Former Twins LHP Darrell Jackson Loses Battle with Cancer

[Seth Stohs]

Darrell Jackson overcame several obstacles throughout his life, but on Sunday, he lost his battle with lung cancer, passing away at the age of 70. 

Jackson grew up in Los Angeles in the '60s and early '70s. He and his family were affected by the Watts riots in the mid-to-late-'60s. He attended Locke High School which was established in 1967 to be a safe place for children and families, but they were unable to keep the race issues from coming in. There were frequent fights, and during Jackson's senior year, two people were shot in a targeted gang attack. The following January saw an 18-year-old student killed on the school jogging track in a gang-related shooting. He was just an innocent bystander. 

Tyrese Gibson graduated from Locke in 1996, just two years before being signed by RCA Records. He has spent lots of time on Billboard Top 100 lists, and many now may know of him from his roles in the Fast & Furious and Transformers series of films. 

Jackson played on a pretty good baseball team in high school. He pitched well, and the Twins made him their sixth-round draft pick in 1973. Fellow 1973 Locke High School grads included future Hall of Famers Eddie Murray and Ozzie Smith. Murray was a third-round pick by the Orioles and signed right away. Smith went undrafted out of high school, went to Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo on an academic scholarship and walked onto the baseball team. The Tigers drafted him in the seventh round in 1976, but he didn't sign. The Padres signed him after making him their fourth-round pick in 1977. 

 

Jackson certainly could have signed out of high school. He didn't, opting to attend Arizona State University. He pitched there for four years and won three College World Series championships. 

His time in the minor leagues was very short. His first professional start came in 1978 for the Orlando Twins, the team's Double-A affiliate at the time. He tossed nine no-hit innings. He made 10 starts and was 4-3 with a 1.80 ERA. In 75 innings, he gave up 52 hits, walked 32 and had 68 strikeouts. 

On June 16, 1978, Jackson made his MLB debut at Met Stadium against the Detroit Tigers. The southpaw tossed 7 1/3 innings and gave up just one run despite giving up seven hits, walking four, and having seven strikeouts. Veteran Mike Marshall got the final five outs in a 5-2 win. The bottom three hitters in the Tigers lineup that day were all rookies, catcher Lance Parrish, shortstop Alan Trammell, and second baseman Lou Whitaker. 

July 7th, he made his fourth career start at Oakland. He tossed a complete game shutout. In nine innings, he gave up just three hits and one walk, while striking out seven batters. 

In a start on May 10, 1980, at Yankees Stadium. He tossed 10 scoreless innings. He gave up five hits and walked one batter. The Bronx Bombers lineup including Willie Randolph, Reggie Jackson, Lou Pinella, Graig Nettles, he gave up a double to Bucky Dent, and Bob Watson went 4-for-4 with a double. Doug Corbett got the final three outs for the save. 

He went 0-5 with a 6.25 ERA in mid-June of 1982. The Twins released him. He pitched in Mexico briefly in 1983 but at that point, his career was complete. 

Jackson pitched for the Twins in parts of five seasons. He went 20-27 with one save. He posted a 4.38 ERA and a 1.49 WHIP. 60 of his 102 career games pitched were starts. He certainly had flashes of greatness at times. 

Later, Jackson acknowledged that there was a lot more going on in his life and in his body. He talked about drinking too much starting in college and then drank even more once he became a pro ballplayer. Like so many pro athletes in that era, Jackson struggled with cocaine and its addictive qualities. He said in a 2022 interview that he had mistaken money, drugs, women and attention for success. 

When his baseball career ended, he continued to abuse alcohol and drugs. And at that point he found himself really fighting depression.  He went to treatment and rehab a few times. It didn't take. He happened to meet former big league pitcher Dock Ellis, who coincidentally is best known for pitching a no-hitter while tripping on LSD. He encouraged Jackson to keep going back to treatment. It didn't work, he would relapse, but finally, it took. Had he lived about three more months, he would have reached 40 years of sobriety. 

And in that time, he has done a ton in the Los Angeles area to help kids and families. He led the 10-20 Club. He worked with a treatment center and others to create scholarships for young people who could not otherwise afford it or have the insurance to do so. As the name suggests, the intended audience for the program is between 10- and 20-year-olds. 

Beyond working with communities and organizations and law enforcement and others to help fund the program, he was often there for the kids himself. He met with the kids, told his story, and offered his contact information to the kids with the OK to call him whenever necessary, any hour of the day. 

 

 

   

Best wishes to the friends and families of Darrell Jackson! 

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