Sonny Jackson

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Roland Thomas "Sonny" Jackson (born July 9, 1944 in Washington, DC) was a shortstop and outfielder for the Houston Colt .45's/Houston Astros (1963-67) and Atlanta Braves (1968-74).

Jackson led the National League in singles (160) and sacrifice hits (27) in 1966. He helped the Braves win the NL Western Division in 1969.

In 12 seasons he played in 936 games and had 3,055 at bats, 396 runs, 767 hits, 81 doubles, 28 triples, 7 home runs, 162 RBI, 126 stolen bases, 250 walks, .251 batting average, .308 on-base percentage, .303 slugging percentage, 925 total bases, 57 sacrifice hits, 17 sacrifice flies and 11 intentional walks.

Jackson's best year at the plate came in his "rookie" season of 1966. Although he had played in the "Big Leagues" for parts of seasons before, Jackson qualified as a "rookie" in 1966. He had a .292 batting average and three home runs in 596 trips to the plate. The same year he stole 49 bases. This was a record for a rookie.

After his playing days, Jackson continued to be active in baseball. He was a coach and manager for several minor league teams in the Atlanta Braves and San Francisco Giants organization and a coach with the Giants major league team.