Flashback: Reggie Jackson Becomes Mr. October

The man had a sense for the dramatic. He had the desire to be on the big stage and the ability to shine in the big moments. But none were bigger for Reginald Martinez Jackson than the clinching game of the 1977 World Series, 37 years ago today.

The Yankees had won their second pennant in a row, breaking a streak that lasted from 1965 to 1976. During that period, the organization sunk into a morass of last place, non-competitive finishes. The ownership and managerial structure moved from the ultra-successful Dan Topping/Del Webb/George Weiss, to the moribund, CBS-run ownership of Michael Burke. When George Steinbrenner purchased the team in 1973, it was back to “winning at all costs” and changes developed into the 1976 AL pennant winners. Of course “The Boss” was not going to sit still and accept being swept by one of the greatest teams in history (look up the 1976 Cincinnati Reds lineup and it looks like an all-star team), so the cosmic marriage of free agent Reggie Jackson and the Yankees came to fruition.

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Jackson had been a major cog for the three-time champion Oakland A’s, leading the AL in home runs in 1973 (when he was MVP) and 1975 and was a perfect fit for the newly-renovated Yankee Stadium. Alas, the marriage did not go as planned as the trio of Jackson, Steinbrenner and manager Billy Martin clashed egos on the back pages of New York tabloids all season long, including one fateful Saturday afternoon near brawl between Martin and Jackson in a Fenway Park dugout.

The Yankees overcame a transitioning, talented Baltimore Oriole team and the defending AL champion Boston Red Sox to win the division by 2 ½ games. After trailing the Kansas City Royals in the ALCS, they came back to win Game 4 with a magnificent 5.1 innings of scoreless relief by Cy Young winner Sparky Lyle, and Game 5 by scoring three runs in the ninth inning for a second straight pennant.

The Series saw a classic match-up with the Los Angeles Dodgers, for the first time since 1963. The Yanks won games 1, 3 and 4 to go up 3-2, setting up a potential clincher at the Stadium. Jackson provided foreshadowing of Game 6, when in his last at bat in the Game 5 blowout (a last-gasp Dodger win, 10-4), he took Hall of Famer Don Sutton deep on the first pitch, for his second homer of the series.

The Stadium was buzzing with over 56,000 rabid fans were waiting to celebrate their first championship since 1962. On television, ABC was televising their first World Series, with Keith Jackson and Howard Cosell playing up the drama for all it was worth.

The Dodgers jumped to an early 2-0 lead off of Mike Torrez, but ’76 playoff hero Chris Chambliss followed a Reggie walk (on four pitches) with a two-run shot to tie the game. In the fourth inning, with the Yanks down a run, Reggie started writing his Yankee legacy. On the first pitch from Burt Hooten, he drilled one into the right field stands. An inning later, with one on, again on the first pitch, Elias Sosa was the victim of a line drive shot that no announcer had time to describe. By the time Jackson got up against Charlie Hough in the bottom of the eighth, victory was at hand, but on Hough’s first pitch, Reggie hit a blast that had Cosell screaming into TV’s all over America.

Four straight swings, four homers. Five for the Series, and the first championship in 15 years. Even the combative Martin gave Reggie – now Mr. October – a hug.

In the 37 years gone by, we’ve seen generations of Yankees come and go. Some succeeded, some failed. But few, if any, matched sense of drama and ability to come through as Reggie did on that night. For my generation of Yankee fans, born too late to celebrate the Mantle era, it allowed us to join our fathers (and grandfathers), declaring our generation as Yankee champions.

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