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Oakland Athletics’ Top 5 Right Fielders of All Time

By Richard Paloma

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NUMBER 1: Reggie Jackson

In 1973 Jackson led the AL with 32 home runs, 117 RBIs and 99 runs and won the AL Most Valuable Player Award. The A’s won the pennant again and Reggie tore through the playoffs, and in a hard-fought seven-game series, he was named World Series MVP after helping the A’s defeat the New York Mets. : Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports
In 1973 Jackson led the AL with 32 home runs, 117 RBIs and 99 runs and won the AL Most Valuable Player Award. The A’s won the pennant again and Reggie tore through the playoffs, and in a hard-fought seven-game series, he was named World Series MVP after helping the A’s defeat the New York Mets. : Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports /

After breaking into MLB mid-season with the KC Athletics, Reggie Jackson, playing in his first full season with the Oakland A’s, made himself known in 1968 as an emerging force with big-time power after hitting 29 home runs and ranking third in the American League. The mighty right fielder thrived in his second full season in 1970, chasing the single season home run record set by Roger Maris and Babe Ruth. By the All-Star break, Jackson had a record setting 37 HRS, and although he slowed in the second half, he still led the American League in runs scored and slugging percentage.

1970 was an off year for Reggie with only 23 HRs and a .237 BA, but he returned to the limelight in style with a productive 1971 which landed him on the AL All-Star team where he is remembered for smashing a mammoth home run off the light standard at Detroit’s Tiger Stadium. His 32 HRs and .273 BA that year helped the A’s win the first of five consecutive division titles.

In 1972, the A’s made their first World Series, but when Jackson stole home in the clinching Game 5 of the ALCS, he tore his hamstring and was unable to participate in the Fall Classic as the Athletics won the first of three-straight World Series Championships.

In 1973, Jackson led the AL with 32 home runs, 117 RBI and 99 runs, and won the AL Most Valuable Player Award. The Oakland Athletics won the pennant again and Reggie tore through the playoffs. In a hard-fought seven-game series, he was named World Series MVP after helping the A’s defeat the New York Mets.

Jackson helped the A’s to the 1974 World Series again batting .289 for the season and continued hot hitting in the five-game series with a .287 BA and homer. In 1975, Jackson again led the AL in HRs with 36, but after the team lost in the 1975 playoffs, he was traded to the Baltimore Orioles prior to the start of the 1976 season.

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Jackson returned to the Athletics in 1987 after signing a one-year contract and announcing it was his last season. Jackson was the last player in the Major Leagues to have played for the Kansas City Athletics.

Jackson was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1993, his first year of eligibility. Despite putting up more impressive statistics as an Oakland Athletic, Jackson chose to go in the Hall wearing a Yankees cap. He played more years with the A’s than Yankees (10 to five), hit more homers (269 to 144) and won more World Series (three to two).