A's finally will retire Reggie Jackson's number

wilheim · May 21, 2004

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) Reggie Jackson might be best known as the brash slugger who clashed with George Steinbrenner and Billy Martin and forever became ''Mr. October'' with three World Series home runs at Yankee Stadium.
But Jackson rose to prominence in Oakland and had his biggest success with the Athletics, who will finally retire his No. 9 on Saturday 11 years after New York gave him the honor by retiring his No. 44.
''It's probably overdue, but the A's didn't have anything to do with that,'' Jackson said this week. ''That's me. There were some bad feelings with one of the executives. We didn't see eye to eye. I let it go.
Jackson made 14 All-Star games in his career, including six with the A's. He earned AL MVP and World Series MVP honors in 1973, hitting .293 with 32 homers and 117 RBIs that season.

wil.

RobFunk · May 21, 2004

he is also best known for his part in "naked gun"

Fishhead · May 21, 2004

Kudos to MR OCTOBER!!

44

Journeyman · May 21, 2004

Reggie actually was discovered as a baseball player playing for 'Johnny`s' here in Baltimore....Johnny`s was the elite amatuer team for many many years...also Willie Mays Aikens was a Johnny`s alum...

Reggie was a football player first at A.S.U. then came the Johnny`s tryout where the legend goes he hit several tremendous Ruthian shots and that was the end of football for Jackson...wise choice!

Journeyman · May 21, 2004

When the Yankees were in town you came to the park early to see Reggie take BP...you watched his every move, the way he ran, the way he swung his bat, you watched in awe...no other player came close to him at the time...

I remember one night we were leaving Memorial Stadium , a bunch of us were piled in my coach`s car...we`re traveling down 33rd street (the long street that Memorial Stadium sat on) and low and behold Reggie comes flying by us in a convertable lol...I had forgotten this til just now lol...I spotted him, and immediately we all start shouting for our coach to speed up!!! We catch u and start calling to him "Hey Reg-gie"...he nodded and that was it...it was like seeing baseball royalty when you`re a kid...right there riding down the road next to us!

I have heard by many, he was the biggest asshole to communicate with, whether it be media, or teammates, he was no picnic...

The guy sure was special though!