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Al Jackson, Pitching Star of Woeful 1960s Mets, Is Dead at 83

Herb Scharfman/Sports Imagery, via Getty Images

Al Jackson, the slender left-hander whose pitching provided a semblance of hope for the historically woeful Mets of the early 1960s, died on Monday in Port St. Lucie, Fla. He was 83.

His death was announced by the Mets, who did not specify the cause. Jackson had a stroke in 2015.

The 1962 Mets, an expansion team in its first season, won 40 games and lost a record 120, but Little Al Jackson, as he was known — he was 5 feet 10 and weighed about 165 pounds — was a bright spot.