Day Eight: Mike Jackson

Day seven had us talking about Jose Mesa and bad relief pitching. Now let's talk about great relief pitching. In fact, I would say that Mike Jackson was the first great reliever the Mariners ever had. And you know what they did? You will never guess what the Mariners did. They traded Mike Jackson away for a player much worse. I wanted to follow Jose Mesa with the only other former/future Mariner that also pitched in the infamous game seven of the 1997 World Series. And Mike Jackson is that guy! But first let's talk about Mike Jackson as a Mariner.

From 1988 to 1991, Mike Jackson was the 65 appearance a year guy for the Mariners. He was remarkably steady as a 7/8 innning guy with powerful stuff and great mound presence. He was the kind of guy you could just see shutting things down in the ninth eventually. Thinking about him now, I would say he reminds me a lot of a righthanded Mike Stanton (pretty good I would say!). He was a huge component of the 1991 squad that finished above .500 for the first time in team history. This alone enshrines Mike Jackson in the Mariners Hall of my Mind. I never put it together as a kid that his name was actually Michael Jackson (and that is what you have to search for him as on Baseball Reference). I thought Mike Jackson was a completely different name than Michael Jackson and never once thought of the King of Pop in relation to the Mariners reliever. But then the Browns had a wide receiver who went by his full first name and was called Michael Jackson. That dude had the same name as the pop singer! I was a simple-minded child and probably continue to be as an adult.

In 1992 Bill Swift and Mike Jackson (and Dave Burba) were dealt to the Giants for former NL MVP Kevin Mitchell. I love Kevin Mitchell and am forever grateful that I got to watch him play (very fucking poorly) in a Mariners uniform, but man! That is a terrible trade. Swift would win 20 games in 93 and become an all-star and Mike Jackson was a top-notch set-up man that same year (a very very good year for the Giants) who appeared in literally half of the Giants games. Kevin Mitchell wasn't even a Mariner by 1993. What a trade. Jackson went on after that to close games for Cleveland during the 97 campaign (splitting time with Jose Mesa!) and then again in 98 and 99. He had an outstanding career when it was all aid and done, playing in the majors from 1986 to 2004. I would have loved to see what he could have done in the mid-90s with some of those fabled Mariners line-ups. Or better yet! as the closer for the 1999 Mariners when Jose Mesa threw meatballs right down the middle of the plate! Thanks for some early memories of what a middle-reliever can be, Mike Jack!