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Reggie Jackson (born 1946)
Reggie Jackson’s abrasiveness could sometimes alienate teammates. But even when he was at his most disagreeable, his place as one of modern baseball’s best all-around athletes was unassailable. One of a handful to hit more than five hundred home runs in his career and the American League’s Most Valuable Player of 1973, he has been called the "champ’s champ." At his height, one expert claimed, he could "carry a team" for ten days at a time, and the pressure of high-stakes situations seemed only to improve his performance. By the fall of 1977, Jackson had either broken or tied no less than eight World Series batting records, including most home runs in a single game and most runs in a series.
When Time published this cover image in 1974, Jackson was batting .397 and leading his team, the Oakland Athletics, to its second World Series championship in a row. As this likeness clearly suggests, a main ingredient of Jackson’s slugging virtuosity was the sheer power of his seventeen-inch biceps. But a less apparent ingredient was Jackson’s ability to get the pitch he wanted. "If I want a fastball," he explained to Time, "I move up in the batter’s box as though I am expecting a curve. When the pitcher tries to blow it by me, I’m ready."
Howard Rogers (born 1932)
Acrylic on board
Time cover, June 3, 1974
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of Time magazine
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