Al Jackson
From The Met Wiki
Al Jackson was a lefthanded pitcher for the Mets from 1962 to 1965 and the 1968 and 1969 seasons. He pitched in 184 games and had 561 strikeouts with an earned run average of 4.26 as a Met. Jackson's 43 wins was the most among all Mets' pitchers until Tom Seaver surpassed his total.
Jackson came to the Mets from the Pittsburgh Pirates in the expasion draft. In the team's inaugural '62 season, Al led the Mets with 118 strikeouts (tied with Roger Craig) and 4 shutouts while posting a team best 4.40 ERA. Jackson won 8 games for the season, the first of which was the Mets' first shutout for an 8-0 victory over the Phillies at the Polo Grounds on April 29. Al pitched a one-hit shutout over the Houston Colt .45s for a 2-0 Mets win on June 22 at the Polo Grounds. Both of these games were doubleheader openers.
In 1963, Jackson led all Met pitchers with 13 wins 142 strikeouts. He also had the team-high of 34 games started, 11 of which were complete games. Al recorded complete game victories over the Reds four days apart on September 2 and September 6. He also pitched all nine innings of the Mets' 10-3 win at Houston on September 27.
Al recorded 11 wins to lead the Mets in 1964. He pitched a six-hit shutout over the Pirates on April 19 for the Mets' first win ever at Shea Stadium. Jackson recorded a two-hit shutout in a 3-0 Mets victory at Cincinnati of May 2. Al's seven-hit victory over the Cardinals on July 9 and win over the Pirates on August 18 were among his 11 complete games for the season. On October 2, he pitched a 1-0 shutout over the Cardinals at St. Louis in a key game for the Redbirds in their run for the pennant.
Jackson struck out a team-leading 120 batters in 1965. He also won 8 games, 3 of which were shutouts. Al pitched a complete game and scored the final run in a 5-3 Mets win over the Reds at Shea Stadium on May 14. On June 21, he pitched a three-hitter at Los Angeles that was won by the Mets on Billy Cowan's home run in the ninth inning. Al also had a two-hit shutout at Pittsburgh on July 21. At the Houston Astrodome on August 15, Jackson hurled a shutout in a 3-0 Mets win over the Astros.
On October 20, 1965, Jackson was traded with Charley Smith to the Cardinals for Ken Boyer. He pitched the 1966 season in St. Louis and returned to the Mets in 1967 in a deal for pitcher Jack Lamabe. After spending some time in the minor leagues, Al appeared in 34 games for the Mets over the '68 and '69 seasons, winning 3 and striking out 69 batters. Jackson finished his career with Cincinnati Reds in '69.
