " Green Monster" at

Fenway Park Fenway Park is a baseball stadium located in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, near Kenmore Square. Since 1912, it has been the home of the Boston Red Sox, the city's American League baseball team, and Boston Braves (baseball), since 1953, i ...

, in an 18–9 rout of the

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 ...

. That however would be his final home run of the season as Jackson only played 12 games with Boston. He would finish that year with a .244 batting average, 5 home runs, and 43 RBI.

Minor league deals and retirement

On February 6, 2012, Jackson signed a minor league deal with the Texas Rangers. He was released on March 26. On March 31, 2012, Jackson signed a minor league deal with the

Chicago 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 ...

, and was assigned to Triple-A

Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont (United States), Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Meckl ...

. On December 5, 2012, Jackson was signed to a minor league deal with the

that included a spring training invitation. He later announced his retirement on April 14, 2013.

References

External links

Conor Jackson Interview at Baseball Digest Daily - May 2005
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, Conor Living people 1982 births Major League Baseball first basemen Baseball players from Austin, Texas Yakima Bears players Lancaster JetHawks players El Paso Diablos players Tucson Sidewinders players Visalia Rawhide players Arizona League Athletics players Stockton Ports players Reno Aces players Sacramento River Cats players Charlotte Knights players Norfolk Tides players Arizona Diamondbacks players Oakland Athletics players Boston Red Sox players California Golden Bears baseball players Bourne Braves players University of California, Berkeley alumni El Camino Real High School alumni