Reggie Jackson’s three powerful swings cemented El Profe’s Yankees fandom
By Adrian Burgos
Each Saturday, El Profe digs into moments in baseball history captured by a camera lens. These Iconic Images stir the soul, capturing more than a moment in a game.Today, El Profe discusses the night we were all introduced to Mr. October.
The powerful stride, his eyes watching the arc of the ball he just struck, and the way he often coiled up when he swung and missed were all reasons why I loved watching the bespectacled Reggie Jackson take his cuts at the plate.
This picture brings the all memories flooding back.
Once more I hear the crackling sound the bat made as it struck the ball and the mighty roar of the crowd as the ball pierced the night sky and headed into the centerfield bleachers. Then the delighted Yankee fans began their chanting “Reg-gie, Reg-gie Reg-gie.”
What Jackson did on Oct. 18, 1977 versus the Dodgers in Game 6 of the World Series transformed him into Mr. October.
Three consecutive swings resulted in three home runs.
I am still amazed by what Jackson did that night in the Bronx.
That night sealed the deal for me as a Yankees fan and as a Reggie fan.
And when I learned that he was part Puerto Rican, I became all the more enamored with no. 44, Reginald Martinez Jackson.
New York State of Mind
Jackson had stirred things up when he arrived to the Bronx. The Yankees had never had a black superstar quite like him before. He was confident to the point of cockiness. He didn’t go out of his way to please the New York press corp. He reveled in the moment of the big at-bat.
Many loved him; others reviled him.
But he had us all watching him when he dug his spikes into the batter box, flinched his shoulders, and stare to the mound prepared to take his mighty cuts.
Oct. 18 was no exception. We all watched no. 44 do something that only Babe Ruth had done before him, hit three home runs in a World Series game.
Reggie did it on three straight swings, however.
Reggie at Bat
In the late 1970s, Reggie was a living, pinstriped version of Ernest Thayer’s “Casey at the Bat.”
Would he bring joy or send the fans home downtrodden that the mighty Reggie had struck out?
All the elements were there.
His powerful legs could power the ball with one mighty clout.
His broad shoulders and huge wrists generated the bat’s speed to drive the ball hard.
Reggie had us all watching him, even the disbelieving and yet perhaps awed Dodgers catcher Steve Yeager.
Fan or not, it was hard not to appreciate the majestic blasts Reggie hit, especially that October night in the Bronx. No one had before accomplished what he did on such a big stage. The pressure was on, and he delivered, three times.
Mr. October Does it Again
I first saw Reggie Jackson through the eyes of an eight-year old kid during the 1977 season. The next spring training, I got to see him up close and personal at Ft. Lauderdale Yankee Stadium.
I remained in awe of him, even as an adult.
Later, I saw him several times at Yankee Stadium as credentialed media. First time was when I was still a graduate student. He gave me the nod when I saw him in the press dining room. I nodded back, but I was too nervous to approach him for an interview—it was Reggie Jackson, after all.
My press credential prohibited me from getting what I really wanted, a photo with Mr. October. That opportunity would come in Sept. 2009.
It was the Yankees last home stand at the (new) old Yankee Stadium. The Yankees had just honored Puerto Rican Emilio “Millito” Navarro, I approached Reggie about seeing the 102-year old being honored. We chatted briefly, then I mustered up the courage to ask for the photo.
Mr. October gave me one more forever memory at the House that Ruth Built.
Featured Image: Louis Requena / Major League Baseball
Inset Image: El Profe