Reggie Jackson was on hand at Rickwood Field Thursday night as Willie Mays and other black baseball players were honored, and the Hall of Famer revealed some harrowing stories about the racist abuse he faced as a player.
Jackson, who is best known for his time with the Kansas City/Oakland A’s and the New York Yankees, spent a season with the Birmingham A’s in the minors.
And the 78-year-old admitted it was difficult being back in his former home stadium of Rickwood as he described the discrimination he faced.
“Coming back here is not easy,” he said on the radio FOX Sports Broadcast prior to the Cardinals-Giants game in Rickwood – the first time an MLB game has been played there.
‘The racism I played [under] here… Luckily I had a manager and players in the team who helped me through it. But I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.’
Reggie Jackson shared harrowing stories about the racist abuse he suffered in the past as a player
Rickwood Field is 114 years old and was previously home to the Birmingham Black Barons
Jackson continued, “I’d walk into restaurants and they’d point at me and say, ‘The n***er can’t eat here.’ I’d go to a hotel and they’d say, ‘the nigger can’t stay here.’
The former right fielder added that staff once prohibited him from entering the country club of A’s owner Charlie Finley during a team dinner.
On the other hand, Jackson credited his teammates, coaches and team leaders for standing by him.
“If I couldn’t eat there, no one would eat, we would take food with us to travel. If I couldn’t stay in a hotel, they would drive to the next hotel and find a place for me to stay.”
He also told how former A teammate Joe Rudi and his wife Sharon let him sleep on their couch three to four nights a week for a short period.
However, he said that after about six weeks, someone threatened to burn down the apartment complex unless he left.
Jackson can be seen around 1974 with the Oakland A’s, with whom he spent 10 seasons in the MLB
Willie Mays, one of the greatest baseball players of all time, passed away this week at the age of 93
Players like Mays, Satchel Paige and Josh Gibson played in the Negro Leagues, which came about because black players were previously not allowed in Major League Baseball.
But the stories of Jackson — who played until 1987 — showed that racism also permeated after the MLB became racially integrated.
Speaking about the legendary Mays, who died this week at the age of 93, Jackson said on Fox Sports: “We all wanted to be like Willie. Whenever anyone played against him, they got caught up in watching Willie. He was pure baseball, my favorite of all time. I loved that man, I wanted to be just like Willie.”
Considered by many to be the greatest baseball player of all time, Mays was the oldest living Hall of Famer before his death.
