DOWNEY – Darrell Preston Jackson, a former Major League Baseball pitcher who transformed his own struggles with addiction into decades of service to young people through Downey’s 10-20 Club, died Sunday, July 5, after a battle with lung cancer. He was 70.

Jackson’s life took him from the baseball fields of South Los Angeles to Arizona State University, the pitcher’s mound with the Minnesota Twins and, ultimately, into the lives of thousands of young people and families seeking help through addiction, gang involvement, family crises and other challenges.

In Downey, where he became a familiar and deeply respected presence, Jackson was best known as the founder of the 10-20 Club, a nonprofit intervention organization serving at-risk youth ages 10 to 20. Founded in 1992, the organization grew from Jackson’s belief that young people and their parents needed somewhere to turn before problems escalated beyond repair.

The 10-20 Club provides mentoring, life skills, intervention services and mental wellness support, working closely with families and community partners. Jackson also worked as an independent contractor with the Downey Unified School District beginning in 1995, developing a personal, hands-on approach that often extended beyond ordinary business hours.

His work was informed by experience. Jackson spoke openly about his own alcoholism, drug use, depression and the difficult years that followed the loss of his baseball career. He eventually entered recovery and remained sober for nearly four decades. This October would have marked 40 years of sobriety.

Jackson was born April 3, 1956, in Los Angeles and grew up near Compton. He began playing baseball at age 12 and attended Locke High School, where his teammates included future Baseball Hall of Famers Eddie Murray and Ozzie Smith. All three were members of the class of 1973.

The Minnesota Twins first drafted Jackson out of high school, but he did not sign. At his father’s urging, he pursued a college education instead, accepting a baseball scholarship to Arizona State University.

Jackson spent four years at ASU and reached the College World Series three times. In 1977, he helped the Sun Devils win the national championship, pitching a three-hit shutout in the semifinals. The Twins drafted him again that year, this time in the ninth round.

His rise through professional baseball was extraordinarily fast.

In his first professional start for the double-A Orlando Twins in 1978, Jackson pitched nine innings of no-hit baseball. After only 10 minor league starts, the left-hander was promoted to Minnesota and made his Major League debut on June 16, 1978, at age 22.

Jackson won his first Major League start and, early in his rookie season, threw a three-hit shutout against the Oakland Athletics. His fast ascent generated considerable excitement, and Jackson later remembered newspapers describing him as a “phenom.”

He pitched all or parts of five seasons in the Major Leagues, all with Minnesota. Jackson appeared in 101 games, including 60 starts, compiling a 20-27 record with a 4.38 earned run average and 229 strikeouts over 411 innings.

Behind the accomplishments, however, Jackson was struggling.

He later acknowledged that excessive drinking had begun during his college years and continued into professional baseball. Cocaine use and an increasingly chaotic lifestyle followed. In a 2022 interview with the Downey Patriot, Jackson recalled that as a young Major Leaguer he had mistaken money, drugs, women and attention for success.

“A young kid with all that money, and that limelight, I didn’t handle it very well,” he said.

Jackson’s pitching arm was injured during an arrest following a night of drinking, an episode that became part of a larger downward spiral. He underwent an intervention involving former Dodgers star Don Newcombe, who had publicly confronted his own alcoholism, and entered treatment. But Jackson continued to struggle.

The Twins eventually released him in 1982. He later pitched in Mexico, and his playing career ended in 1983. The years that followed brought depression and continued substance abuse.

A chance encounter with former Major League pitcher Dock Ellis, who had entered recovery himself, helped steer Jackson back toward treatment. Jackson later recalled that recovery was not immediate; he relapsed but continued attending meetings until, in 1986, he reached what became his lasting sobriety.

“I embraced what was taught to me, and I haven’t had a drink since,” Jackson told the Patriot in 2022.

That transformation became the foundation of his life’s second act.

After getting sober, Jackson moved to Orange County and became involved in support groups, mentorship and volunteer work. He established a youth recreation program in Santa Ana called the 12-18 Club. Though Jackson later acknowledged that the first effort did not work as he envisioned, it helped shape what would eventually become his defining contribution to Downey.

Jackson later moved to Downey to be closer to family and began speaking to young people about drugs and prevention, including through Red Ribbon activities. He worked for treatment organizations and saw firsthand a gap that deeply troubled him: young people without adequate insurance or financial resources could be left without meaningful help.

At one point, Jackson worked with a treatment center administrator who made scholarship beds available for young people who could not afford care. Jackson said some youths received tens of thousands of dollars in drug and alcohol treatment at no cost.

That work evolved into the 10-20 Club.

Founded in 1992, the nonprofit was created to address what Jackson saw as a critical shortage of practical, accessible intervention services for young people and families in crisis. The organization’s name reflected the ages of the youths it served: 10 to 20.

Jackson partnered over the years with organizations and institutions including Downey Unified School District, Gangs Out of Downey, the Downey Family YMCA and the Downey Police Department. His philosophy emphasized early intervention, personal accountability and direct relationships rather than a distant or bureaucratic approach.

“We’re personal,” Jackson said in the 2022 Patriot interview. “If you have a problem, you pick up the phone and you can call me directly; you don’t speak to some surrogate.”

He was equally candid about the limits of intervention work and resisted taking personal credit for every success story.

“If I say I help kids, and I take credit for that, then I have to take credit for the ones that wound up going to prison and everything else, and I’m not willing to do that,” Jackson said. “We just do the best we can.”

That accessibility became one of Jackson’s defining traits. Community leaders remembered a man who took calls at all hours, responded when families were in crisis and repeatedly made himself available when a young person needed guidance.

Downey Mayor Claudia M. Frometa said Jackson’s influence would endure for generations.

“On behalf of the City of Downey, I extend my heartfelt condolences to Darrell’s family, friends, and the countless young people whose lives were forever changed by his guidance, as well as the entire 10/20 Club family. Our city is stronger because of Darrell’s vision, his generosity, and his unwavering commitment to helping others succeed.

“Darrell dedicated his life to serving others, and his greatest legacy was founding the 10/20 Club, the nonprofit intervention organization committed to guiding at-risk youth between the ages of 10 and 20 toward brighter futures. Through his unwavering compassion, mentorship, and belief in the potential of every young person, he touched the lives of hundreds of youth who may have otherwise fallen victim to crime, violence, or hopelessness. Instead, he gave them purpose, direction, and the confidence to believe in themselves.

“Darrell’s impact reached far beyond the baseball field. While his accomplishments as a Major League Baseball player were admirable, it was his lifelong commitment to our youth. Darrell understood that the greatest victories are not measured by championships, but by the lives we change and the hope we inspire.

“Darrell leaves behind a legacy that will continue to inspire generations to come. His life’s work serves as a powerful reminder that one person, driven by compassion and purpose, can transform an entire community. May he rest in peace.”

Councilman Hector Sosa remembered Jackson not only as a respected community figure but as a personal friend who could always be counted on.

“Our community has lost a truly remarkable person in Darrell Jackson. He was selfless, caring, and deeply committed to serving others, especially our youth and young adults,” Sosa said. “Whenever I asked for his help with Little League or mentoring young people, he never hesitated. Darrell had a unique gift for connecting with others and made a lasting impact on countless lives.

“To me and my family, he was not only an outstanding respected community leader but also a great friend. He will be deeply missed and always remembered as a class act, a solid man, and a truly special person.”

By the time the Patriot interviewed him in 2022, Jackson had retired from his day-to-day intervention role and was focused on spending time with his family. He spoke lovingly about being an older father and wanting to enjoy as much time as possible with his daughters.

The 10-20 Club’s biography says Jackson had been married to his wife, Veronica, since 1999 and was the father of two daughters, Yuko and Aiko.

Reflecting on how dramatically his definition of success had changed, Jackson told the Patriot that sobriety meant more to him than reaching the Major Leagues.

“My obituary will hopefully define that success, but today, as we talk right now, I’m a success,” Jackson said. “I have to live by principles in order to stay sober. We try to do the right thing when nobody is looking.

“My success is based on not picking up a drink and not getting drunk…I’m more successful now than when I was a pitcher in Minnesota.”

Darrell Jackson, former MLB pitcher who devoted his life to helping youth, dies at 70