| Larry Jackson | |
|---|---|
 Jacksonc. 1955–1962 | |
| Pitcher | |
| Born:(1931-06-02)June 2, 1931 Nampa, Idaho, U.S. | |
| Died: August 28, 1990(1990-08-28) (aged 59) Boise, Idaho, U.S. | |
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| April 17, 1955, for the St. Louis Cardinals | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| September 20, 1968, for the Philadelphia Phillies | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Win–loss record | 194–183 |
| Earned run average | 3.40 |
| Strikeouts | 1,709 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
Lawrence Curtis Jackson (June 2, 1931 – August 28, 1990) was an American right-handed professionalbaseballpitcher, who played inMajor League Baseball (MLB) for theSt. Louis Cardinals,Chicago Cubs, andPhiladelphia Phillies from1955 to1968.[1][2] In1964, Jackson led theNational League (NL) with 24wins (playing for the eighth-place Cubs), and was runner-up in theCy Young Award voting; he also led the NL ininnings pitched andshutouts, once each.
Jackson's 194 career NL victories are the most in the league since 1900 by any right-hander who never played for a first-place team. A model of reliability, he won at least 13 games in each of his last 12 seasons. His 141 wins in the 1960s was sixth most among all pitchers.[3]
He later served four terms in theIdaho Legislature.
Born inNampa, Idaho, Jackson graduated fromBoise High School in 1949. He attendedBoise Junior College and played bothfootball andbaseball for theBroncos; he was ajunior collegeAll-American halfback on the1950 team that played in theJunior Rose Bowlin December.[4]
He signed with the Cardinals in 1951 and was3–11 withPocatello in theClass CPioneer League. In1952, he led theCalifornia League with 351strikeouts and a28–4 record for the pennant-winningFresno Cardinals.
He broke into the majors with St. Louis in1955, posting a9–14 record, and gradually worked his way into the starting rotation by1958. He was named to the NLAll-Star team in1957,1958, and1960 while with the Cardinals, and allowed only twohits and noruns in3+2⁄3 innings in the three appearances; the 1957 game was played atSportsman's Park in St. Louis. In1960 he led the NL with 282 innings and 38games started, also winning 18 games, but he missed the first four weeks of the1961 season after having his jaw broken in a late spring training game by a flying piece ofDuke Snider'sbroken bat.[5]
After the1962 season, Jackson was traded to the Cubs along withLindy McDaniel in a six-player deal; the Cardinals received three players includingDon Cardwell.[6] Jackson was again an All-Star in1963, and earned the win despite it being his least effective appearance in the Midsummer Classic; after entering with a3–1 lead in the third inning, he allowed the tying runs, but the NL again took a4–3 lead in the top of the fifth as he departed.
He enjoyed his best season thefollowing year; despite the Cubs'76–86 record, Jackson was24–11 with 148 strikeouts and a 3.14earned run average. He also set a major league record for pitchers with 109total chances without anerror, breaking the mark of 108 shared byThree Finger Brown (1908) andEppa Rixey (1917);Randy Jones broke his record with 112 for theSan Diego Padres in1976. With only one Cy Young Award for both leagues at that time,Dean Chance of theAmerican League'sLos Angeles Angels won the award with 17 of the 20 votes; Jackson received two votes, whileSandy Koufax of theDodgers received one. Jackson lost 21 games in1965, the first sinceMurry Dickson in 1951–52 to have twenty wins and twenty losses in consecutive seasons. One of those losses was1–0 in ten innings toJim Maloney of theCincinnati Reds, who threw a no-hitter with187 pitches.[7]
In early1966 he was traded to thePhillies in the deal which broughtFerguson Jenkins to Chicago, and he ended the season as one of six pitchers tied for the league shutout lead with five. In1967, he won his 171st game to passBill Doak, who had previously been the winningest NL right-hander of the 20th century to never play for a pennant winner. On June 20 of that year, he pitched a one-hitter against theNew York Mets.
After a 13–17 season with a 2.77 ERA in1968, Jackson was selected by theMontreal Expos in theOctober 1968 expansion draft, but chose to retire rather than join the team;Bobby Wine was sent from the Phillies to the Expos the following April as compensation. In a 14-season career, Jackson posted a 194–183 (.515) record with 1,709 strikeouts, 37 shutouts, and a 3.40 ERA in 558 games and3,262+2⁄3 innings. He tied a record held byClaude Passeau by four times having the most total chances among pitchers with a perfect 1.000fielding percentage (1957, 1964, 1965, 1968).
Jackson returned toBoise and was an insurance agent and a lobbyist forBoise Cascade. He served four terms as aRepublican fromAda County in theIdaho House of Representatives, became executive director of theRepublican State Committee. He ran forgovernor in 1978,[8][9] but was fourth in the six-man GOP primary in August, won byAllan Larsen,[10][11] who lost the general election to incumbentJohn Evans. Jackson later served on the state industrial commission and the centennial commission; he died ofcancer in Boise at the age of 59.[1]