On September 9, 2003, Edwin Jackson made his big-league debut for the Dodgers on his 20th birthday, pitching six innings and allowing just one run to outduel Randy Johnson of the Diamondbacks in a 4-1 win.
On September 9, 2022, 19 years and 13 teams later, Jackson celebrated his 39th birthday by announcing his retirement from baseball in an Instagram post.
Jackson pitched three seasons with the Dodgers before moving on to Tampa Bay. And then Detroit. And Arizona, Chicago, St. Louis, Washington, other Chicago, Atlanta, Miami, San Diego, Baltimore, back to Washington, Oakland, Toronto, and finally back to Detroit. Jackson last pitched in the big leagues in 2019 with Detroit; he signed with the Diamondbacks again in early 2020 but was released during the pandemic. He most recently played with the High Point Rockers in the independent Atlantic League in 2021.
Jackson finishes his career with a 107-133 record and a 4.78 ERA, and his 14 big-league teams are a major-league record. He threw a no-hitter for the DBacks in 2010, walking eight and striking out six in the 149-pitch no-no. It was one of just five complete games in his career.
Jackson earned about $80 million in his 17-year career, not bad for a guy with a grand total of 8.2 career Wins Above Replacement. For a long while, he was the replacement player, the guy teams called on when they were out of starting pitchers and needed a believable big-leaguer to make a couple starts. He appeared in fewer than 20 games for seven of his 14 big-league teams.
Congratulations to Jackson on a long career and retiring mostly on his own terms.
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