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Baseball legend Reggie Jackson recalled the shocking instances of racism that he endured in Alabama during an interview.
On Thursday (June 20), Major League Baseball Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson was being interviewed by the Fox Sports broadcast crew covering the game between the San Francisco Giants and the St. Louis Cardinals at the historic Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama honoring Negro League Baseball. Alex Rodriguez, the former New York Yankees star player, asked Jackson what it was like being back there. Jackson, who’d go on to greatness as a power-hitting fielder for the Oakland Athletics and New York Yankees, started with the minor-league Birmingham A’s who played at Rickwood in 1967.
“Alex, when people ask me a question like that, it’s like, coming back here is not easy,” Jackson replied. “The racism that I played here, when I played here, the difficulty of going through different places where we traveled — fortunately, I had a manager and I had players on the team that helped me get through it. But I wouldn’t wish it on anybody.” The crew went quiet
as Jackson continued: “People said to me today — I spoke and they said, ‘You think you’re a better person, you think you won when you played here and conquered?’ I said, you know, I would never want to do it again.”
“I walked into restaurants and they would point at me and say, the n—– can’t eat here. I would go to a hotel and they say, the n—– can’t stay here,” the legend known as “Mr. October” said, the emotions from that time vivid in his face. “I walked into restaurants and they would point at me and say, the n—– can’t eat here. I would go to a hotel and they say, the n—– can’t stay here. We went to 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 the diner and eat hamburgers. We’ll go where we’re wanted.” Reggie Jackson would go on to thank his Birmingham A’s manager, Johnny McNamara, and teammates Rollie Fingers, Dave Duncan, and Joe Rudi who with his wife Sharon gave Jackson a place to stay – until racists threatened to “burn our apartment complex down unless I got out.”
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The legendary Willie Mays, a trailblazing Black, pro baseball star, has passed away. He was 93.
On Tuesday, July 18, the San Francisco Giants and Mays family announced that he had passed early in the afternoon.
“My father has passed away peacefully and among loved ones,” said son Michael Mays in a statement. “I want to thank you all from the bottom of my broken heart for the unwavering love you have shown him over the years. You have been his life’s blood.”
Known as the “Say Hey Kid,” Mays’ talent included an incredible mix of power, speed and finesse, which made him one of the MLB’s most popular players during his heyday, no pun, and beyond.
Mays began his career with the Negro Leagues in 1948 and made his Major League debut with the then-New York Giants in 1951 at 20 years old, winning Rookie of the Year honors. Mays played in 24 All-Stars game and secured 12 Gold Glove Awards before ending his career with 660 home runs and a .301 career batting average when retiring in 1973.
In Game 1 of the World Series in 1954, the New York Giants were at home playing the Cleveland Indians, who were the favorites. With the scored tied 2-2 at the top of Cleveland’s Vic Wertz hit a fastball to deep center field in the Polo Grounds. Mays tracked the ball down, using all his speed to bring in the drive with an over the shoulder catch, with his back to home plate. The play would become known as “The Catch.”
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Mays was voted into the Hall of Fame in 1979 and his number 24 was retired by the San Francisco Giants. Mays was awarded the prestigious Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama in 2015.
Rest in powerful peace Willie Mays.
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Shohei Ohtani, one of the top talents in the MLB today, announced a new deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers this weekend that has baseball fans stunned and reacting to the big news in various ways. Shohei Ohtani signed with the Dodgers for 10 years and $700 million, a cause of concern for some considering the two-play superstar has had surgeries.
ESPN reports Ohtani, 29, will sign with the Dodgers and while an official breakdown from the team about the contract is still presumably in the works, an outlet of ESPN’s stature wouldn’t come forth with their additional report without confirming some facts. With the deal, Ohtani, who hails from Japan, was awarded the richest contract in North American sports ever.
“Shohei Ohtani’s deal with the Dodgers is for 10 years and $700 million,” wrote ESPN’s Jeff Passan via X, formerly Twitter. He added, “Shohei Ohtani’s contract has significant deferrals that include most of his salary — an idea, a source said, that was Ohtani’s. In deferring the money, it reduces the cost of the competitive-balance-tax hit and will allow the Dodgers to build a better team around him.”
The news was big enough that even Shams Charania, who typically breaks news on the NBA, had to share with his massive audience the size and scope of the deal.
Ohtani’s credentials as a pitcher and DH cannot be put under scrutiny as he’s proven over the past three seasons with the Los Angeles Angels. Ohtani has won the AL MVP twice and did so unanimously this past season with a .304 batting average along with 44 home runs and 95 RBIs. He also started 23 games as a pitcher, winning 10 games with a 3.14 ERA. With the Angels, Ohtani’s numbers have averaged 30 home runs and 90 RBIs.
In addition to his talent, concerns have been raised around Ohtani getting a version of Tommy John surgery to repair an ulnar collateral ligament tear. It is the second surgery he’s had over the past five years according to reports. Still, Ohtani is on track to resume his dominance on the diamond, and given that he has the highest-selling jersey among MLB players, he’ll have several adoring Dodgers fans sporting the apparel here in the States and abroad.
As mentioned above, Ohtani shared the news first with his 6 million fans on Instagram but didn’t share a ton of details.
From Instagram:
First of all, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to everyone involved with the Angels organization and the fans who have supported me over the past six years, as well as to everyone involved with each team that was part of this negotiation process. Especially to the Angels fans who supported me through all the ups and downs, your guys’ support and cheer meant the world to me. The six years I spent with the Angels will remain etched in my heart forever.
Check out reactions from MLB Twitter below.
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Photo: John McCoy / Getty
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