Reggie Jackson was one of the best baseball players ever. He appeared in 27 World Series games. While the batting average in the MLB playoffs is .274.
Reggie Jackson batted with an average of .357. He had 10 home runs. He even won 3 straight World Series with the Kansas City Athletics, and back-to-back World Series with the New York Yankees! On May 18, 1946 in Abington, Pennsylvania Reginald Martinez Jackson was born, but his parents, Clara and Martinez had no idea that one day their son would become one of the best baseball players ever. Reggie was born into a family with one brother, two sisters, and a step-brother and step-sister from his father’s previous marriage.
Unfortunately, his family was poor, and the only job his parents had was working at his father’s tailor shop on the first floor of their apartment.
...He had friends but most of his friend’s parents didn’t let their child play with Reggie because he was black. At a young age Reggie liked playing football, baseball, and basketball, but preferred football. When he was about five or six his parents divorced, and his mom moved to Baltimore and took his brother and two sisters with her. He was influenced by Jackie Robinson, Muhammad Ali, and Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. mainly because they inspired him that even though he was black it didn’t matter.
He graduated from Cheltenham High School and attended Arizona State University (ASU) on a football scholarship. He married Jennie Campos and had a baby girl named Kimberly Jackson. Reggie Jackson impacted the baseball world tremendously. He changed people’s thoughts about black people playing in the big leagues.
He won
five world series but, they came in sets of three-in-a-row (threepeat) and back-to-back wins. He earned the nickname Mr. October because of his postseason heroics since the playoffs are in October. Although a lot of people thought Reggie was a great player and a wonderful hitter, not everybody liked him. Some people said he was arrogant and had a big ego. He was also accused of acting like a hot dog.
“There isn’t enough mustard in the world to cover that guy,” a teammate once commented. But, whether you love him or hate him, there is no denying he was one of the best baseball players ever. Even as he got older Reggie was still a great baseball player. He impacted the MLB by letting them allow black people to play.
He was the A.L. MVP in 1973. Reggie hammered 563 homers in his career, putting him in sixth on the all-time list. In 1973 he was also the World Series MVP. In 1974 he was so good he lead every player in the MLB for voting to play in the All-Star Game.
He retired in 1987. He was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1993. Though he was good at hitting the ball out of the park, the main reason Reggie was a great player was that he NEVER gave up.
