Yankees History

Reggie Jackson is one of those Yankees I don’t think people appreciate anymore.  Yeah, the Yankees have the big names like Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Joe DiMaggio, but right up there with all of them is Mr. October, Reggie Jackson.  This is a guy who belted 563 homeruns when that was huge deal.  He’s currently tied for tenth with Reggie Jackson but less then ten years ago he was sixth.  He’s the all time strikeout leader, but he also drew his share of walks (1,375, 27th all times).  He’s also underrated as a base stealer, with 228 all time and four 20/20 seasons.  Oh yeah, and in five World Series, he hit a rock solid .357/.457/.755 line with ten homeruns and 24 RBIs in 27 games.

1977 was more of the same for Jackson.   He finished second on the team with 32 homeruns and he was first in RBIs with 110 and OPS+ with 150.  His .550 slugging percentage was good for third in the American League and he finished fifth in the American League in homeruns. 

Reggie Jackson didn’t have much of a platoon split in 1977 which made him particularly dangerous.  The difference between his OPS against right handers and his OPS against left handers was only 63 points.  And true to form, Jackson was best down the stretch.  September was his best month and he hit 10 homeruns and drove in 29 with a 1.055 OPS.

None of this compares to what he did in the World Series.  He belted five homeruns, including three in the game six clincher and he hit .450/.542/1.250 with 10 runs and eight RBIs.  Yes, he was the MVP.

Here’s a look at Jackson’t numbers in 1977:

Games 146
AB 525
Runs 93
Hits 150
Doubles 39
Triples 2
Homeruns 32
RBIs 110
Walks 74
Strikeouts 129
Stolen Bases 17
Caught Stealing 3
BA .286
OBA .375
SLG% .550
OPS .925
RC 115
RCAA 52
RCAP 41
RC/G 8.06
ISO .265