Long before he became Mr. October, baseball’s premier clutch hitter was just a kid from Wyncote, PA. Here’s more about his early years and how he put his name into Major League Baseball’s record books.
For the Jacksons, baseball was more than just a sport; it was also the family business. Reggie’s father, Martinez “Marty” Jackson, was a talented second baseman who played for two seasons in the Negro Leagues in the 1930s with the Newark Eagles before becoming a tailor in Wyncote. Marty instilled in Reggie a love for the game and gave him a little extra incentive to become a star. “I told Reggie that if he didn’t make the team, he’d have to work in my shop,” he recalled. (Marty later carried business cards that read “Marty the Tailor, Father of the Famous Reggie Jackson.”)
Reggie Jackson began playing softball in his backyard when he was 7 years old, and by the time he was 11, he had become so skilled that his reputation as a ballplayer spread beyond Wyncote. That year, while playing in a sandlot with his friends, a scout from the New York Giants approached him, gave the boy his card, and told him to look him up in a few years. Their relationship never advanced beyond that initial meeting, but the brief encounter helped inspire Jackson to pursue a career in professional baseball.
Jackson attended Cheltenham Township High School, the same school that graduated Israeli prime minister—and fellow southpaw—Benjamin Netanyahu. (Netanyahu’s family lived in Pennsylvania for a few years in the early 1960s.) Jackson was a senior when Netanyahu was a freshman, so the two likely had very little interaction. But Mr. October was a classmate of Netanyahu’s older brother, Yonatan. (Other Cheltenham Township High School alumni: poet Ezra Pound and comedian Bill Cosby.)
Jackson was a phenomenal halfback on Cheltenham’s football team. His combination of speed and power attracted plenty of college scouts, and he eventually accepted a scholarship to play football at Arizona State University. But the team wasn’t a good fit, and when coach Frank Kush tried to convert him into a defensive back after his freshman season, Jackson decided to quit and play baseball instead.
That proved to be a good decision. Jackson soon became the first college player to hit a ball out of Phoenix Municipal Stadium, the team’s home field, and by 1966, he was named College Player of the Year by the Sporting News. Kansas City Athletics owner Charlie Finley was so impressed with Jack-son’s exploits that he selected him second overall in the 1966 Major League Baseball amateur draft and offered him a $95,000 signing bonus. Jackson accepted the offer and left college to go pro.
A youth named Stanley Burrell worked as a batboy for the Oakland Athletics from 1972 until 1980 and was around during Jackson’s tenure with the team. On meeting Burrell, Jackson mentioned that the boy bore a striking resemblance to Hall of Fame outfielder “Hammerin’” Hank Aaron, and Jackson began addressing the youngster as “Hammer” for short. The nickname stuck, and Burrell combined it with MC (Master of Ceremonies) later when he began performing at local clubs and bars around San Francisco.
•Jackson played for 21 seasons with four major league teams: the Kansas City/Oakland Athletics (1967–75 and 1987), the Baltimore Orioles (1976), the New York Yankees (1977–81), and the California Angels (1982–86).
•He batted .262, hit 563 homeruns, and drove in 1,702 runs.
•He was a 14-time All-Star (1969, 1971–75, 1977–84).
•He was the American League Most Valuable Player in 1973, and he led the American League in home runs four times (1973, 1975, 1980, 1982).
•He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1993.
•He holds the record for most career strikeouts with 2,597 (a dubious achievement, but his only career record).