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

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

who played 15 seasons in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

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) American League Central, Central Division. The team ...

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

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

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 (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central ...

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

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Centra ...

, and

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. ...

. Jackson is best known for pitching an

immaculate inning The Immaculate Conception is the doctrine that the Virgin Mary was free of original sin from the moment of her conception. It is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Debated by medieval theologians, it was not defined as a ...

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 Nat ...

, 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 San Antonio ( ; Spanish for "Anthony of Padua, Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the List of Texas metropolitan areas, third-largest metropolitan area in Texa ...

. His family moved to the greater

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

area, where Jackson starred in three sports at Aurora Central High School. The

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (frequently referred to as the Oakland A's) were an American Major League Baseball (MLB) team based in Oakland, California from 1968 to 2024. The Athletics were a member club of the American League (AL) American League We ...

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, United States. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two territories became the ...

. He played for the

Sooners Sooners is the name given to settlers who entered the Unassigned Lands illegally 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 lobbyi ...

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

Trinidad, Colorado Trinidad is the List of cities and towns in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule municipality that is the county seat of and the List of cities and towns in Colorado, most populous municipality in Las Animas County, Colorado, United Stat ...

. 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. 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). It has been contested since between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winning team, determined through a best- ...

, 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

. In the seventh inning of that game, he pitched, as of 2023, the only

in World Series play; his victims were Terry Pendleton, 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 (March 2, 1956 – August 11, 2024) was a Cuban-American comedian and actor. He was known for saying "Sheck it out" ("check it out") before, during, and after jokes. As an actor, he was best known for his role as ''Chi-Chi'' in th ...

to the

in exchange for Ted Power 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 (baseball), Texas Rangers from 198 ...

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, ...

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 Orel Leonard Hershiser IV (born September 16, 1958) is an American former baseball pitcher who played 18 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1983 to 2000. He later became a pitching coach for the Texas Rangers from 2002 to 2005 and a br ...

, 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 The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. The team plays its home games at LoanDepot Park. The ...

, 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

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

. 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 n ...

Kansas City Royals, the

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

Cincinnati Reds, and the

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

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 an American 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 member of the ...

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 (baseball) 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