Reggie Jackson (Image source: Wikimedia Commons)
1,368 words / 8:35
On Thursday, June 20, Major League Baseball sponsored an event called “A Tribute to the Negro Leagues” at Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama, where Negro players used to vie against other Negro players back before the brave and holy Negro Jackie Robinson famously broke baseball’s color barrier in 1947.
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At a panel discussion hosted by FOX Sports, retired New York Yankees shortstop Alex Rodriguez asked legendary slugger Reggie Jackson to share his feelings about returning to a city where Jackson had played as a minor leaguer in the 1960s before going pro and helping to lead both the Oakland A’s and New York Yankees to five World Series championships in the 1970s.
With his voice cracking, the 78-year-old Jackson — who is light-skinned, partially Puerto Rican, and sounds white if you close your eyes — poured the world a glass of his emotional pain as he recalled the days when white Southerners weren’t polite enough to use the word “Negro”:
I walked into restaurants, and they would point at me and say, “The nigger can’t eat here.” I would go to a hotel, and they’d say, “The nigger can’t stay here.” We went to [Oakland A’s owner] Charlie Finley‘s country club for a welcome-home dinner, and they pointed me out with the N-word — “He can’t come in here.” Finley marched the whole team out. Finally, they let me in there. He said, “We’re going to go to the diner and eat hamburgers. We’ll go where we’re wanted.” Fortunately, I had a manager in Johnny McNamara that if I couldn’t eat, if I couldn’t . . . if I couldn’t eat in a place nobody would eat, we’d get food to travel. If I couldn’t stay in a hotel, they’d drive to the next hotel and find a place where I could stay. Had it not been for Rollie Fingers, Johnny McNamara, Dave Duncan, Joe and Sharon Rudi, I slept on their couch three, four nights a week for about a month and a half. Finally, they were threatened that they would burn our apartment complex down unless I got out. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone. The year I came here, Bull Connor was the sheriff the year before. And they took baseball, interleague baseball, out of here. Because in 1963, the Klan murdered four black girls, children, 11, 12, 14 years old at a church here and never got indicted. It was there from the Klan — LIFE magazine did a story on them like you were being honored I wouldn’t wish it on anyone. At the same time, had it not been for my white friends, had it not been for a white manager and Rudi, Fingers, and Duncan and Lee Myers. I would have never made it. I was too physically violent. I was ready to physically fight some. I’d have got killed here because I’d have beat someone’s ass and then you’d have saw me [sic] in an oak tree somewhere.
You can buy Jim Goad’s The Bomb Inside My Brain here.
Holy smokes, that went from zero to Negro to lynching rather quickly!
Back in the early 1970s, when I was perched on puberty’s pimply cusp and baseball was in its waning days of being America’s favorite sport, I thought the stylistically anomalous Oakland A’s were the absolute coolest team in the world. Along with their seemingly endless combinations of retina-searing green-and-yellow uniforms, they became known as the “Mustache Gang” after Reggie Jackson showed up one day in 1972 for spring training with a mustache back when facial hair was considered a breach of etiquette against baseball’s wholesome image. Jackson refused to shave, and many of the other A’s followed suit, culminating in relief pitcher Rollie Fingers’s waxed mustachio.
From 1972-1974, the Mustache Gang won three straight World Series titles, becoming the only baseball team in history to achieve such a feat apart from the New York Yankees, who snapped up Jackson as a free agent in 1976.
Over the next two years, Jackson — always an erratic player who still holds baseball’s record for lifetime strikeouts — achieved mythic status and earned the moniker “Mister October” for his seeming ability to smash home runs at will in the World Series. His performance on October 18, 1977, when he hit three homers on the first pitch from three different pitchers, ranks as one of the most thrilling moments in baseball history.
And yet he still never recovered from being called “nigger.”
Mister October is one complicated fella. According to his biographer Mike Lupica:
He did great things in great moments. You can draw a line from [Babe] Ruth to Reggie, and from that line, you [can’t] find another home-run hitter in that line who was as colorful as he was. But buried deep inside, he was a terribly lonely and insecure person, and you know maybe he would be the buffet at a psychiatrist convention, and they’d be able to analyze him.
Among other players, Jackson developed a reputation as an aloof egomaniac. Hall of Fame pitcher Jim Palmer once wrote: “I would say Reggie Jackson was arrogant. But the word arrogant isn’t arrogant enough.” When asked whether Jackson was a “hot dog” [a showoff], his teammate Darold Knowles said, “There isn’t enough mustard in the world to cover Reggie Jackson.” Jackson was always boasting of an astronomical IQ, which he variously cited as 160 or 165. Upon hearing that Jackson claimed to have an IQ of 165, black player Mickey Rivers joked, “Out of what — a thousand?”
Reginald Martinez Jackson was born in 1946 in the small, middle-class Philadelphia suburb of Wyncote, Pennsylvania, which to this day remains majority-white. He constantly lamented that no matter how much success he achieved, this racist world persecuted him for being black, especially when he dared to date white girls:
I had white friends, although many of my white friends were not allowed to play with me. And so, you know, I had to leave early and meet them other places and things of that nature. I dated a white girl in high school, and I had to meet her. A buddy of mine used to go pick her up. . . . I knew I was a colored kid. I knew I was different. I knew I was less than, or at least thought of as less than.
According to Ed Linn’s 1982 book Steinbrenner’s Yankees, after a legendary 1977 scuffle with manager Billy Martin in the dugout, Jackson granted a post-game interview to reporters from The New York Times and New York Daily News in his hotel room while “[a] blonde was in the shower — a local girlfriend.” Jackson began wailing about his supposed mistreatment:
I’m just a black man to them who doesn’t know how to be subservient. I’m a black buck with an IQ of 160 and making $700,000 a year. They’ve never had anyone like me on their team before. . . . I’m a Christian, and they’re fucking with me because I’m a nigger, and they don’t like niggers on this team.
Ten years later, in a 1987 Sports Illustrated cover story, Jackson whined about how baseball’s racism was “a serious problem that isn’t going away”:
It was while I was in Birmingham that I met [Alabama football coach] Bear Bryant. His son was the general manager of the ball club. Bryant told me I was “the kind of nigger boy” they needed to show the people in his state that we would be good athletes and be good for his school. He said it as a compliment. He said it with his arm around me.
On June 20 of this year, shortly before he appeared on FOX Sports’ Negro Leagues shindig in Birmingham, Jackson once more shared the Bear Bryant “nigger boy” story with a reporter.
So, what has integration achieved for Major League Baseball and Birmingham, Alabama?
I suppose it depends on how you define a “Hispanic,” but according to a 2022 analysis, pro baseball is still majority white, 31.9% Hispanic, and a mere 7.7% black.
Birmingham is now 70% black, less than a quarter white, and was recently declared America’s most dangerous city.
I shed no tears for Mister October.
32 comments
I went to school with a guy who was a bat boy for the Indians. First year he was visiting team bat boy, second year home team. I once asked him if any of the players were jerks. The only name he gave me, his words were “a complete Dick” was Reggie Jackson.
So Charley O took the whole team to his country club? What bullshit. When Finley was asked why he wanted to sell the A’s his response was “ I’m sick of dealing with these coons.”
Listening to what Reggie said about all the racism he dealt with was enough to make Euell Gibbons puke up his last bowl of Grape Nuts.
The overly-sentimental ‘cry-me-a-river- Negro will never accept that anyone else might have a valid point about dealing with them. The Negro can never imagine that, in the final analysis, self-respecting White people want nothing to do with their mawkish (and loud) antics. You can take the Negro out of the Minstrel Show, but you cannot take the Minstrel Show out of the Negro. They’re always buck-dancing for pennies. White and jewish enablers are the ones who have helped turn people who play children’s games into ‘heros’ and other sad-sacks.
I couldn’t agree more. Reggie took this crap to a whole new level. Where are all of his contemporaries that side with him? None. He was hated by all of baseball. One quote Jim failed to mention was from Jim “Catfish “ Hunter who said of the candy bar named after Reggie “ it’s the only candy bar that tells you good it is before you open it “
If you unwrapped a Topps baseball card pack from 1979 and tried to chew the pink bar dusted with white powder, you could probably do it with no health consequences. If you unsealed a 1979 Reggie bar and chewed it, you would be in the land of wind and ghosts.
FWIW, I did mention these in my writeup of the Star Wars Holiday Special. Before my immaculate text was editorially improved, it said this:
“It looks to be close to a Snickers bar experience, but in a gooey patty. If you still have some of those in a long-forgotten corner of the pantry, they’re probably hard enough to use as construction materials by now. However, that was a limited production run, so it could be worth something on the collectibles market, if there’s a market for long-expired food.”
For the Negro, nothing matters but the Negro.
I had white friends, although many of my white friends were not allowed to play with me.
About 37 years ago, when I was a silly girl, I worked as a typist for a (de facto, not openly) commie organization. One of the women there, older than I, bitched to me (and she didn’t care who else in the office heard this) that the Jewish kids next door from her were not allowed to play with her children because they were, you know, goys and not suitable as playmates. FWIW. People even that recently felt free to express themselves.
Blacks will never act uppity and entitled if they lived in Mexico, Saudi Arabia, or Japan. They love preying on ppl who they perceive as weak and naive and a lot of them are borderline sociopaths. I remember an article from Jared Taylor stating that it is more than just IQ when observing the dysfunctional behavior of blacks. Blacks with a 100 IQ are way more likely to have illegitimate children, and go to jail compared to other races with a similar mental capacity. They score low in agreeableness and conscientiousness which explains why many of them are arrogant, loudmouth, and incapable of learning from their destructive behavior.
https://www.amren.com/news/2021/04/its-more-than-iq/
The quote from Mickey Rivers is classic. I knew Reggie was a boastful, arrogant, strikeout prone, slugger, but I had no idea he claimed he was a mental giant. I’m curious how he thinks a black household at that time would have reacted to seeing a pimply faced, frail white boy knocking on the door to take little black sister LaFrieda out for a date?
I offer one contrasting anecdote about the South and minor league baseball for a young black player. I met a fellow at a bar one night in the mid 80s and he found out I was a Cubs fan. He had played in the minors with the future hall of famer Billy Williams. Of course I had had my picture taken with Billy at Dodger Stadium years prior and was a fan (Of course the white shortstop Don Kessinger took a more personal picture with me kneeling next to me with an arm around my shoulder) His tale was that Billy definitely felt the heat from some of the fans in the South, but he simply ignored it and played through it. Clearly Reggie couldn’t come to grips with how it feels to lose the exclusivity people might have preferred for baseball. For someone born in Pennsylvania, he certainly couldn’t relate to southern whites nor blacks. It’s no wonder he was trying to show his sexual dominance with the reporters while his local mud shark was showering. Clearly not a man with an ounce of self awareness. He made for good copy on Page Six, but don’t come a knocking to see little sis thank you very much.
Oh, brother. Here we go again with the lynching and the yadda yadda. You not being a fun hang is on you, Mister Smartypants race baiter. Work on your people skills. Don’t lead with lynching in your conversations. Shuck and jive for us, for crying out loud. Your nane’s “Reggie.” Take a fake Muslim name if you want to be taken seriously as a militant anti-American big mouth pampered sports figure. Do that crazy hand jive. Enjoy your freaking life. If you can’t, don’t take it out on us.
I had to reread this. One more thing. Mickey Rivers probably did have an IQ of 168 out of 1000. He sired about 17 kids from 22 women. If he can figure Reggie out then anyone can. It begs the question why do people seek assholes like Reggie out?
White guy tells a story about being harassed, beaten, robbed, or a friend/family killed/ raped: people sneer, laugh, roll their eyes, or scold the white guy for even mentioning that it was our closest cousins.
Black guy tells a story about someone white complimenting them, but in a hamhanded way, or hurl a racial insult as they drive by: people cry
I know this is random, but I was wondering if any of the Counter Currents writers could impart advice for mentorship in activism. I currently desire to make a grater impact on the movement as a whole as I work/am involved in local politics in my state (USA). I just see so much bad happening and I believe that I need to act on something to get us to a more positive place. I am looking as to where, what, how I should be acting. Any starting point is appreciated. I appreciate any/all given input of any of the writers and paid members. Thank you very much.
-White American
quit paying taxes and get on the dole its the only non violent action left
You can do a lot with personal outreach and networking. It’s something that can’t get censored.
Good advice and mostly true (regarding censorship) but as soon as you’re not face to face funny things can happen. Like, most recently, not being able to send a 300kB truth-filled PDF attachment to your dad in an email (suspected spam ?!)
For the short term, putting it in a password protected .zip file will keep it from getting scanned and flagged. For the long term, one of you has an email provider that incorrectly classifies it as spam. Either it was an innocent false positive, or someone put in a narrative filter.
Okay. I work in local politics in a liberal state. I am trying to climb up the ladder so to speak. I was elected in party government. What overall should try to do next? Is there anyone I can work as a mentor in this regard? It’s been exceptionally hard navigating through the world of the GOP. What steps to take, what connections I should act on etc.
Probably the best bet is to put out some feelers inside the local party structure. When looking for friends, you’ll have to be pretty careful and take your time to figure out where they’re really at. If you do find people who are unenlightened, or are uniparty swamp critter types, then it doesn’t hurt to pretend to be on their wavelength.
When you’re running for office, you also don’t want to let it all hang out. Just drop a few tantalizing hints, the way your colleagues are doing. The difference will be that you mean it.
If you get close to the corridors of power, then always be recording. This will protect you from blackmail and false allegations. It’s also a way to keep journalists from misquoting you.
Thank you so much for the advice. Would you say that volunteering for the local GOP is a waste of time? I have done alot of door knocking but I think that the events that truly matter are the times that I actually get to speak to people within the party? What your thoughts? What opportunities do you think are the best?
Trump’s attempted assassination was a reminder that even more crazy things are about to happen in American politics. All White People have a chance to influence history with great acts. Join the American Freedom Party! We can win for White America! You got this, everyone!
Join: https://www.americanfreedomparty.us/join/
My thoughts are that door-to-door canvassing for the GOP shows them that you’re a team player, though it’s unlikely to be the decisive factor in an election, except in small contests. Dialogue inside the party may be more helpful. You can make a difference locally, though all told, reforming the party from within would be like a labor of Hercules.
You might consider running for an entry-level position, such as the School Board or City Council. If you need to learn the ropes, you can assist with someone else’s campaign. That will also make you a friend who can help you get places. Once you’ve won your first election, then this will give you street cred to move up.
I read several decades ago in a major national publication (I think it might have been Parade) that Reggie Jackson had an IQ of 160. Do we have any evidence for that, other than Jackson’s word? I do find it hard to believe.
The traditional scales for IQ stopped at 140, so anyone who claimed a higher IQ was lying. More recently they developed tests that curved up to 160 (and beyond, sometimes), which is analogous to Nigel Tufnel’s guitar amplifiers that “go to eleven.” That’s where we get these 160 and 165 IQ claims. Thank God Donald Trump knew enough not to pad his 132 IQ claim (good enough for Mensa!).
Yes a lie,
https://russellwarne.com/2023/09/14/the-search-for-albert-einsteins-iq/
A lie used by the MSM for their preferred pets.
There’s Christopher Langan, celebrity smarty-pants,with a claimed IQ of ~200. No idea how that figure was arrived at but it seems he couldn’t stand college, believes conspiracies happen and has decidedly based political views. He lives on a ranch in the lone star state with his wife and his moustache.
Back in the 1980s, both Eddie Murphy and Chuck Berry were said to have had genius-level IQs – almost certainly balderdash.
Action Jackson: I’m a Christian, and they’re fucking with me because I’m a nigger.
—
Or maybe it’s because you are a nigger, pretending to be a virtuous Christian.
Yeah, he’s a “Christian” while he’s got a prostitute taking a shower in his bathroom. Colored people are funny.
I’ve said it before I’ll say it again: all “racism” truly is is a perfectly rational response to the combined factors of life experience (particularly experience dealing blacks) and available statistical data. Sanctimonious, shaky-voiced speeches and rent-seeking guilt trips notwithstanding.
The pattern is clear. The more successful a black person becomes in a European created civilization, the more anger and resentful they feel and the more they express overt hostility toward its people.
What is interesting is what the phenomenon is. Are they angry because they grew up with an internalized story that they are oppressed and find that their success disproves this? Or, does rising into prominence where the consequences of expressing this anger are either non-existent or there are further rewards for doing so make it possible for all to see the anger that their entire population carries in its heart and that its most successful people are free to express?
I vote for the latter as the operative phenomenon. In the end for all the talk of IQ, mastering abstractions does us no good if we can’t master the most fundamental of reality hitting us in the face every day. Namely, that when individuals from a group become successful and in that success express hatred for you, why would you ever open your civilization to their success since they can parlay that into destroying you?
Just a couple of generations ago this basic logic and ability to observe reality seems to have been well understood.
The wolf by the ear seems to have mutated into a wolf at the throat.
Much of this kind of overblown woe begins as play-acting. However, it can mutate into more malignant forms. In Reggie Jackson’s case, he kept up the bellyaching despite being a wildly successful sports celebrity.
I would like to see Reggie Jackson and Jonathan Greenblatt in a “who’s the most oppressed” kvetch fest. My shekels would be on 37 time gas chamber survivor Greenblatt.
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