For His Birthday, Some Nice Bits of Reggie Jackson History From the SI Vaults

As Oakland Athletics Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson turns 74 today, here is a compilation of some of the bits of Jackson backstory of which you may not be aware.

On this, Reggie Jackson’s 74 birthday, we note that Mr. October made it to the cover of Sports Illustrated eight times.

Is that a lot? Well yes and no. Michael Jordan has been there 50 times. Last year SI did a story rating the top 10 Jordan covers. For what it’s worth, Pete Rose is the MLB leader at 16 SI covers, although Mike Trout is charging hard.

The thing with Jackson and SI is that even when he wasn’t on the cover in his almost two decades playing Major League Baseball, he was in print. Starting with his emergence with the Oakland A’s, there seems to be no limit to the number of baseball stories in SI that touched on Jackson one way or the other.

In honor of his birthday, we thought we’d dig out some of the little gems from the SI vaults (yes, they really call it that) that may fall into the “I didn’t know that about Reggie” category.

--June 8, 1970: A’s owner Charlie Finley ordered a slumping Jackson to be benched against left-handed pitching. “I’m trying, really trying,” Jackson told SI. ”Maybe too hard. But the slump has made me a better person. You learn to be a man all over again.” How did Jackson respond? He threw some batting practice on days he wasn’t in the lineup. Apparently, he had a decent curve. Also, it’s worth noting that the slump ended with a pinch-hit grand slam, shoot his fist at Finley in the owner’s box as he crossed the plate. Finley demanded a written apology he never got.

--Oct. 6, 1975: Sometimes Jackson and Finley were on the same page. Jackson in 1975 told the story of uncorking a bottle of champagne after the A’s sewed up the 1974 World Series with most of the contents landing on commissioner Bowie Kuhn. At the time it seemed like an accident, even when Jackson kissed the suitably astonished commissioner on the cheek. It turns out that Jackson and Finley had planned it out; Finley having no small amount of disdain for Kuhn.

--March 31, 1986: In what would be his last spring with the Angels, Jackson took a night off fly from Mesa, Ariz. to a remote Indian reservation to spend a few hours talking with teenage Hopi boys about staying away from drugs and alcohol. It seems that he did a good job, including telling them, “if Grandma can’t make it, then you don’t touch it.” But the best moment came in the Q&A afterward. One of the Hopi parents raised his hand, got recognized then said, “Some of the children would like to know who you are.”

--Aug. 30, 1976: Near the end of his first (only) season with the Orioles, Jackson ran into teammate Tommy Harper as he came out of a coffee shop after breakfast. Harper asked Jackson how he was doing. “Me?” Jackson said. “I’m struggling.” Harper found this amusing, and in a loud voice that drew in passersby, came back with: “Here he is, friends. A free agent. A TV commentator. Drives fancy cars. Big real-estate operator in Arizona. Got a car dealership in California. Big salary, which is gonna get much, much bigger. Known and loved by everybody. Got all the girls in the world. … And he is strugglin’.” Everybody laughed. Including Reggie Jackson.

--July 7, 1969: Jackson had friends in high places en route to his breakout 47-homer season for the A’s in 1969. David Eisenhower and his wife, Julie Nixon left the White House just to see Jackson play against the Senators. Twice. The third time, they brought along Julie’s dad, the President. Afterward, Richard Nixon dashed off a fan letter to Jackson. As for the Senators, the ones playing baseball, Ted Williams was their manager, and he was enthralled by Jackson, saying, “I wasn’t sure the first time I saw him. The second time, I was amazed. He is the most natural hitter I have ever seen.”

--June 17, 1974: In the first round of playoffs in 1972, Jackson successfully stole home, but pulled a hamstring, then ruptured it when he tried to keep going. He couldn’t move, much less play in the World Series. Joe Rudi and Dave Duncan came over and fed him. And the A’s won the series against the Cincinnati Reds without Jackson, who said, “Every pitch is money. And I couldn’t play.” He took the win hard. “Then they won the last series game, it was the worst feeling I ever had. When they jumped and tumbled over each other, I couldn’t run onto the field. I felt so dejected, so disgusted. I remember the next spring, I said to everybody, I’m going to the World Series this year. You going with me?” Hint: they did.

--August 2, 1982: Defense wasn’t always at the top of Jackson’s agenda. Don Baylor, a longtime friend, told this story: “In 1970, Reggie and I played for Frank Robinson in Santurce, Puerto Rico. Charlie Finley had sent him to winter ball after Reggie’s homers dropped from 47 to 23. In one game under Frank, Reggie hit a pop and just stood there, looking at it. The fielder staggered under it, didn’t catch it and still threw Reggie out at first. When he got back to the dugout, Frank said, `If it happens again, it’ll cost you $500.’ Well the exact thing happened a week later. Frank said, `That’ll cost you $500.’ Reggie said, `I’ll go home before I pay that.’ Frank said, `OK, after this inning, I’ll go inside and help you pack.’ Reggie went inside and paid the money. He was fine after that. He hit 20 homers in 50 games and we won the league.”

Follow Athletics insider John Hickey on Twitter: @JHickey3

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