Reggie Jackson was the King Midas of baseball. Everything he touched turned to gold.
The Kansas City A’s had a 62-99 record in 1967, Jackson’s rookie season. But Jackson only played in 35 games. When he became a starter, the A’s won three World Series championships, never had a losing season, and enjoyed the “dynasty” label. In 1973, Jackson won the Most Valuable Player Award, an honor duplicated in 1977, during his Yankee tenure.
Jackson left the A’s after the 1975 season, spent a year with the Orioles, then played for the Yankees in a five-year run that resulted in two World Series championships. In the 1977 World Series, Jackson hit three home runs in one game. Celebrations in the South Bronx could be heard from Manhattan to Montauk.
When his sting in the South Bronx ended, Jackson landed in Anaheim, where he bid farewell to baseball after the 1987 season. Jackson reached a milestone in an Angels uniform, smacking his 500th home run on September 17, 1984. It elevated Jackson into the pantheon of the 500 Club, whose membership to date consisted of Mel Ott, Ernie Banks, Eddie Mathews, Willie McCovey, Ted Williams, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Frank Robinson, Harmon Killebrew, Mickey Mantle, and Jimmie Foxx.
Jackson’s dinger contributed the only run in a 10-1 loss to the Kansas City Royals. There was a circular quality to the moment. Ross Newhan of the Los Angeles Times noted that Jackson hit his first major league home run against the Angels and his 500th in Kauffman Stadium, where he played for the Kansas City A’s, long since transported to Oakland. Additionally, the 500th home run happened on the 17th anniversary of the first time Jackson went yard.
Gerald Scott of the Los Angeles Times quoted Jackson about the pitch: “I was very, very elated going around the bases. I said thanks (to myself) to Bud Black because he’d given me a pitch to hit.
“It was a 7-0 (lead) pitch. It was a ‘room service’ fastball. I just wish we could’ve been winning. I wish it could’ve been a seven-run homer.”
Black, a formidable hurler for the Royals, compiled a 17-12 record, 3.12 ERA, and 140 strikeouts in 1984. Jackson’s home run was one of 22 that Black allowed in the year that saw the débuts of the Huxtable family, a Beverly Hills cop named Axel Foley, and undercover detectives Sonny Crockett and Rico Tubbs working for the Miami Police Department’s Vice Division.
Jackson had signed with the Angels after Yankee owner George Steinbrenner did not guarantee the slugger a place in the starting lineup as an outfielder. It is a good bet that the Yankees would have continued Jackson’s recent role as a designated hitter.
Joseph Durso of the New York Times reported on Jackson’s optimism upon closing the the deal with Angels owner Gene Autry. “I’m very happy to join a club that really seemed to pursue me and wanted me,” said Jackson. “With the Angels, I get a chance to play. I guess with everything being equal, the most difficult decision for me was whether to go to Baltimore or California. Both clubs have really fine people.”
A version of this article appeared on www.thesportspost.com on February 12, 2016.