Mr. October and His Incredible World Series Feat…
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The other day Yahoo came out with an interesting list; World Series Multi-Homer Games.
At the top of the list stood the category of “Three Home Runs” in one series game. Only two players have ever accomplished this World Series feat; Babe Ruth, who did it twice (2 consecutive shots both times), and Reggie Jackson.
Some 41 players throughout baseball history since the inception of the World Series have accomplished the feat of two homers in a single series game; among them Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Willie Aikens who did it twice in the 1980 series between the Kansas City Royals and the Phillies and Phils centerfielder Lenny ‘the Dude” Dykstra who homered twice in the wild 15-14 4th game of the 1993 series with the Toronto Blue Jays.
But Yankees’ Reggie Jackson’s feat in games 5 and 6 of the 1977 Series stands alone in MLB’s World Series annals, not even duplicated by “The Babe”, and forever conveyed upon Jackson the title of “Mr. October.”
In his last at bat in the 8th inning of game 5, Reggie launched a 2 run shot in a losing cause off of Dodgers starter Don Sutton who tossed a complete game as Los Angeles beat the Yankees 10-4 to narrow the Dodger’s deficit against the Yanks to 3-2. But this homer was only the beginning of what was about to occur in game 6.
Baseball Almanac describes this memorable 6th game;
Game 6 was certainly the most memorable in the 1977 World Series thanks a spectacular performance at the plate by Reggie Jackson. The Yankees newest “Bomber” was making his eighteenth appearance and it proved to be his greatest as he became only the second player in history to smash three home runs in a single Series game (Babe Ruth did it in 1926 and 1928). In addition, the five home runs in one Series and four consecutive blasts over a two Series-game period was unprecedented.
As Thurman Munson stood on first, Jackson nailed Hooton on his first pitch sending the Yanks ahead with a 4-3 lead. Later in the fifth with two outs and Willie Randolph on first, Reggie launched another rocket off of Elias Sosa that landed in the right-field seats. Finally, he electrified the home team crowd of 56,407 by leading off the eighth with the historic blast into the center-field bleachers. “Mr. October” indeed. Riding on the five RBIs of their slugging champion, the Yanks showed a glimpse of what was “Yankee baseball” and held on for the 8-4 victory that earned their twenty-first World Series title. It was the first crown for the “Bronx Bombers” since 1962.
Jackson’s MVP performance against the Dodgers tallied a staggering .450 average with five home runs and eight runs batted in. His offense was the key to the Yankees win…
Wikipedia.org records the event and the dialogue between ABC sportscasters covering the the game;
Jackson’s crowning achievement came with his three-home-run performance in Game 6, each on the first pitch, off three different Dodger pitchers. (His first at-bat, during inning two, resulted in a four-pitch walk.) The first came off starter Burt Hooton, and was a high-arcing shot into the lower right field seats at Yankee Stadium. The second was a line drive off reliever Elias Sosa into roughly the same area. With the fans chanting his name, “Reg-GIE! Reg-GIE! Reg-GIE!” the third came off reliever Charlie Hough, a knuckleball pitcher, making the distance of this home run particularly remarkable. It was a towering drive into the black-painted “hitter’s background” seats in center, 475 feet away, one that stunned the ABC Television sportscasters covering it:
Keith Jackson: High…
Tom Seaver (interrupting): Good-BYE, that’s WAY out…
As the ball bounced into the black bleachers, the first time a Yankees player had hit those stands in Yankee Stadium’s post-renovation configuration…
Howard Cosell: Oh, what a blow! What a way to top it off! Forget about who the Most Valuable Player is in the World Series. How this man has responded to pressure! Oh, what a beam on his face. How can you blame him? He’s answered the whole WORLD! After all the furor, after all the hassling, it comes down to this!
Jackson became the first player to win the World Series MVP award (named for Babe Ruth, the only other player to hit three home runs in a World Series game) for two different teams. In 27 World Series games, he amassed 10 home runs, including five during the 1977 Series (with 4 in 4 consecutive at bats, the last three on first pitches), 24 RBI and a .357 batting average.
Mr. October hit 4 homers over the span of games 5 and 6, 3 of them consecutively in game 6, an all-time MLB World Series record and 5 homers for the series, another all-time World Series record.
Other descriptions of Reggie Jackson’s career and his 1977 World Series feat can be found at these links;
Sporting News: History of the World Series - 1977
Sporting News: Reggie! Reggie! Reggie!
Baseball Library: Reggie Jackson
The Yankees’ Reggie Jackson: Mr. October, Mr. Controversy
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