Despite having the second-best Earned Run Average among starters in the American League, some wondered whether former Shaw High standout Edwin Jackson would be selected to the All-Star team.
While his 2.59 ERA was certainly All-Star worthy, his win-loss record was not. Jackson, who pitches for the Detroit Tigers, is only 6-4, mainly because the Tigers don’t score much when he pitches.
But his fellow players looked past his win-loss record and voted him onto the team, which was announced Sunday. This is Jackson’s first All-Star berth. Being voted to the team by his peers meant a lot, he told the Associated Press.
“The record, wins and losses: Sometimes you can’t control those things,” Jackson told the Associated Press. “They understand how the game is.”
The Major League Baseball All-Star game will be played July 14, in St. Louis.
Jackson is in his first season with the Tigers, after coming over in a trade with the Tampa Bay Rays during the offseason.
The Rays, who lost in the World Series last season, felt Jackson was expendable despite the fact that he led them in wins during the regular season with 14.
Jackson, who helped Shaw win the 2001 state baseball championship, was drafted that summer by the Los Angeles Dodgers. He made his Major League debut on his 20th birthday, Sept. 9, 2003, against the Arizona Diamondbacks. He beat Randy Johnson in that game.
Jackson was traded to the Rays in 2006.
Jackson is the second player from the Bi-City area to play in the All-Star game this decade. Tim Hudson made the AL team in 2000 and 2004 as a member of the Oakland A’s. Hudson, who played locally for Glenwood, CVCC and Auburn, is a member of the Atlanta Braves.
Jackson will head to the game with teammates Justin Verlander (pitcher) and Curtis Granderson (outfielder).
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