Grant Jackson made his mark in the majors as a reliever, but his work as a starter, including gems against the Cardinals, made him an all-star.
A left-hander, Jackson pitched 18 seasons in the majors.
For his career, Jackson was 62-33 as a reliever and had 79 saves. In Game 7 of the 1979 World Series, he pitched 2.2 innings of scoreless relief versus the Orioles and was the winning pitcher for the champion Pirates. Boxscore
When he first got to the majors with the Phillies, Jackson wanted to be a starter. In 1969, while in the Phillies’ rotation, he beat the Cardinals twice, impressing their manager, Red Schoendienst. When it came time to pick pitchers for the National League all-star team, its manager, Schoendienst, chose Jackson as one of the nine.
Getting initiated
Jackson was about to turn 23 when he got to the big leagues with the Phillies in September 1965. It was a rough introduction.
In his debut, a relief stint against the Reds, Jackson gave up a three-run home run to Frank Robinson. Boxscore
In his next appearance, a relief stint against the Cardinals, Jackson gave up a three-run home run to Lou Brock. Boxscore
Two appearances, two home runs allowed, both to future Hall of Famers. Welcome to the big leagues, Mr. Jackson.
Speed it up
After spending most of the 1966 season in the minors, Jackson stuck with the Phillies and pitched effectively in relief. In 1968, Jackson had a 1.97 ERA in 27 relief appearances.
The Phillies left him unprotected in the expansion draft for 1969, but he wasn’t selected. “Jackson was disappointed by that,” The Sporting News reported. “He made no secret of his desire to get away from the Phillies. He wanted a chance to pitch regularly as a starter.”
Jackson got his chance to start in 1969 as a replacement for Chris Short, who developed back trouble. Jackson found his stride when he picked up his pace between pitches. “Before, he was too deliberate,” pitching coach Al Widmar told The Sporting News. “He was trying to make every pitch a masterpiece.”
In command
On April 25, 1969, Jackson was matched against Bob Gibson in a start against the Cardinals at Philadelphia. Jackson pitched a complete game, held the Cardinals to one unearned run and got the win. The game was completed in one hour, 48 minutes. Boxscore
Jackson limited the two-time defending league champions to seven singles and a walk. Dal Maxvill, who went hitless, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, “I don’t think he should beat us quite that easily.”
Ahead 1-0, the Phillies broke open the game with four runs in the sixth against Gibson. Jackson started the uprising with a bunt single.
After he took the first pitch from Gibson, Jackson looked to third-base coach George Myatt and “he gave me the sign for a drag bunt,” Jackson told the Philadelphia Daily News.
Jackson, the Phillies’ fastest runner, bunted the ball to the right side and legged out a single “despite Gibson’s catlike pickup and throw,” the Philadelphia Daily News reported.
Stunned but impressed, Phillies manager Bob Skinner remarked, “He says Myatt gave him the sign? We don’t have any play like that for our pitchers.”
Nine days later, on May 4, 1969, Jackson started versus the Cardinals again at St. Louis. Matched against Dave Giusti, Jackson pitched his first shutout in the majors. Boxscore
Costly mistake
The next time Jackson faced the Cardinals was July 10, 1969, at Philadelphia. The game turned in the fourth inning. Ahead 2-1, the Cardinals had runners on second and third, two outs, and Julian Javier at the plate.
Javier pounded left-handers. He hit .319 against them in 1969. With first base open and light-hitting Steve Huntz on deck, Skinner went to the mound and told Jackson to pitch around Javier instead of issuing an intentional walk.
Javier worked the count to 1-and-1 before he pulled a pitch hard on the ground along the third-base line and into left field for a two-run double.
“That was my mistake,” Skinner, a former teammate of Javier with the 1964-66 Cardinals, told the Post-Dispatch. “I knew how well he hit left-handers.” Boxscore
Ups and downs
Five days later, on July 15, 1969, Schoendienst named Jackson to the all-star team. The other left-handers selected to the staff were the Cardinals’ Steve Carlton and the Mets’ Jerry Koosman.
That night, Jackson started against the Cardinals and took the loss. In the fifth, after he got thrown out by Curt Flood while running from first to third, Jackson was routed, giving up four runs in the bottom half of the inning. Boxscore
In September, Jackson lost to the Cardinals for the third consecutive time, dropping his record for the season to 12-15. Boxscore
Grand finale
On Oct. 2, 1969, the Cardinals closed out their season with a game against the Phillies at St. Louis. The matchup was Gibson, seeking his 20th win, versus Jackson. It was quite a duel.
As the game entered the 12th with the score tied at 2-2, both starters still were pitching.
In the bottom half of the inning, Mike Shannon drew a leadoff walk. After failing twice to advance Shannon to second with a sacrifice bunt, Vic Davalillo tapped a grounder to the right of the mound. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, Jackson could have had a forceout at second but played it safe and threw to first, retiring Davalillo.
After Jerry DaVanon was walked intentionally, Gibson hit the first pitch from Jackson to Rick Joseph at third. Joseph stepped on the bag for a forceout of Shannon and had an “easy chance” to get Gibson at first to complete a double play, but his throw pulled Richie Allen off the base, the Philadelphia Daily News reported.
With DaVanon at second and Gibson at first, Lou Brock batted and coaxed a walk on a 3-and-2 pitch.
The next batter, Curt Flood, fouled off the first pitch, then watched four in a row go out of the strike zone. The walk, which drove in DaVanon from third with the game-winning run, was the last plate appearance for Flood as a Cardinal. Five days later, he was traded to the Phillies. Boxscore
The win gave Gibson 20 in a season for the fourth time. The only other Cardinals pitcher to do that was Dizzy Dean.
Jackson finished the season at 14-18 with a 3.34 ERA. He had four shutouts and 13 complete games.
Jackson went on to make 692 appearances, 83 as a starter, with the Phillies (1965-70), Orioles (1971-76), Yankees (1976), Pirates (1977-81 and 1982), Expos (1981) and Royals (1982).
He was 7-11 with six saves and a 3.85 ERA in 66 appearances, including 11 starts, versus the Cardinals. Jackson pitched more innings (149.2) against the Cardinals than he did versus any other opponent.
RetroSimba 
While leaving the Phillies during the late 60’s was a good thing, going to the Orioles was a two-edged sword. Yeah, George Bamberger was the pitching coach, but the Orioles had starting pitching coming out of their ears in those days.
All in all, Jackson had a pretty good career. He would have looked mighty fine as a starter for the Cardinals, I bet.
Good points. Thanks. A side note: The player the Phillies got from the Orioles for Grant Jackson was Roger Freed. Years later, Freed finished his big-league career with the Cardinals (1977-79) and had a season to remember in 1977, hitting .398 in 83 at-bats.
Kent Tekulve thought the world of Grant Jackson. Looking back at the Pirates magical season in 1979, Tekulve said that setup guys generally don’t earn 14 saves like Jackson. With the bat, Grant Jackson was also a switch hitter.
Good stuff. Thanks. That 1979 Pirates bullpen had an amazingly durable trio with Kent Tekulve (94 appearances), Enrique Romo (84 appearances) and Grant Jackson (72 appearances).