Grant Jackson (baseball)


Grant Dwight Jackson, is an American former professional baseball pitcher and coach, who played in Major League baseball from to for the Philadelphia Phillies, Baltimore Orioles, New York Yankees, Pittsburgh Pirates, Montreal Expos, and Kansas City Royals. While Jackson threw left-handed, he batted as a switch hitter.
Following Jackson’s playing career, he served as a coach for the Pirates and Cincinnati Reds.

Playing career

Jackson attended Fostoria High School, then Bowling Green State University, where he played for the Bowling Green Falcons baseball team.
In 1961, Jackson signed with the Philadelphia Phillies as an amateur free agent. He made his MLB debut with the Phillies in 1965. Jackson was named to the 1969 National League All-Star team, but did not appear in the game.
Made available by the Phillies because of several disagreements with manager Frank Lucchesi, Jackson was acquired along with Jim Hutto and Sam Parrilla by the Orioles for Roger Freed on December 15, 1970. In 1973, Jackson went 8-0, with a 1.90 earned run average in 80.1 innings of work in 45 appearances with 47 strikeouts for the Orioles. From September 29 to October 1, 1974, Jackson won 3 consecutive games in relief.
On June 15, 1976, the Orioles traded Jackson with Doyle Alexander, Jimmy Freeman, Elrod Hendricks, and Ken Holtzman to the New York Yankees for Rick Dempsey, Tippy Martinez, Rudy May, Scott McGregor, and Dave Pagan. After the season, Jackson was drafted by the Seattle Mariners from the Yankees as the 11th pick in the 1976 Major League Baseball expansion draft. A few weeks later, he was traded by the Mariners to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Craig Reynolds and Jimmy Sexton.
On September 1, 1981, Jackson was purchased by the Montreal Expos from the Pirates for $50,000. After the season, the Expos traded him to the Kansas City Royals for Ken Phelps. During the 1982 season, the Royals released Jackson, and he re-signed with Pittsburgh, who subsequently released him following the season.
In his career, Jackson pitched in the World Series three times; in 1971 for the Orioles, 1976 for the Yankees, and 1979 for the Pirates, and was the winning pitcher for the Pirates in Game 7 of the 1979 World Series.
He also played for the Gold Coast Suns of the Senior Professional Baseball Association in 1989.

Coaching career

Following his playing career, Jackson was the Pirates’ pitching/bullpen coach in 1983 through 1985 and a member of the Cincinnati Reds bullpen coaching staff in 1994 and 1995.