Reggie Jackson

Born in Pennsylvania in 1946, Reggie Jackson began his big league baseball career in 1967. He won three World Series championships and an MVP Award with the Oakland A's in the early 1970, and later burnished his reputation as one of the game's premier sluggers with the New York Yankees. After retiring in 1987, Jackson was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1993.
Reginald Martinez Jackson was born on May 18, 1946, in Abington, Pennsylvania, to parents Martinez and Clara Jackson. The youngest of six children, he grew up in Wyncote, Pennsylvania, where his father had a tailor shop on the first floor of the family home.

Remaining with his dad after his parents separated, Jackson developed into an outstanding all-around athlete. He starred as a running back for the Cheltenham High School football team and displayed impressive potential in baseball as a power-hitting first ba
seman and pitcher. Jackson hit .550 as a senior, despite the distraction of his dad being jailed for bootlegging.

Awarded a football scholarship to Arizona State University, Jackson realized he missed baseball and impressed the coaches during a tryout. Following his sophomore year, in which he batted .327 and set a team record for home runs, Jackson was selected by the Kansas City Athletics with the second pick of the 1966 amateur draft.
Having tried his hand at broadcasting while still an active player, Jackson worked as a color commentator for ABC Sports and Angels and A's telecasts after retiring. He also dabbled in acting, appearing in such films as The Naked Gun and Richie Rich, as well as the television programs MacGyver and Malcolm in the Middle.

In 1993, Jackson settled into a permanent post-playing role as a special adviser to the Yankees. His uniform number was retired by the club that year and he was awarded a plaque at Yankee Stadium's Monument Park in 2002. In 2004, his number was retired by the A's.

In 2009, Jackson co-authored Sixty-Feet Six-Inches with Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Gibson. Four years later he produced another book, Becoming Mr. October, about his experiences with the Yankees.

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