Darrell Jackson (baseball)

Darrell Preston Jackson (born April 3, 1956) is a former professional baseball pitcher. He pitched all or parts of five seasons in the majors, from 1978 until 1982, all with the Minnesota Twins.

Career
Jackson was drafted by the Twins out of high school in 1973, but he did not sign with them. Instead, he played college baseball at Arizona State University, where he played in the College World Series in each of his last three seasons there.

In 1977, he was drafted by the Twins in the 9th round of the amateur draft. He made his professional debut in 1978 for the Orlando Twins of the Southern League, and in his very first start he threw nine innings of no-hit ball against the Jacksonville Suns. Unfortunately, the game was tied after nine innings, and Jackson was relieved by fellow future Twin Jeff Holly. Orlando won the game, 1–0, in 12 innings.

After just 10 starts in the minors, Jackson was called up to the Twins in June. In 19 games, Jackson went 4–6 with a 4.48 ERA. He did record one shutout in 1978, on July 7 against the Oakland Athletics.

Jackson split 1979 between the Twins and their Triple-A farm club, the Toledo Mud Hens. In the majors, he pitched in 24 games (including 8 starts), going 4–4 with a 4.28 ERA. 1980 was Jackson's first (and, as it turned out, only) full season in the majors. He set career bests in wins (9), ERA (3.87), and strikeouts (90). On June 21, 1980, Jackson recorded his one and only save at the MLB level. He retired the last batter of the game to preserve a 3-2 victory over the Twins.

Jackson spent most of 1981 on the sidelines with a shoulder injury, appearing in just 14 games in the majors and 2 at Triple-A. In 1982, the bottom fell out of Jackson's performance, as he went 0–5 and his ERA jumped to a career-worst 6.25. Things were no better in the minors, as he went 1–3 with an even worse ERA of 7.00 in 4 starts. On July 26, the Twins released Jackson, and he never again pitched in organized baseball.

Jackson currently runs the 1020 Club, Inc. A nonprofit organization that helps at-risk youth.