Yankees – Reggie Jackson – Mr. October

Yankees – Reggie Jackson – Mr. October

[paypal_donation_button]Yankees – Reggie Jackson – Mr. October

There is a temptation to think about the immortals of baseball, and compare everyone to them. They are the players larger than the game itself: the ones to whom you cannot seriously compare anyone. They are Babe Ruth and Ted Williams, to say nothing of Jackie Robinson, whose legacy literally does transcend the sport.

Reggie Jackson was no immortal. He was a man who flew too close to the sun, and who came back. He was like a character pulled from a legend. His father, Martinez, was once arrested for bootlegging whiskey. More auspiciously, he also played second base in the Negro Leagues, and Reggie Jackson grew up loving the game of baseball.

Where does Reggie Jackson ‘rank’ in the Yankees Pantheon? It almost doesn’t matter. He gave us indelible moments, and he wore those crazy glasses. Reggie, in fact, is one of only two Hall-of-Famers to wear glasses. The other, Chick Hafey, retired from baseball in 1937.

He hit 563 homeruns, some of which were true monsters.

None of that is to excuse the strikeouts. He struck out more times (2597 times) than anyone else in Major League history, which only made him more human.

If he’d never played in New York, Reggie likely would’ve been a Hall-of-Famer anyway, but it’s what he did in New York that guarantees we’ll keep talking about him. He won three World Series with the mercurial Oakland A’s of the early 1970s, before detouring through Baltimore, on his way to New York, New York. By the time he arrived in New York, he’d blasted 281 homeruns, won an MVP and a World Series MVP, accumulated close to 1500 hits, and stolen nearly 200 bases (an underrated aspect of his game).

He blazed into the Big Apple fresh off the signing of a 5-year contract, worth nearly $3 million. He blazed into the Big Apple a born hero, but for a bleak moment, it looked like the marriage might not survive the honeymoon. Reggie alienated teammates and fans alike by allegedly disparaging Yankees captain Thurman Munson to the media. He insisted his quotes were taken out of context, but the damage was done.

What cannot be denied is his contentious relationship with Billy Martin, with whom he famously fought on national television. In his early days as a Yankee, Jackson struggled with discipline behind the plate and in the field. After coming up short on a lame attempt to field a fly ball at Fenway Park, the Yankee’s manager had had enough and yanked his right-fielder from the game. Words were exchanged, Martin had to be restrained, and Boston Red Sox fans went wild with glee as a national audience watched, stunned, as the Yankees seemed ready to implode.

Martin was reconciled to Jackson by Yankee’s management, and Reggie began to produce. The Yankees held off all challengers in a tight divisional race, with Reggie delivering a walk-off shot in mid-September against the Red Sox that gave the Yanks the breathing room they needed.

When asked about the Yankee’s playoff prospected, Thurman Munson told a reporter to talk to ‘Mr. October’ rather than himself, and indeed Reggie Jackson looked primed for another sparkling postseason run.

In the 1977 playoffs, though, Reggie Jackson struggled. He reached a low point by Game 2 of the World Series, going 0-4 that day and grounding into a double play. His slash for the postseason to that point stood at .136 / .269 / .136. His OPS, if you’re scoring at home, was a woeful .405.

The series stood at 1-1 and the Yankees were going on the road.

Mr. October, indeed.

Before the nickname could curdle, Reggie responded.

He went 1-3 with a walk in Game 3, scoring two runs and driving in another, as the Yankees edged the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-3. Jackson was even better in Game 4, going went 2-4 with a double and a homerun, scoring two of the Yankees four runs in a 4-2 victory.

By the time Game 5 rolled around, Jackson was red-hot and rolling, going 2-4 with another homerun in his final at-bat of the night. The Yankees were flat, however, and the Dodger’s rolled them up 10-4 to keep the series going.

Before Game 6, Reggie Jackson met with one of the immortals: Joe DiMaggio, who was scheduled to throw the first pitch that night. DiMaggio expressed his admiration for the younger man, and Jackson did not disappoint Joltin’ Joe that night.

Reggie went up to the batter’s box four times, seeing a total of seven pitches.

With the Yankees trailing 2-0 in the bottom of the 2nd, Jackson walked on four pitches, scoring when Chris Chambliss homered.

Challenged by a first-pitch fastball in the 4th, Jackson took Dodger’s stalwart Burt Hooton deep. With Munson at first, the Yankees had their first lead of the game at 4-3.

Next inning, facing a new pitcher, Jackson came up again. Once again, the Dodgers challenged him with an inside fastball on the first pitch and, once again, Jackson put it into the stands.

The game was all but over at this point, with the Yankees leading 7-3. In the 8th, Jackson would face Charlie Hough, a knuckleballer, who had been enjoying a strong season. No matter. Jackson was dialed in. Some people claim Jackson hit that last ball 500 feet. Others say it was only 450 feet. I wasn’t there. I don’t know and, at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter.

Broadcaster Howard Cosell lost his mind, and summed it up pretty nicely: ‘What??!! Ooohh, what a blow! What a way to top it off! Forget about who the most valuable player is in the World Series! How this man has responded to pressure! Oh! What a beam on his face! And how can you blame him? He’s answered the whole world!’

Mr. October, indeed.

Jackson would finish the postseason with an eye-popping slash of .306 / .405 / .750 with an OPS of 1.155. The turnaround from four games earlier could not be starker if it was written in lights.

The Yankees would repeat the magic the next year, although Billy Martin’s tenure with the Yankees would come to an end before they did, doomed by tensions both in the clubhouse and with ownership.

Reggie Jackson himself stayed with the Yankees until 1981, when his contract ran out. He played until 1987, retiring with the Oakland A’s, the team he can come up with. He made it into the Hall-of-Fame on his first ballot.

Those 563 homeruns he hit? At the time he retired, only five players had hit more.

Reggie Jackson ran, he hit, and he fought. He did them all well, and if sometimes he swung a little too freely, that’s what not only made him human: it’s what made him Mr. October.