One-time Yankee P Grant Jackson dies at age 78.

Grant Jackson, who spent 18 years as a lefty pitcher in the majors, has died at the age of 78.

Jackson pitched for the Phillies (1965-1970), Orioles (1971-1976), Yankees (1976), Pirates (1977-1981), Expos (1981), Royals (1982) and finished up back with the Pirates in 1982.

He was an All-Star as a starter for the Phillies in 1969 when he went 14-18, 3.34, ERA+ 107.

He was 4-3, 3.13 in 29 games (9 starts) for the 1971 AL Pennant winning Orioles, and was on the Orioles teams that won the AL East in 1973 and 1974, pitching in the postseason in all three seasons.

He was 8-0, 1.90 with 9 saves in 1973 (ERA+ 196) and 6-4, 2.57, 12 saves, ERA+ 135 in 1974.

In 1976, he was dealt to the Yankees in a massive 11-player trade in June. With Baltimore that year, Jackson was 1-1, 5.12 in 13 games. With the Yankees, he was 6-0, 1.69, ERA+ 206 in 21 games, two of them starts. He got into two games in the ALCS and gave up the three–run HR to George Brett that tied Game 5 of the ALCS that year in the game that Chris Chambliss won with his walk-off HR. Jackson also got into one WS game that year for the Yankees, who lost that WS to the Cincinnati Reds.

He was taken by Seattle in the expansion draft then traded to the Pirates. He won Game 7 of the 1979 WS for the Pirates—the last title Pittsburgh has won. He was 8-5, 2.96, with 14 saves, for that “We Are Family” Pirate team (ERA+ 132)

For his career, he was 86-75, 3.46, ERA+ 105 in 692 games, 83 of them starts. He had 79 saves. His 162 g. average was 8-7, 3.46 with 7 saves.

In 13 postseason games, he went 3-0 with a 2.55 ERA.

As a hitter, he hit .136 with 2 HR.

Game 47. Jeter passes Brett. Jones, Teix, Kuroda lead Yanks to 2-0 Win.

Derek Jeter passed George Brett on the all-time hits list, but it was a HR by Andruw Jones and a double by the now hot Mark Teixeira that led Hiroki Kuroda to a 2-0 win today.

It was the Yankees’ fifth consecutive win, and they swept the A’s this weekend. Now to Anaheim.

The Yanks blew a big chance in the first. Bases loaded, one out and nothing.

Jones hit HR #5 (425 career) leading off the second. 1-0. Nix then doubled, but the Yanks stranded him.

The Yanks got two on, one out in the third. Nothing.

Kuroda kept shutting down the weak-hitting A’s, holding on to the 1-0 lead.

Finally in the seventh, the Yanks tacked on another run. With two out, Granderson singled and the red-hot Teixeira doubled him home to make it 2-0.

Kuroda went 8, 0 R, 4 H, 1 walk, 3 K. He goes to 4-6, 3.96.

Soriano for the 9th. Save #5.  1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 walks, 2 K. ERA to 2.08.

As for Jeter, now at 3155, the next guy to catch is Cal Ripken, Jr. at 3184.

 

Game 47. Yankees look to sweep A’s.

Yankees 25-21, 3 1/2 back, 3rd in A.L. East.
Would get 2nd w.c. spot. (long way to go, obviously).
OPS+ 112, ERA+ 106. Even with Pythagorean record.

Jeter SS .342-5-18  3/4  129    See below 
Granderson CF .256-14-25  1/4  136
Teixeira 1B .248-8-28  1/2  101   Heating up.
Rodriguez 3B .280-7-19  6/6  115   Tied for team lead in SB
Cano 2B .302-7-20   1/1  130
Swisher RF  .248-8-29  0/0  111
Jones DH  .226-4-9  0/0  100   but 23 strikeouts in 62 AB
Nix LF .227-2-4  0/1  107   5 for 22
Stewart C  .250-0-5  0/0  48   9 for 36

RHP  Kuroda  3-6, 4.56  ERA+ 94

I’ve been listing Jeter as tied for 15th with George Brett at 3154 hits. Other places say tied for 14th. The discrepancy is on the number of hits Cap Anson had in his career. Anson played from 1871 to 1897. Recordkeeping, and rules (walks were counted as hits in 1887) lead some places to list different amounts for Anson. Baseball Reference.com, which I’ve been using, has Anson at 3435. Other places have him much lower, like at 3081. Hence the discrepancy.

A-Rod is still looking for grand slam #23 to tie Gehrig’s record. At present, he has 636 HR, 24 behind Mays.

Game 46. Teix wakes up. Yanks win 9-2.

Finally, Mark Teixeira seems to be over his respiratory ailment and seems to be waking up. Four hits, 2 HR and 5 RBI today.

Oakland got one off of the slow-starting CC in the first. The Yanks tied it up in the second on a HR by Cano (7).

Chavez doubled, went to second on a bunt and scored on a Jeter single to put the Yanks up 2-1 in the third. Hit #3153 for Jeter put him into 16th place on the all-time list passing Paul “Big Poison” Waner, but he wasn’t done.

A Hr by Josh Reddick tied it in the third at two apiece, but the Yanks went ahead 3-2 in the fourth on a HR by Teix (7, 321 career).

The Yanks broke it open in the fifth. Stewart singled, and Jeter beat out a bunt for a single. This bunt hit, hit #3154, put Jeter into a tie for 15th on the all-time list with George Brett. Granderson flied out, Stewart to third, then A-Rod made it 4-2 with a SF. Cano doubled, and Teixeira then singled in two to make it 6-2.

With the bases loaded in the 8th, Jeter got plunked. 7-2.

In the 9th, Teixeira got a 2-Run HR (8, 322). Finally, the Teix we have been waiting for. His HR made it 9-2.

Jeter had 2 hits, 2 rbi. Teix the 4 hits, 2 HR, 5 RBI. 3 hits for Cano. 2 hits apiece for Swish and Chavez.

CC 7 IP, 2 R, 7 H, 2 walks, 4 K. He goes to 6-2, 3.66.

Wade the eighth. 1-2-3 with 2 K. ERA to 2.08.

Eppley the 9th. 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 walk, 0 K. ERA 2.89.

A 9-2 win. Yanks now have won 4 in a row.

Game 45. Tonight’s lineup

A 10 p.m. Eastern start since the Yanks are in Oakland. I hate those West coast times (they mean staying up really late) but what can you do?

The Yanks signed John Maine to a minor league deal today. Maine didn’t pitch in the majors in 2011, nor has he this year. In 2010 the 31-yr. old RHP went 1-3, 6.13 in nine starts for the Mets. He is 41-36, 4.35 in his MLB career, ERA+ 98. His best year was 2007 for the Mets when he went 15-10, 3.91.

From Lohud’s blog:

Former Yankees outfielder Chad Curtis has been charged with five counts of criminal sexual conduct after accusations he inappropriately touched two students at a Michigan high school.

Now that’s odd. Curtis was a person who sort of ticked off some teammates because he was, as they put it, too pushy as far as his religion and beliefs. You may remember him for his two HR (one a walkoff) in Game 3 of the 1999 WS, and for catching the last out of that WS. Now to let the system find him guilty or not.

Yanks 23-21, 4th in A.L. East, 4 1/2 out. OPS+ 110, ERA+ 103. Even with their pythagorean record.

BA/HR/RBI  SB/attempts  OPS+

Jeter SS .348-5-16  3/4  134 Granderson CF .256-14-25  1/3  140 Rodriguez 3B .281-7-18  5/5  119 Cano 2B .297-5-18  1/1  122 Teixeira 1B  .226-5-21  1/2  79 Ibanez LF .263-9-27  2/2  130 Swisher RF  .236-7-27  0/0  102   really slumping lately Chavez DH .293-3-6  0/0  113 Martin C .173-4-10  1/1  74   needs to get off the “Interstate”

RHP  Nova   4-2, 5.69  ERA+ 74     Needs to do better

Jeter has 3152 career hits, tied with Paul “Big Poison” Waner and two behind George Brett on the all-time list.

A-Rod is 180 hits from 3000, and 89 RBI from 2000. The HR count is at 636, and he is 152 runs scored away from 2000.

Game 44. Alex and Andy lead Yanks, 8-3.

Andy Pettitte proved that last week was no fluke, as he pitched seven strong innings against the Royals tonight in the Yankees’ 8-3 victory.

The win was #242 of Pettitte’s career, and enabled him to surpass fellow Yankee lefty great Herb Pennock on the all-time list. It’s Pettitte’s 205th win as a Yankee.

After Andy put down the Royals 1-2-3 in the first, the Yanks struck vs. Will Smith of the Royals. Smith, making his MLB debut, may turn out to be the Prince of KC, but he wasn’t the Prince of the Bronx—at least tonight.

Granderson homered (#14) to give the Yanks a 1-0 lead. This after he showed bunt. After a walk to Teixeira, A-Rod, who had hit only one HR since April 27th, finally hit #635 (sixth of the year) to give Pettitte an early 3-0 lead.

In the fourth, Jeter doubled for the first of his three hits for the night. Granderson singled him to third but Teix GIDP. The run scored, no RBI, Yanks up 4-0. A-Rod then homered again. #7 of the year, #636 for his career and the Yanks went up 5-0.

Pettitte gave up solo HRs in the fourth and fifth to cut the Yanks’ lead to 5-2.

The Yanks got three runs on only one hit in the fifth to push it to 8-2. Nix HBP, Jeter got a bunt hit (YAY! Littleball!) and an E-5 put men on 2nd and 3rd, no out. Granderson walked to load the bases and a walk to Teixeira forced in a run. A-Rod grounded into a force at the plate. He is still one behind Lou Gehrig’s record of 23 grand slams. Cano hit into a force, run scored. Swish HBP. Jones walked, forcing in a run.

Pettitte wound up going 7+, 2 R, 7 H, 1 walk and 8 K. He improves to 2-1, ERA to 2.53 (from 2.51).

Jeter’s 3 hits tonight tie him with Paul Waner on the all-time list at 3152. 16th on the all-time list. Next up? George Brett at 3154.

Phelps went the last two innings. 1 R, 2 H, 0 walks, 2 K. ERA to 2.87.

Hopefully this starts A-Rod on a streak where he can carry a team.

The Yanks are off Thursday as they head to the West coast. Yuk. Late night games.

One bad thing about tonight? The continued struggles of Martin, who left seven on and is down to .173.