5 Fun Facts About Reggie Jackson in Honor of His 74th Birthday
Happy birthday, Reggie Jackson! The baseball legend turns 74 today.
In honor, here are five fun facts about Jackson, plus some career highlights!
He actually wanted to be a football player.
Reggie Jackson started out in life wanting to be a professional football player, but after numerous injuries, he gravitated to baseball. His early days on the baseball field also brought some injuries, but when he finally got going, there was no question he would be an incredible baseball player.
Over the years, he hit more than 500 home runs.
To be exact, Jackson hit 563 career home runs over the course of his career. Wow!
He could have hit a baseball as far as 650 feet.
During the famed the 1971 All-Star Game, Jackson hit the ball over the upper deck at Tiger Stadium. It fell to the ground after hitting the transformer, but Wayne State University physicists estimated the homer would have traveled 650 feet if the transformer had not been there.
He was also a movie and TV star.
Jackson earned a name for himself on the field, and then, off the field by appearing in movies and TV programs such as “MacGuyver,” “Malcom in the Middle” and “The Naked Gun.”
He earned a big first in professional baseball.
Jackson was the first player in major league history to amass 100 or more home runs for three different clubs — The A’s, Yankees and Angels — according to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
