June 12, 2024

By Melissa Verge

Canadian Baseball Network

Jay Jackson was the same as his teammates growing up in Greenville, South Carolina.

A baseball lover with a big league dream.

But as one of a small number of African Americans to play the game, his journey was different. Throughout his childhood and professional career on the baseball diamond, he’s dealt with injustices his teammates didn’t have to face.

From missed opportunities, to hateful messages ridden with slurs. The path to the top, and even at the top, for the former Blue Jays pitcher who is now in the Minnesota Twins organization, has never been easy.

“As African American ball players we probably get the N-word on a bad day probably more than you would think we should,” Jackson said.

One of those targeted messages came back in May for the pitcher who is currently playing for the Twins’ triple-A farm team St. Paul Saints, where the sender used the N-word. Jackson shared the message on Twitter, to show athletes are humans, he said, and there are lines that shouldn’t be crossed. That incident was dealt with by the Twins security team.

“There should be a respect for athletes and our craft to a certain degree, just like we try to respect everybody as fans as well,” he said.

Jackson had much success in Toronto, posting a 2.12 ERA in 25 games last season, but has struggled in 2024, posting a 6.85 ERA for the Twins, before being designated for assignment.

He was one of an increasingly small number African American players in MLB last year, representing one of just 6.2% of players on MLB opening rosters in 2023, according to a study done by The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at Central Florida.

“You don't have a lot of African American ball players, [and] for some reason I feel like the first thing people tend to draw towards when they want to say insults to a ball player is to mention their heritage,” he said.

The incidents began early, when Jackson was a 10-year-old, his dad, Randy Jackson said. There was an all-star team Jackson wasn’t selected for, although he was one of the best players in the league, he said.

“The excuse was, ‘okay, he can play next year,’” he said. “That year, that’s when it all started.”

That pushed him to get involved in baseball as Jackson’s coach, so he could help ensure his son was treated fairly throughout his early playing years.

Jackson persevered and created his own opportunities, getting drafted in the ninth round of the draft by the Chicago Cubs, and going on to play for the San Diego Padres, Milwaukee Brewers, San Francisco Giants, Atlanta Braves, Minnesota Twins and Toronto Blue Jays.

But the racist incidents followed the ball player throughout his career. A similar incident to this year happened in 2021 when Jackson was with the Giants. He received a DM where the N-word was used, and comments were made about his family, he said.

With betting becoming more rampant, he thinks fans are turning to social media to express their anger at players when their bet isn’t successful, which goes too far.

“We kind of know what we get into when we play professional sports, but like I said, it’s just the line that shouldn’t be crossed,” he said.

Instead of dimming his light, the hate has created a positive.

He’s hosting a baseball camp in July that he hopes will help bring together young African American ball players, and help out players that might’ve not otherwise been able to afford the cost of participating. Each year, 15 to 20 kids come to the camp for free, he said.

“The hope is to see these kids grow in the game and influence others to join,” he said.

He’s also working on a book with his dad on perseverance, that talks about some of the struggles he’s faced throughout his career, which is scheduled to be published sometime in October.

“I’m hoping that it will impact others and help anyone that reads it to be more positive, be happy and strive for their goals honestly,” he said.