Talk:Danny Jackson

From Sports Library

1 Fan Commentary
- 1.1 Danny F. Jackson
- 1.2 The wrong free agent left-hander from Cincinnati
2 Danny “Boy, The Summer’s Gone, and All the Flowers are Dying” Jackson, A Limerick

Fan Commentary

Danny F. Jackson

There are a few shining examples of players who gave their last competitive breath for the everlasting Glory of Cubhood. Well, maybe not so much Glory, but they helped us during our occassional winning seasons. Gary Gaetti and Eric Karros come immediately to mind. Luis Salazar in 1984. Vance Law.

There is another list though, one that tells volumes about the past 40 years of Cubs ineptitude. The following, all former Cubs, reads like a MLB graveyard.

Steve Rogers. Kal Daniels. Mike Paul. Damon Buford. Hoyt Wilhelm. Willie Wilson. Dave Smith. Mel Rojas. LaTroy Hawkins. Goose Gossage. Lance Johnson. Jose Guzman. Candy Maldanado. Bobby Murcer. Jeff Blauser. Todd Hundley. Ken Reitz. Delino DeShields. Cliff Johnson. Phil Nevin. Michael Tucker. Mitch Webster. Jim Sundberg. Bobby Bonds. Marvell Wynne. Howard Johnson. Todd Zeile. Dan Plesac. Troy O'Leary. Rick Aguilera.

THERE...I'll stop there with gAguilera. That's enough abuse for one article, and no, this is NOT Bad Kermit's Bottom 126. What this particular list pertains to, and this is hardly comprehensive, is the list of corpses the Cubs have drug in, one after the other, cheap, feeble attempts to catch lightning in a bottle. Every last one of these players did very little to advance the Cause of Cubness, but, at least, none of these players went on to do anything else anywhere. Management brought them in. Wrigley Field is where their careers went to die. It wasn't their fault.

There are a few other players, like the recently lamented Nomar Garciaparra, who did come, did bupkus for us, and have gone on elsewhere to be successful. In Nomar's case, he came here the old-fashioned way. He was traded for as-is, damaged goods, and was never really right with us. He at least paid "lip-service" to wanting to come back in 2006, but management felt otherwise. So, of course, happy in LA, he led the league in hitting for awhile.

After all that, we come to Danny F. Jackson. The Official Least Favorite Ballplayer by the Sloth. Wait, you say, it says his middle name is "Lynn". Heck, my mom's name is Lynn. His name is Danny Fucking Jackson. He held up Jim Frey for millions after winning 23 games in 1988 and a World Series ring with the Reds in 1990. He came here and did NOTHING, he went 1-5 his first year, he was incessantly "injured", and after winning a whopping 5 games as a Cub for the $5.2MM he earned, he was traded for Steve Buchele. A year later, he was winning a Pennant with the Phillies, winning 12 & 14 games in his two years there, whereupon he finished his original Cubs contract and held the Cardinals up for TWICE the money.

Whereupon he only went 2-12 his first year in St. Looie. It is obvious that he poured it on in contract years, and he did not know how to respond once he recieved the big paydays. He was obviously a mental midget, a lightweight jaker would busted his ass chasing money, and let up once he got his.

I just remember him being so smug and matter-of-fact about it. Unlike fellow Texan Kerry Wood, there was never any remorse, never any longing about wanting to "make things right".

NOTE: There was a discussion amongst the Board of Directors for sports-library.com about the use of profanity in entries. It was agreed that this would be a useful tool for ALL sports fans old enough and savvy enough to utilize the web. This would allow for some mild profanity, but extreme profanity such as the use of the word "fuck" would be prohibited. I was able to obtain a waiver in the Case of Danny F. Jackson. It was a deal-breaker for me.

The wrong free agent left-hander from Cincinnati

By Tjbrown (Chicago Cubs) The thing that pissed me off the most about the signing of D.L. Jackson was that another left-hander, from the same World Series champion team was also available. Tom Browning was reported to be on the Cubs' shortlist, but he re-signed with the Reds on Nov. 21, 1990, the same Danny Jackson decided to steal Tribune Company dollars.

Jackson was notorious for being constantly injured. Browning always was good for 200-plus innings. Jackson went 6-6 for the Reds in 1990; Browning won 15 games. It seemed like a no-brainers.

I was at D.L. Jackson's Cub debut on Opening Day 1991. Miserable, miserable day. Two days before, I was at a Cubs exhibition game against the Brewers at Wrigley Field. It was 80 degrees and sunny that day. Summer was so close, and the way the Cubs looked, summer couldn't be here soon enough. Reality struck within hours of that exhibition game, during which former closer Mitch Williams was sent to Philadelphia for Chuck McElroy and Bob Scanlan. But I digress. A storm and cold front moved in, and brought back a winter-revival, Chicago-style. The home opener saw temperatures of 40 or so, with rain and sleet intermittent. The Cubs couldn't hit the great Bryn Smith, getting a homer from Shawon Dunston and just three more hits. Gary Scott, who had hit everything during the preseason, including the exhibition game two days before, was hitless, and didn't do anything.

Worse yet, I had to endure Danny Jackson's Cub debut. Retrosheet reports that he walked six, but it seemed like he walked 15. He was behind every batter. He would make 32 more starts for the Cubs, and win five of those. Worse yet, the Cubs were tied going into the eighth, but that's where Jackson's lack of control finally caught up to him.

Jim Frey could have gotten away with signing George Bell and Dave Smith that offseason, but Danny Jackson effectively got him fired. Jackson helped get Don Zimmer fired too. Only fitting that the great Jim Essian demoted Jackson to the bullpen in September of that year.