I believe even as we get older, we sometimes bow to peer pressure or to those who we hold in authority and esteem, and fall into sin, even though we know it is wrong. It shows the brokenness and sinful state of us all.
The exact definition is a little hazy, but let's settle on this one: It means home runs -- lots of home runs. Lots of loud home runs that increase in decibel level as the home fans realize the ball is soaring over the outfield fence.
Download Reggie Home Broke
Download File 🔥 https://cinurl.com/2y4Iyg 🔥
Kyle Schwarber belted two of those blasts in Tuesday's 10-0 victory for the Philadelphia Phillies over the Arizona Diamondbacks, Trea Turner added a third and the Phillies tacked on a bunch of runs late in the game to move two wins away from returning to the World Series. Schwarber's first multihomer game of his postseason career gave him 18 postseason home runs -- matching Reggie Jackson for the most ever by a left-handed batter.
Once again, they feasted on four-seam fastballs. After the Phillies hit three home runs off Zac Gallen fastballs in Game 1, Turner's first-inning blast against Merrill Kelly came off a four-seamer, as did Schwarber's shot in the third inning that landed in the first row of seats above the scoreboard in right field. His second home run, off a Kelly changeup, was a more conventional Schwarbomb: 427 feet to right-center with a 108.5 mph exit velocity.
Schwarber is one of the most unusual leadoff hitters in major league history. He hit .197 this season. He led the majors in strikeouts. He didn't steal a base. But he hits home runs -- 47 of them in the regular season -- and draws walks, and the Phillies have thrived since he moved into the leadoff spot in early June. The Phillies were 25-31 on June 2, when manager Rob Thomson started Schwarber, hitting .160 at the time, in the leadoff spot -- as he would every game he played the rest of the season. The Phillies, 24th in the majors in scoring through June 1, climbed to fifth after the move. Including the postseason, the Phillies are 70-42 since June 2 with Schwarber leading off.
Thomson's move was a return to last October for the Phillies, when Schwarber hit leadoff each game and blasted six home runs -- three in the NLCS and three in the World Series. He might be unconventional but it works.
The Phillies are now hitting .284/.366/.575 as a team in the postseason -- and they're not mixing in many cheap home runs, either. Turner's first-inning blast was 421 feet and 13 of their 19 homers have been 400-plus feet. They just missed three others in Tuesday's game, as Alec Bohm flew out to the wall in deep center field, Bryce Harper flew out to the wall in left and Jake Cave doubled off the wall in center as a pinch hitter in the eighth. In all, the Phillies hit 14 balls in play at 95-plus mph and nine at 100-plus, among their highest totals of 2023.
Teams that outhomer their opponents are now 17-2 this postseason. The Diamondbacks are going to have to find a way to discover their slug like they did against the Los Angeles Dodgers, when they hit nine home runs in a three-game sweep.
Jackson was nicknamed "Mr. October" for his clutch hitting in the postseason with the Athletics and the Yankees.[1] He helped Oakland win five consecutive American League West divisional titles, three straight American League pennants and three consecutive World Series titles from 1972 to 1974. Jackson helped New York win four American League East divisional pennants, three American League pennants and back to back World Series titles, in 1977 and 1978. He also helped the California Angels win two AL West divisional titles in 1982 and 1986. Jackson hit three consecutive home runs at Yankee Stadium in the clinching game six of the 1977 World Series.[1]
Jackson hit 563 career home runs and was an American League (AL) All-Star for 14 seasons. He won two Silver Slugger Awards, the AL Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award in 1973, two World Series MVP Awards and the Babe Ruth Award in 1977. The Yankees retired his uniform number in 1993, and the Athletics retired it in 2004.[2] Jackson currently serves as a special advisor to the Houston Astros, and a sixth championship associated with Jackson came with Houston's win in the 2022 World Series.[3]
For football, Jackson was recruited by Alabama, Georgia, and Oklahoma, all of whom were willing to break the color barrier just for Jackson. (Oklahoma had black football players before 1964, including Prentice Gautt, a star running back recruited in 1957, who played in the NFL.)[10] Jackson declined Alabama and Georgia because he was fearful of the South at the time, and declined Oklahoma because they told him to stop dating white girls.[10] For baseball, Jackson was scouted by Hans Lobert of the San Francisco Giants who was desperate to sign him.[10] The Los Angeles Dodgers and Minnesota Twins also made offers, and the hometown Philadelphia Phillies gave him a tryout but declined because of his "hitting skills".[11]
One day after football practice, he approached ASU baseball coach Bobby Winkles and asked if he could join the team. Winkles said he would give Jackson a look, and the next day while still in his football gear, he hit a home run on the second pitch he saw; in five at-bats he hit three home runs.[12] He was allowed to practice with the team, but could not join the squad because the NCAA had a rule forbidding the use of freshman players.[12] Jackson switched permanently to baseball following his freshman year, as he did not want to become a defensive back.[13] To hone his skills, Winkles assigned him to a Baltimore Orioles-affiliated amateur team called Leone's. He broke numerous team records for the squad, and the Orioles offered him a $50,000 signing bonus if he joined the team.[14] Jackson declined the offer stating that he did not want to forfeit his college scholarship.[12]
In the beginning of his sophomore year in 1966, Jackson replaced Rick Monday (the first player ever selected in the Major League Baseball draft and a future teammate with the A's) at center field. He broke the team record for most home runs in a single season, led the team in numerous other categories and was first team All-American.[15] Many scouts were looking at him play, including Tom Greenwade of the New York Yankees (who discovered Mickey Mantle), and Danny Murtaugh of the Pittsburgh Pirates.[15] In his final game at Arizona State, he showed his potential by being only a triple away from hitting for the cycle, making a sliding catch, and having an assist at home plate.[15] Jackson was the first college player to hit a home run out of Phoenix Municipal Stadium.[16]
Jackson, age 20, signed with the A's for $95,000 on June 13 and reported for his first training camp with the Lewis-Clark Broncs of the short season Single-A Northwest League in Lewiston, Idaho,[22] managed by Grady Wilson.[23] He made his professional debut as a center fielder in the season opener on June 24 at Bethel Park in Eugene, Oregon, but was hitless in five at-bats.[24][25] In the next game, Jackson singled in the first inning and homered in the ninth.[26][27] In the home opener at Bengal Field in Lewiston on June 30, he hit a double and a triple.[28] In his final game as a Bronc on July 6, Jackson was hit in the head by a pitch in the first inning, but stayed in the game and drove in runs with two sacrifice flies. Complaining of a headache, he left the game in the ninth inning, was admitted to St. Joseph's Hospital in Lewiston, and remained overnight for observation.[29][30]
Jackson played for two Class A teams in 1966, with the Broncs for just 12 games,[30][31] and then 56 games with Modesto in the California League, where he hit 21 homers. He began 1967 with the Birmingham A's in the Double-A Southern League in Birmingham, Alabama, being one of only a few blacks on the team.[32] He credits the team's manager at the time, John McNamara, for helping him through that difficult season.
The Athletics moved west to Oakland prior to the 1968 season. Jackson hit 47 home runs in 1969, and was briefly ahead of the pace that Roger Maris set when he broke the single-season record for home runs with 61 in 1961, and that of Babe Ruth when he set the previous record of 60 in 1927.[35] Jackson later said that the sportswriters were claiming he was "dating a lady named 'Ruth Maris.'"
When Jackson slumped at the plate in May 1970, Athletics owner Charlie O. Finley threatened to send him to the minors.[36] Jackson hit 23 home runs while batting .237 for the 1970 season. The Athletics sent him to play in Puerto Rico, where he played for the Santurce team and hit 20 homers and knocked in 47 runs to lead the league in both departments. Jackson hit a memorable home run in the 1971 All-Star Game at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Batting for the American League against Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Dock Ellis, the ball he hit soared above the right-field stands, striking the transformer of a light standard on the right field roof. While with the Angels in 1984, he hit a home run over that roof.
In 1971, the Athletics won the American League's West division, their first title of any kind since 1931, when they played in Philadelphia. They were swept in three games in the American League Championship Series by the Baltimore Orioles. The A's won the division again in 1972; their series with the Tigers went the full five games, and Jackson scored the tying run in the clincher on a steal of home. In the process, however, he tore a hamstring and was unable to play in the World Series. The A's still managed to defeat the Cincinnati Reds in seven games. It was only the second championship won by a San Francisco Bay Area team in any major league sport, the first being the Oakland Oaks of the American Basketball Association, who captured the title in 1969, the league's second season of existence.
Besides hitting 254 home runs in nine years with the Athletics, Jackson was also no stranger to controversy or conflict in Oakland. Sports author Dick Crouser wrote, "When the late Al Helfer was broadcasting the Oakland A's games, he was not too enthusiastic about Reggie Jackson's speed or his hustle. Once, with Jackson on third, teammate Rick Monday hit a long home run. 'Jackson should score easily on that one,' commented Helfer. Crouser also noted that, "Nobody seems to be neutral on Reggie Jackson. You're either a fan or a detractor." When teammate Darold Knowles was asked if Jackson was a hotdog (i.e., a show-off), he famously replied, "There isn't enough mustard in the world to cover Reggie Jackson."[38] e24fc04721