Longtime big league right-hander Edwin Jackson announced his retirement Friday, which also happened to be his 39th birthday and the 19th anniversary of his MLB debut. Jackson pitched for a record 14 different Major League teams in a career that spanned parts of 17 seasons.
Jackson made the retirement announcement on Instagram:
Jackson was a sixth-round pick in the 2001 draft and he quickly developed into one of the game's best pitching prospects with the Dodgers. His MLB debut was memorable -- Jackson threw six innings of one-run ball in Arizona and beat Hall of Famer Randy Johnson.
"That's a bonus," Jackson said after beating the Big Unit in his big league debut. "I wasn't expected to win, you know. I went out and I pitched hard and I gave it all I have, and I won, so that's definitely a bonus. This is one of the best birthdays that I'll probably ever have."
A 107-game winner with a career 4.78 ERA and over 1,500 strikeouts, Jackson was an All-Star with the Tigers in 2009 and he won a World Series ring with the Cardinals in 2011. He also threw a 149-pitch, eight-walk no-hitter against the Rays on June 25, 2010 while with the Diamondbacks. No pitcher has thrown as many pitches in a game since.
Jackson pitched for at least two teams in every division except the AL West. During his career he suited up for the Dodgers (2003-05), Rays (2006-08), Tigers (2009 and 2019), D-Backs (2010), White Sox (2010-11), Cardinals (2011), Nationals (2012 and 2017), Cubs (2013-15), Braves (2015), Marlins (2016), Padres (2016), Orioles (2017), Athletics (2018), and Blue Jays (2019). Jackson also pitched briefly in an independent league in 2021, and was on USA's silver medal-winning team at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Reliever Octavio Dotel previously held the record by playing for 13 different teams in his MLB career. Jackson broke Dotel's record when he joined Toronto in 2019.