Reggie Jackson



Reginald Martinez "Reggie" Jackson (born May 18, 1946) is an American former professional baseball right fielder who played 21 seasons for the Kansas City / Oakland Athletics, Baltimore Orioles, New York Yankees, and California Angels of Major League Baseball (MLB). Jackson was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1993. Jackson was nicknamed "Mr. October" for his clutch hitting in the postseason with the Athletics and the Yankees.

Quotes

 * Now, when we go into a park on the road people start booing me. You don't know how good that makes me feel. To me it means the fans recognize who I am and what I mean to my ball club. Fans don't boo nobodies.
 * As quoted in "A's Jackson glad about 'boos'," in "The Chicago Defender" (April 23, 1974)


 * Every hitter likes fastballs just like everybody likes ice cream. But you don't like it when someone's stuffing it into you by the gallon. That's how you feel when 's throwing balls by you. You just hope to mix in a walk so you can have a good night and only go 0-for-3.
 * As quoted in "Fastest Arm in the West" by Pete Axthelm, in Newsweek (June 16, 1975)


 * I was 'colored' until I was 14, a Negro until I was 21 and a black man ever since.
 * "We Have A Serious Problem That Isn't Going Away", Sports Illustrated, May 11, 1987.


 * I did very little against two lefties, Mike Caldwell and Scott McGregor, for a few years anyway. Eventually, I caught up with both of them, though. It was really Jim Palmer who stands out in this context; I had some success against him overall, but he was so good in clutch situations that I never really hurt him when the game was on the line.
 * As quoted in The Greatest Team of All Time: As Selected by Baseball's Immortals, from Ty Cobb to Willie Mays (1994), compiled by Nicholas Acoccella and Donald Dewey, p. 117

Quotes about

 * As he was going around [the bases], I was applauding into my glove. [...] I have never seen anything like that in a championship game situation. He beat us singlehandedly. And actually that's exactly what he did. He knocked in five runs and we only scored four. I sure wish I'd had a chance to talk to him at first base. But he didn't stay there long enough for conversation.
 * , on Jackson's 3-HR performance in the sixth and deciding game of the, as quoted in "Torrez Wins 8-4 Crusher; Jackson,Buddies Slam Door on Dodgers, 8-4" by Thomas Boswell, in The Washington Post, October 19, 1977.


 * There isn't enough mustard in America to cover Reggie Jackson.
 * , circa August 1977, as quoted in "Reggie's Role Is Playing 'What I Am'" by Steve Jacobson, in Newsday, August 31, 1975.


 * No wonder you're all mixed up. You got a white man's first name, a Spanish man's second name, and a black man's third name.
 * Mickey Rivers, as quoted in "Young Ideas" by Dick Young, in The New York Daily News, June 17, 1977.