In 1973, the Oakland Athletics beat the New York Mets 5-2 in game 7 of the World Series. Reggie Jackson was named the Most Valuable Player.
Jackson played with the Oakland As from 1967 until 1976 when he was traded to the Baltimore Orioles in exchange for Don Baylor, Mike Torrez, and Paul Mitchell. After the 1976 season, Jackson was a free agent and was picked up by the New York Yankees in 1977.
He played with the Yankees from 1977 until 1981 when he became a free agent again. He was picked up and signed by the California Angels in 1982 and played until 1986 when he became a free agent for the third time. He was picked up by the Oakland A’s in 1987, to end his career where he started.
Throughout his 21-year career, Jackson had a total of 9,864 At-Bats, 2,548 hits, 1,702 Runners Batted In, 563 Home Runs, and 228 Stolen Bases. His batting average was .262 with an on-base plus slugging percentage of .846.
Jackson was a 14-time All-Star, five-time World Series Champion, two-time World Series Most Valuable Player (MVP), and the 1973 American League (AL) MVP. He also won the Babe Ruth Award in 1977 and the AL Silver Slugger Award in 1980 and 1982.
After the 1987 season, Jackson retired as an Oakland Athletic, right where he started his career. In 1993, the New York Yankees retired his jersey number, 44, and he was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame for his unbelievable career and incredible accomplishments. In 2004, the Oakland A’s retired his jersey number, 44, to remember his fantastic career within Oakland.
While Jackson has been enjoying life in retirement, he was serving as a Special Advisor / Executive Assistant to the New York Yankees from 1994 until most recently, 2021. As he currently resides in California, he explained he wanted to still be around the game just with a team closer to home.
As Jackson was good friends with Houston Astros owner, Jim Crane, Crane offered him a position on the executive side of the team to serve as an Executive Assistant. He currently helps out the Houston Astros and left the Yankees with no bad blood, just to enjoy retirement closer to home.
He is also focused on his charity, the Mr. October Foundation for Kids which helps divide the bridge “of disadvantaged kids whose circumstances hampered their ability to achieve the goal of a good education” through a STEM program. He is also on board positions with Parts Authority and the Hendrick Automotive Group.
