Jackson’s been around the league
Toronto is the 14th major league stop for veteran pitcher
It takes more than a mid-90s fastball and hard-breaking slider to accomplish what Edwin Jackson is about to do with the Blue Jays.
The 35-year-old right-hander is expected to start for the Jays in San Francisco on Wednesday night, when they face ex-Jay Kevin Pillar and the Giants.
With his first pitch, Jackson will set a major league record by playing for his 14th big league team. Jackson, who was born in Germany, and retired reliever Octavio Dotel, a former Jay, are the only major-leaguers with 13 teams on their resumes.
The new Jay has pitched almost 1,900 innings, tossed a nohitter and won a World Series ring, and his longevity can be attributed in part to a reputation for respecting the game and his teammates at each stop along the way.
Jackson was also a Blue Jay in 2011 — for a few minutes, anyway — when then-GM Alex Anthopoulos completed a threeway trade at the July deadline. The White Sox sent Jackson to Toronto along with infielder Mark Teahen for pitchers Jason Frasor and Zach Stewart. Anthopoulos then flipped Jackson to the Cardinals in a seven-player deal that brought Colby Rasmus to the Jays.
Jackson would go on to win a World Series with St. Louis, one of the crowning achievements in a career that has seen him ring up 1,456 strikeouts, throw a no-no with Arizona in 2010 and become part of enough baseball moments to make a movie.
Jackson was pitching in Oakland’s system when the Jays acquired him for cash considerations on Saturday. It seemed like a Band-Aid solution for a Jays team that just added Clay Buchholz (shoulder) to a long list of injured starters, joining Ryan Borucki (elbow), Matt Shoemaker (knee) and Clayton Richard (knee).
They aren’t expecting miracles out of Jackson, but there is something to be said for experience on the mound and having a classy veteran in the clubhouse, especially on a young team struggling to find an identity.
Here are some of the highlights of Jackson’s career:
On Sept. 9, 2003, Jackson made his major league debut with the Dodgers on his 20th birthday, beating Cy Young winner Randy Johnson. The Dodgers originally drafted him as an outfielder, and traded him to Tampa in 2006 after he continued to struggle with control.
He won 15 games with the Rays in 2008, tying the club record at the time. He allowed one run over 71⁄
3 innings against the Jays in his Tigers debut in 2009, a 5-4 loss. Jackson went on to represent Detroit in the all-star game. At the end of July, opponents were batting just .216 against him, a league low at the time.
On June 25, 2010, Jackson nohit the Rays — just the second no-no in D-backs history. He threw 149 pitches — walking eight and hitting a batter.
He traded to the White Sox on July 30, 2010, becoming the first pitcher since1951to be traded in the same season he threw a nohitter.
Jackson threw 172⁄ 3 innings in the post-season as the Cardinals won the 2011 World Series.
In January 2013 he signed a four year, $52-million U.S. deal with the Cubs, then struggled — 8-18 that season, 6-14 in 2014 — and was designated for assignment in July 2015.
Jackson signed a minorleague deal with the A’s — his record-tying 13th team – last summer and was called up on June 25. He earned his 100th career win on July 30, 10-1 over the Jays.