Reggie Jackson Was Private but Never Shy

Reggie Jackson is a month from turning 60. Yet it was not so very long ago when he was baseball’s big name, the huge star with the mighty swings and the monster home runs, the Barry Bonds of his time.

If the “reality show” concept had come to television in his day, Jackson undoubtedly would have been the first ballplayer approached to star in one. On his way to 563 home runs and a lifetime World Series average of .357, he was a household name from the Big Apple to the O.C., one with a personality, unlike Bonds’, that seemed ready-made for reality TV.

Would he have done such a show?

“Probably not,” Jackson said on the phone Wednesday. “I was too private.”

Shy, no. As baseball fans from the ‘70s and ‘80s well remember, Jackson was the self-professed straw that stirred the drink, the man with his own candy-bar brand, the narcissist who once held forth on “the magnitude of me.”

Nevertheless, there are limits.

“There are certain things I don’t want made public,” Jackson said. “I don’t want strangers in my home, or around my children, or in my personal love life. If you see the lifestyle I have, to some people it would be offensive.”

Offensive?

“Because of the monetary things that I have, the way I live, that’s what I mean. It winds up being me flaunting it. Why see me get on a private jet? Who would want to see that? Who wants to see me buy a bracelet for my girlfriend for $20,000? It would make someone sick.”

Jackson, who has a role in a new baseball comedy film, “The Benchwarmers,” does have a grand-scale purchase in mind, one that he wouldn’t object to the public being able to see. He would like to buy a Major League Baseball team of his own.

He was extremely disappointed when a chance for his ownership group to land the Oakland A’s came and went. Jackson’s name resurfaced with regard to the Minnesota Twins, but more recently has come speculation he might make a run at the Florida Marlins, with the possibility of moving them to Las Vegas.

“I have talked to [Marlins owner] Jeffrey Loria about trying to do something,” Jackson confirmed. “Whether it’s majority or minority ownership, when you’re in my position, you don’t have anything. So I’m very willing to discuss anything.”

His psychological clock is ticking. Nearly 20 years have passed since Jackson’s last appearance on a field. For now his principal interests are his daughter Kimberly, 15, his business interests and his favorite hobby, a collection of classic automobiles.

But baseball is in his blood.

“I’m more amazed than anything when a kid 8 or 9 years old knows who Reggie Jackson is,” he said. “So I’ve done something right.”

Better than that, his records remain untainted. No one looks back at Jackson’s feats and wonders how they came to be. His ego may have been gigantic, but you don’t hear anyone casting aspersions as to why his arms were.

Jackson, naturally, has taken notice of being surpassed on the career home run list by Bonds, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa and Rafael Palmeiro, all in a relatively recent period of time.

“In the last, what, how many months, I have gone from six to 10. Something went on sale,” Jackson said, coyly.

He emphasized that while a number of players are suspected of better hitting through chemistry, an accusation doesn’t make a man guilty. No slugger other than Palmeiro has yet been formally charged with tangible evidence, Jackson noted.

Should anyone’s records be thrown out?

“I don’t know that you can,” Jackson said. “It depends what you find. It’s difficult for me to say that nobody knew or suspected things were going on for the last 10 years. I don’t have all the data. If I had the data that [investigator] George Mitchell is going to get, I would be able to make a more informed decision. Let’s see what he’s able to do.”

Not much help of any kind could make Jackson’s co-stars in “The Benchwarmers” better batters. But he did enjoy working with them.

“Rob Schneider really did have some skills,” Jackson acknowledged. “He ran well and threw well. David Spade and Jon Heder were not as bad athletes as the way they played it for the movie. They made themselves look more nerdish. They really should keep their day jobs.”