Coordinates	52°40′13″N6°3′46| }}″N
Name	Bob Gibson
Position	Pitcher
Bats	Right
Throws	Right
Birth date	November 09, 1935
Birth place	Omaha, Nebraska
Debutdate	April 15
Debutyear	1959
Debutteam	St. Louis Cardinals
Finaldate	September 3
Finalyear	1975
Finalteam	St. Louis Cardinals
Stat1label	Win–Loss record
Stat1value	251–174
Stat2label	Earned run average
Stat2value	2.91
Stat3label	Strikeouts
Stat3value	3,117
Teams	St. Louis Cardinals (–)
Highlights	9× All-Star (1962, 1962², 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1972) 2× World Series champion (, ) 9× Gold Glove Award winner (1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973) 1968 NL MVP 2× NL Cy Young Award winner (1968, 1970) 2× World Series MVP (1964, 1967) 2× NL TSN Pitcher of the Year (1968, 1970) 1964 Babe Ruth Award Pitched a no-hitter on August 14, 1971 St. Louis Cardinals #45 retired Major League Baseball All-Century Team MLB Records 35 strikeouts during a World Series 17 strikeouts in a World Series game 1.12 ERA in 1968
Hofdate	1981
Hofvote	84.0% (first ballot) }}

Robert "Bob" Gibson (born November 9, 1935) is a retired American professional baseball player. Nicknamed "Hoot" and "Gibby", he was a right-handed pitcher who played his entire 17-year Major League Baseball career with St. Louis Cardinals (1959–1975). A nine-time All-Star selection, Gibson accumulated 3,117 strikeouts during his career, won two Cy Young Awards, was named the National League's Most Valuable Player (MVP) in 1968, and was a member of two World Series championship teams. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1981, his first year of eligibility.

Born in Omaha, Nebraska, Gibson overcame childhood illness to excel in youth sports, particularly basketball and baseball. After briefly playing under contract to both the basketball Harlem Globetrotters team and the St. Louis Cardinals organization, Gibson decided to only continue playing baseball professionally. Once becoming a full-time starting pitcher in July 1961 Gibson began experiencing an increasing level of success, earning his first All-Star appearance in 1962. Along the way Gibson became known for his fierce competitive nature and the intimidation factor he used against opposing batters. Gibson was the starting pitcher in nine World Series games during his career, in which he recorded eight complete games and seven wins. Gibson also set a World Series record by posting 17 strikeouts during Game 1 of the 1968 World Series. After retiring as a player in 1975, Gibson later served as pitching coach for his former teammate Joe Torre. At one time a special instructor coach for the St. Louis Cardinals as well, Gibson was later selected for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team in 1999.

Early life

Gibson was born in Omaha, Nebraska, the final of Pack and Victoria Gibson's seven children (five boys and two girls). Gibson's father died of tuberculosis three months prior to his birth, and Gibson himself was named Pack Robert Gibson in his father's honor. While he revered his father's legacy, Gibson disliked the name Pack, and later changed his first name to Robert. Despite a childhood that included health problems like rickets, and a serious case of either asthma or pneumonia when he was three, Gibson was active in sports in both informal and organized settings, particularly baseball and basketball. Gibson's brother Josh (no relation to the Negro Leagues star player), who was 15 years his senior, had a profound impact on his early life, serving as a mentor to him. Gibson was utilized on a variety of youth basketball and baseball teams his brother coached, many of which were organized through the local YMCA.

Gibson attended Omaha Technical High School, where during his tenure he participated on the track, basketball, and baseball teams. Health issues resurfaced for Gibson though, as he needed a doctor's permission to compete in high school sports because of a heart murmur that occurred in tandem with a rapid growth spurt. Gibson was named to the All-State basketball team during his senior year of high school by a newspaper in Lincoln, Nebraska, and soon after won a full athletic scholarship for basketball to Creighton University.

While at Creighton, Gibson majored in sociology, and continued to experience success playing basketball. At the end of Gibson's junior basketball season he averaged 22 points per game, and made third team Jesuit All-American. As his graduation from Creighton approached, the spring of 1957 proved to be a busy time for Gibson. Aside from getting married, Gibson had concurrently garnered the interest of Harlem Globetrotters basketball team and the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team. In , Gibson received a $3,000 bonus to sign with the Cardinals. He delayed his start with the organization for a year, playing basketball with the Harlem Globetrotters, earning the nickname "Bullet" and becoming famous for backhanded dunks. Gibson continued to play basketball even after starting his career with the Cardinals, until Cardinals general manager Bing Devine offered Gibson four thousand dollars to quit playing basketball during baseball's off-season. After accepting the offer, Gibson attended spring training with the Cardinals in 1958 before spending the remainder of the season in the minor leagues.

Baseball career

Gibson was assigned to the Cardinals' big league roster for the start of the 1959 season, recording his Major League debut on April 15 as a relief pitcher. Reassigned to the Cardinals minor league affiliate on Omaha soon after, Gibson returned to the Major Leagues on July 30 as a starting pitcher, earning his first Major League win that day. Gibson's experience in 1960 was similar, pitching nine innings for the Cardinals before shuffling between the Cardinals and their Rochester affiliate until mid-June. After positing a 3-6 record with a 5.61 ERA, Gibson traveled to Venezuela to participate in winter baseball at the conclusion of the 1960 season. Cardinals manager Solly Hemus shuffled Gibson between the bullpen and the starting pitching rotation for the first half of the 1961 season. Hemus was replaced as Cardinals manager in July 1961 by Johnny Keane, who had been Gibson's manager on the Omaha minor league affiliate several years prior. Keane and Gibson shared a positive professional relationship, and Keane immediately moved Gibson into the starting pitching rotation full-time. Gibson proceeded to compile an 11-6 record the remainder of the year, and posted a 3.24 ERA for the full season.

1962–1967

In late May of the 1962 season Gibson pitched 22 and 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings on his way to being named to his first National League All-Star team. Because of an additional All-Star Game played each season from 1959 to 1962, Gibson was named to the second 1962 N.L. All-Star game as well, where he pitched two innings. After suffering a fractured ankle late in the season, Gibson, sometimes referred to by the nickname "Hoot" (a reference to western film star Hoot Gibson), still finished 1962 with his first 200 plus strikeout season. The rehabilitation of Gibson's ankle was a slow process, and by May 19 of the 1963 season he had recorded only one win. Gibson then turned to rely on his slider and two different fastball pitches to reel off six straight wins prior to late July. Gibson and all other National League pitchers benefited from a rule change that expanded the strike zone above the belt buckle. Adding to his pitching performances was Gibson's offensive production, with his 20 RBIs outmatching the combined RBI output of entire pitching staffs on other National League teams. Even with Gibson's 18 wins and the extra motivation of teammate Stan Musial's impending retirement, the Cardinals finished six games out of first place.

Building off their late season pennant run in 1963, the 1964 Cardinals developed a strong camaraderie that was noted for being free of the racial tension that predominated in the United States at that time. Part of this atmosphere stemmed from the integration of the team's spring training hotel in 1960, and Gibson and teammate Bill White worked to confront and stop use of racial slurs within the team. On August 23, the Cardinals were 11 games behind the Philadelphia Phillies, and remained six and half games behind on September 21. The combination of a nine-game Cardinals winning streak and a ten-game Phillies losing streak then brought the season down to the final game. The Cardinals faced the New York Mets, and Gibson entered the game as a relief pitcher in the fifth inning. Aware that the Phillies were ahead of the Cincinnati Reds 4-0 at the time he entered the game, Gibson proceeded to pitch four innings of two-hit relief, while his teammates scored 11 runs of support to earn the victory. The Cardinals' win and the Phillies' defeat of the Reds made the Cardinals the National League champions, and they next faced the New York Yankees in the 1964 World Series. Gibson was matched against Yankees starting pitcher Mel Stottlemyre for three of the Series' seven games, with Gibson losing Game 2, then winning Game 5. In Game 7 Gibson pitched into the ninth inning, where he allowed home runs to Phil Linz and Clete Boyer, making the score 7-5 Cardinals. With Ray Sadecki warming up in the Cardinal bullpen, Gibson retired Bobby Richardson for the final out, giving the Cardinals their first World Championship since 1946. Along with his two victories, Gibson set a new World Series record by striking out 31 batters.

Gibson made the All-Star team again in 1965 season, and when the Cardinals were well out of the pennant race by August, attention turned on Gibson to see if he could win 20 games for the first time. Gibson was still looking for win number 20 on the last day of the season, a game where new Cardinals manager Red Schoendienst rested many of the regular players. Gibson still prevailed against the Houston Astros by a score of 5-2. The 1966 season marked the opening of Busch Memorial Stadium for the Cardinals, and Gibson was selected to play in the All-Star Game in front of the hometown crowd that year as well.

The Cardinals built a three and half game prior to the 1967 season All-Star break, and Gibson pitched the seventh and eighth innings of the 1967 All-Star game. Gibson then faced the Pittsburgh Pirates on July 15, when Roberto Clemente hit a line drive off Gibson's right leg. Unaware his leg had been fractured, Gibson faced three more batters before his right fibula bone snapped above the ankle. After Gibson returned on September 7, the Cardinals secured the National League pennant on September 18, 10½ games ahead of the San Francisco Giants.

In the 1967 World Series against the Boston Red Sox, Gibson allowed only three earned runs and 14 hits over three complete game victories (Games 1, 4, and 7), the latter two marks tying Christy Mathewson's 1905 World Series record. Just as he had in 1964, Gibson pitched a complete game victory in Game 7, and contributed offensive by hitting a home run that made the game 3-0.

1968–1975

The season became known as "The Year of the Pitcher", and Gibson was at the forefront of pitching dominance. His earned run average was 1.12, a live-ball era record, as well as the major league record in 300 or more innings pitched. It was the lowest major league ERA since Dutch Leonard's 0.96 mark, 54 years earlier. Gibson threw 13 shutouts, three fewer than Grover Alexander's 1916 major league record of 16. From June 2 to July 30, Gibson allowed only two earned runs in ninety-two innings pitched: a 0.20 ERA. Gibson pitched 47 consecutive scoreless innings during this stretch, at the time the third-longest scoreless streak in major league history.

Gibson won the National League MVP Award, the last MVP won by a National League pitcher to date. For the 1968 season, opposing batters only had a batting average of .184, an on base percentage of .233, and a slugging percentage of .236. Gibson lost nine games against 22 wins, despite his record-setting low 1.12 ERA; the anemic batting throughout baseball included his own Cardinal team. The 1968 Cardinals had one .300 hitter, while the team-leading home run and RBI totals were just 16 and 79. Gibson lost five 1-0 games, one of which was to San Francisco Giants pitcher Gaylord Perry's no-hitter on September 17. The Giants' run in that game came on a first-inning home run by light-hitting Ron Hunt—the second of two he would hit the entire season, and one of only 11 that Gibson allowed in 304 2/3 innings.

In Game 1 of the 1968 World Series, Gibson struck out 17 Detroit Tigers to set a World Series record for strikeouts in one game, which still stands today (breaking Sandy Koufax's record of 15 in Game 1 of the 1963 World Series). After allowing a leadoff single to Mickey Stanley in the ninth inning, Gibson finished the game by striking out Tiger sluggers Al Kaline, Norm Cash and Willie Horton in succession. Recalling the performance, Tiger's outfielder Jim Northrup remarked: "We were fastball hitters, but he blew the ball right by us. And he had a nasty slider that was jumping all over the place."

Led by Gibson, the overall pitching statistics in 1968 are often cited as one of the reasons for Major League Baseball's decision to lower the pitcher's mound by five inches in from 15 inches to 10 inches. The change did not affect Gibson's status as one of the league's best pitchers; in 1969 he went 20-13 with a 2.18 ERA, 4 shutouts and 28 complete games. Gibson's ERA record came at the nadir of run scoring in baseball's post-Dead-ball era, and is often mentioned when talk turns to records that are expected to stand for a very long time. On May 12, 1969, Gibson struck out three batters on nine pitches in the seventh inning of a 6-2 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers. Gibson became the ninth National League pitcher and the 15th pitcher in Major League history to throw an "immaculate inning."

Gibson achieved two highlights in August . On the 4th of the month, he defeated the Giants 7-2 at Busch Memorial Stadium for his 200th career victory. Ten days later, he no-hit the Pittsburgh Pirates 11-0 at Three Rivers Stadium. Three of his 10 strikeouts in the game were to Willie Stargell, including the game's final out. The no-hitter was the first in Pittsburgh since Nick Maddox at Exposition Park in ; none had been pitched in the 62-year (mid- to mid-) history of Three Rivers Stadium's predecessor, Forbes Field. He was the second pitcher in Major League Baseball history, after Walter Johnson, to strike out over 3,000 batters, and the first to do so in the National League. He accomplished this at home, at Busch Stadium on July 17, 1974; the victim was César Gerónimo of the Cincinnati Reds. Gibson began the 1972 season by going 0-5, but broke Jesse Haines's club record for victories on June 21, and finished the year with 19 wins.

Gibson was sometimes used by the Cardinals as a pinch-hitter, and in 1970, he hit .303 for the season, which was over 100 points higher than his teammate, shortstop Dal Maxvill. For his career, he batted .206 (274-for-1,328) with 44 doubles, 5 triples, 24 home runs (plus two more in the World Series) and 144 RBIs, plus stealing 13 bases and walking 63 times for a .206/.243/.301 line. He is one of only two pitchers since World War II with a career batting average of .200 or higher, and with at least 20 home runs and 100 RBIs (Bob Lemon, who had broken into the majors as a third baseman, is the other at .232). Gibson was above average as a baserunner and thus was occasionally used as a pinch runner, despite managers' general reluctance to risk injury to pitchers in this way.

During the summer of 1974 Gibson felt hopefully to put together a winning streak, but he continually encountered swelling in his knee. In January 1975 Gibson announced he would retire at the end of the 1975 season, admittedly using baseball to help cope with his recent divorce from his former wife Charlene. During the 1975 season he went 3-10 with a 5.04 ERA. In his final appearance, Gibson was summoned as a reliever in a 6-6 game against the Cubs and gave up the game-winner to an unheralded player, most well known for his odd name and being the son of TV personality Peter Marshall. “When I gave up a grand slam to Pete LaCock,” Bob Gibson said later, “I knew it was time to quit.” The Cardinals honored him with "Bob Gibson Day" in September 1975.

In the eight seasons from to , Gibson won 156 games and lost 81, for a .658 winning percentage. He won nine Gold Glove Awards, was awarded the World Series MVP Award in 1964 and 1967, and won Cy Young Awards in and .

Don't mess with 'Hoot'

Gibson was a fierce competitor who rarely smiled and was known to throw brushback pitches to let batters know who was in charge, similar to his contemporary and fellow Hall of Famer Don Drysdale. Even so, Gibson had good control and hit only 102 batters in his career (fewer than Drysdale's 154).

Gibson showed no mercy, even to players he liked. Gibson's closest friend on the Cardinals was first baseman Bill White, who was later traded to the Philadelphia Phillies. The first time White batted against Gibson as a Phillie, Gibson hit him on the arm with a fastball. Gibson was surly and brusque even with his teammates. When his catcher Tim McCarver went to the mound for a conference, Gibson brushed him off, saying "The only thing you know about pitching is you can't hit it."

Gibson maintained this image even into retirement. In , an Old-Timers' game was played at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego as part of the All-Star Game festivities, and Reggie Jackson hit a home run off Gibson. When the Old-Timers' Day game was played in , the 57-year-old Gibson threw the 47-year-old Jackson a brushback pitch. The pitch was not especially fast and did not hit Jackson, but the message was delivered, and Jackson did not get a hit.

Gibson casually disregards his reputation for intimidation, though, saying that he made no concerted effort to seem intimidating. He joked in an interview with a St. Louis public radio station that the only reason he made faces while pitching was because he needed glasses and could not see the catcher's signals.

Post-playing career

Before returning to his home in Omaha at the end of the 1975 season, Cardinals general manager Bing Devine offered Gibson an undefined job that was contingent on approval from higher-ranking club officials. Unsure of his future career path, Gibson declined, and used the motor home the Cardinals had given him as a retirement gift to travel across the western United States during the 1975 offseason. Returning to Omaha, Gibson continued to serve on the board of a local bank, was at one point the principal investor in radio station KOWH, and started "Gibson's Spirits and Sustenance" restaurant, sometimes working twelve hours days as owner/operator. He also worked as a backup color analyst for ABC's ''Monday Night Baseball'' telecasts in 1976.

Gibson returned to baseball in 1981 after accepting accepting a coaching job with Joe Torre, who was then manager of the New York Mets. Torre termed Gibson's position "attitude coach," the first such title in Major League history. After Torre and his coaching staff were let go at the end of the 1981 season, Torre moved on to coach the Atlanta Braves in 1982, where he hired Gibson as a pitching coach. The Braves proceeded to challenge for the National League pennant for the first time since 1969, ultimately losing to Cardinals in the 1982 National League Championship Series. Gibson remained with Torre on the Braves' coaching staff until the end of the 1984 season. Gibson then took to hosting a pre and post game show for Cardinals baseball games on radio station KMOX from 1985 until 1989. Gibson also served as color commentator for baseball games on ESPN in 1990, but declined an option to continue the position over concerns he would have spent too much time away from his family. Gibson is father to three children; daughters Annette and Renee with his first wife Charline, and son Chris with his second wife Wendy.

Honors

Gibson's jersey number 45 was retired by the St. Louis Cardinals, and in 1981, he was inducted into the Baseball Hall Of Fame. In , he ranked Number 31 on ''The Sporting News''' list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, and was elected to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team. He has a star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame. A bronze statue of Gibson by Harry Weber is located in front of Busch Stadium, commemorating Gibson along with other St. Louis Cardinals greats. In 2004, he was named as the most intimidating pitcher of all time from the Fox Sports Net series The Sports List. The street on the north side of Rosenblatt Stadium, home of the College World Series in his hometown of Omaha, is named Bob Gibson Boulevard.

Career MLB Statistics

Pitching

174

Category !! W !! L !! Games played	G !! CG !! ERA !! SHO !! IP !! H !! ER !! HR !! BB !! SO !! WHIP !! O-AVE !! O-OBP !! O-SLG !! ERA+
Total	251	|	528	255	2.91	56	3,884.1	3,279	1,258	257	1,336	3,117	1.19	.228	.297	.325	127

See also

List of members of the Baseball Hall of Fame

List of Major League Baseball retired numbers

3000 strikeout club

List of Major League Baseball leaders in career wins

List of Major League Baseball ERA champions

List of Major League Baseball strikeout champions

List of Major League Baseball wins champions

List of Gold Glove Award winners at pitcher

MLB All-Time Hit Batsmen List

Pitchers who have struck out three batters on nine pitches

Top 100 strikeout pitchers of all time

MLB all-time leaders in home runs by pitchers

List of Major League Baseball no-hitters

References

;Footnotes

;Bibliography

External links

''Hall Of Famer Defends Inside Pitches To Batter'', Baseball Digest, November 1987

}}

Category:African American baseball players Category:Atlanta Braves coaches Category:Creighton Bluejays men's basketball players Category:Columbus Foxes players Category:Creighton University alumni Category:Cy Young Award winners Category:Gold Glove Award winners Category:Harlem Globetrotters players Category:Major League Baseball announcers Category:Baseball players from Nebraska Category:Major League Baseball pitchers Category:Major League Baseball pitching coaches Category:Major League Baseball players with retired numbers Category:National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees Category:National League All-Stars Category:National League ERA champions Category:National League strikeout champions Category:National League wins champions Category:New York Mets coaches Category:Omaha Cardinals players Category:People from North Omaha, Nebraska Category:People from Sarpy County, Nebraska Category:Creighton Bluejays baseball players Category:Rochester Red Wings players Category:Sportspeople of multiple sports Category:St. Louis Cardinals players Category:1935 births Category:Living people

es:Bob Gibson fr:Bob Gibson ko:밥 깁슨 ja:ボブ・ギブソン fi:Bob Gibson

''Garden Cities of To-morrow'' is a book by the British urban planner Ebenezer Howard. When it was published in 1898, the book was titled ''To-morrow: A Peaceful Path to Real Reform''. In 1902 it was reprinted as ''Garden Cities of To-Morrow''. The book gave rise to the garden city movement.

This book offered a vision of towns free of slums and enjoying the benefits of both town (such as opportunity, amusement and high wages) and country (such as beauty, fresh air and low rents). Howard illustrated the idea with his "Three Magnets" diagram. His ideas were conceived for the context of a capitalist economic system, and sought to balance individual and community needs.

Two English towns were built as garden cities, Letchworth and Welwyn. Though they did not completely measure up to the ideal, they provided a model for controlling urban sprawl.

Diagrams from the 1902 edition

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Notes

References

Larry Anderson. ''Benton MacKaye: Conservationist, Planner, and creator of the Appalachian Trail''. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press. 2002.

Ebenezer Howard. ''Garden Cities of Tomorrow''. London: S. Sonnenschein & Co., Ltd. 1902. (at Google Books)

Sacred-Texts.com. Garden Cities of Tomorrow (HTML edition with introduction).

Category:1898 books Category:British non-fiction books

Coordinates	52°40′13″N6°3′46| }}″N
Name	Reggie Jackson
Position	Right fielder
Name	Reggie Jackson
Bats	Left
Throws	Left
Birth date	May 18, 1946
Birth place	Wyncote, Pennsylvania
Debutdate	June 9
Debutyear	1967
Debutteam	Kansas City Athletics
Finaldate	October 4
Finalyear	1987
Finalteam	Oakland Athletics
Stat1label	Batting average
Stat1value	.262
Stat2label	Home runs
Stat2value	563
Stat3label	Hits
Stat3value	2,584
Stat4label	Runs batted in
Stat4value	1,702
Teams	Kansas City / Oakland Athletics (–) Baltimore Orioles () New York Yankees (–) California Angels (–) Oakland Athletics ()
Highlights	14× All-Star selection (1969, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984) 5× World Series champion (, , , , ) 2× Silver Slugger Award winner (1980, 1982) 1973 AL MVP 2× World Series MVP (1973, 1977) 1977 Babe Ruth Award Oakland Athletics #9 retired New York Yankees #44 retired
Hofdate
Hofvote	93.6% (first ballot) }}

Reginald Martinez Jackson (born May 18, 1946), nicknamed "Mr. October" for his clutch hitting in the postseason with the New York Yankees, is a former American Major League Baseball right fielder. During a 21-year baseball career, he played from 1967-1987 for four different teams. Jackson currently serves as a special advisor to the New York Yankees. He helped win three consecutive World Series titles as a member of the Oakland Athletics in the early 1970s and also helped win two consecutive titles with the New York Yankees. Jackson was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1993.

Youth and early career

Early life

Jackson was born in Wyncote, Pennsylvania, just north of Philadelphia. His father was Martinez Jackson, a tailor who was also a former second baseman with the Newark Eagles of the Negro Leagues. He was the youngest of four children between Reggie's mother, Clara, who was of Hispanic descent. He also had two half siblings from his father's first marriage. His parents divorced when he was four; his mother taking four of his siblings with her, while his father was left with Jackson, and one of the siblings from his first marriage, though one sibling later returned to Wyncote. His father raised his son as a single parent, and was one of the few black families in Wyncote. He didn't experience the Jim Crow laws that most African-American ballplayers from his era experienced as Wyncote was primarily a Jewish town. He was able to develop a social ease with the Jewish community in Wyncote, as all his friends, girlfriends, coaches, and teachers during that timeframe were Jewish. (in 1972, Jackson joined his Jewish teammates on the A's, Ken Holtzman and Mike Epstein, in wearing black armbands for the rest of the postseason after the Munich Massacre).

Jackson graduated from Cheltenham High School in 1964, where he excelled in football, basketball, baseball and track and field. In his junior year of high-school, Jackson, a tailback tore up his knee in a early season game. He was told by the doctors he was never to play football again, but Jackson returned for the final game of the season. In that game, Jackson fractured five cervical vertebrae, which caused him to spend six weeks in the hospital, and another month in a neck cast. Doctors told Jackson that he might never walk again, let alone play football, but Jackson defied the odds again. On the baseball team, he batted .550 and threw several no-hitters. In the middle of his senior year, Jackson's father was arrested for bootlegging and was sentenced to six months in jail.

Collegiate career

In football, he was scouted by Alabama, Georgia, and Oklahoma, all of whom were willing to break the color barrier just for Jackson. 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. For baseball, Jackson was scouted by Hans Lobert of the San Francisco Giants who was desperate to sign him. 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". His father wanted his son to be the first of his family to go to college, where Jackson wanted to play both football and baseball. He decided to attend Arizona State University on a football scholarship. His high-school football coach knew the football coach for Arizona State Frank Kush, and they discussed the possibility of him playing both sports. After a recruiting trip, Kush decided that Jackson had the ability and willingness to work to join the squad.

One day after football practice, he approached baseball coach Bobby Winkles asking 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. He was allowed to practice with the team, but couldn't join the squad because the NCAA had a rule forbidding the use of freshman players. Jackson switched permanently to baseball following his freshman year, as he didn't want to become a defensive back. To hone his skills, Winkles assigned him to a Baltimore Orioles affiliated amateur team. He broke numerous team records for the squad, and the Orioles offered him a $50,000 signing bonus if he joined the team. Jackson declined the offer stating that he doesn't want to forfeit his college scholarship. In the beginning of his sophomore year Jackson replaced Rick Monday (who was the first player ever drafted in the Major League Baseball Draft) at center field. During that season 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. 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. In his final game at Arizona State, he showed his potential by having a triple away from hitting for the cycle, made a sliding catch, and having an assist at home plate. Jackson was the first college player to hit a home run out of Phoenix Municipal Stadium.

Professional career

Minor leagues

In the 1966 Major League Baseball Draft, Jackson was selected by the Kansas City Athletics. He was the 2nd overall draft pick in the 1st round, behind catcher Steve Chilcott, who was selected by the New York Mets. According to Jackson, Winkles told him that the Mets didn't select him because he had a white girlfriend. Winkles later denied the story, stating that he didn't know the reason why Jackson wasn't drafted by the Mets. It was later confirmed by Joe McDonald that the Mets drafted Chilcott because of need, yet again the person running the Mets at the time was George Weiss a known racist, so the true motive may never be known.

Jackson progressed through the minors quickly, reporting for his first training camp with the Single-A Lewis-Clark Broncs, Lewiston, Idaho in June, 1966, having signed for $85,000 (source: "40 Years Ago Today" in the "Lewiston Morning Tribune" June 15, 2006, and playing one season for the A's Single-A teams, the Broncs and Modesto, California and one more season for their Double-A affiliate in Birmingham, Alabama. It was in Birmingham that Jackson got his first taste of racism, being one of only a few blacks on the team. He credits the team's manager at the time, John McNamara, who had previously been the Bronc's catcher-manager, for helping him through that difficult season.

Oakland Athletics (1967-1975)

Jackson debuted in the major leagues with the A's on June 9, 1967, a 6-0 A's victory over the Cleveland Indians in Cleveland. Following that season, the Athletics moved to Oakland. 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. Jackson later said that the sportswriters were claiming he was "dating a lady named 'Ruth Maris.'" That off-season, Jackson sought an increase in salary, and A's owner Charlie Finley threatened to send Jackson to the minors. Commissioner Bowie Kuhn successfully intervened in their dispute, but Jackson's numbers in 1970 dropped sharply, as he hit just 23 home runs while batting .237. The Athletics sent him to play in Puerto Rico. There 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. In 1984, he would hit a home run over that roof.

In 1971, the Athletics won the American League's Western Division title, their first first-place finish since 1931, when they played in Philadelphia. They lost the American League Championship Series to the Baltimore Orioles. The A's won the Division again in 1972; their series with the Tigers went 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 the first World Championship won by a San Francisco Bay Area team in any major league sport.

He helped the Athletics win the pennant again in 1973, and was named Most Valuable Player of the American League for the season. The A's defeated the New York Mets in seven hard-fought games in the World Series. This time, Jackson was not only able to play, but his performance led to his being awarded the Series' Most Valuable Player award. In the third inning of that seventh game, which ended in a 5-2 score, Oakland jumped out to a 4-0 lead as both Bert Campaneris and Jackson hit two-run home runs off Jon Matlack—the only Oakland home runs of the entire Series. The A's won the World Series again in 1974, defeating the Los Angeles Dodgers in five games. This Series marked the first time that two teams from California played each other for a sport's World Championship, and, through 2009, the only time a team other than the New York Yankees has won three consecutive World Series. While playing in Philadelphia, the Athletics had won three straight pennants from 1929 to 1931, but lost the third World Series in that stretch after winning the first two.

Besides putting up monster numbers during his nine years with the Athletics, including 254 home runs, 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." One-time teammate Darold Knowles would seem to be in the latter camp. Once when 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."

Perhaps the most notable off-field incident involving Jackson occurred on June 5, 1974, when outfielder Billy North and Jackson engaged in a clubhouse fight at Detroit's Tiger Stadium. Jackson injured his shoulder, and catcher Ray Fosse, attempting to separate the combatants, suffered a crushed disk in his neck, costing him three months on the disabled list.

Baltimore Orioles (1976)

The A's won the Division again in 1975, but the loss of pitcher Catfish Hunter, baseball's first modern free agent, left them vulnerable, and they were swept in the ALCS by the Boston Red Sox. With the coming of free agency after the 1976 season, and with team owner Finley unwilling to pay the higher salary that Jackson would ask for, Jackson was traded on April 2, 1976 along with minor leaguer Bill VanBommell and Ken Holtzman to the Baltimore Orioles for Don Baylor, Mike Torrez, and Paul Mitchell. Both his new team, the Orioles, and his former team, the Athletics, finished second in their respective divisions. Reggie Jackson tied the then American League record of hitting home runs in six consecutive games at Baltimore in 1976.

New York Yankees (1977-1981)

The Yankees signed Jackson to a five-year contract, totaling US$2.96 million, on November 29, 1976. Upon arriving in New York, the number 9 that he had worn in Oakland and Baltimore was worn by third baseman Graig Nettles. Jackson asked for number 42, in memory of Jackie Robinson. But manager Billy Martin brought his friend Art Fowler in as pitching coach, and gave him number 42. So, noting that then-all-time home run leader Hank Aaron had just retired, Jackson asked for and received number 44, Aaron's number. On his first day in spring training the following February, however, Jackson wore number 20 (the number of Frank Robinson, who had also just retired) before switching to 44.

Jackson's first season with the Yankees, 1977, was a difficult one. Although team owner George Steinbrenner and several players, most notably catcher and team captain Thurman Munson and outfielder Lou Piniella, were excited about his arrival, Martin was not. Martin had managed the Tigers in 1972, when Jackson's A's beat them in the playoffs. Jackson was once quoted as saying of Martin, "I hate him, but if I played for him, I'd probably love him."

The relationship between Jackson and his new teammates was strained due to an interview with ''SPORT'' magazine writer Robert Ward. During spring training at the Yankees' camp in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Jackson and Ward were having drinks at a nearby bar. Jackson's version of the story is that he noted that the Yankees had won the pennant the year before, but lost the World Series to the Reds, and suggested that they needed one thing more to win it all, and pointed out the various ingredients in his drink. Ward suggested that Jackson might be "the straw that stirs the drink." But when the story appeared in the May 1977 issue of ''SPORT'', Ward quoted Jackson as saying, "This team, it all flows from me. I'm the straw that stirs the drink. Maybe I should say me and Munson, but he can only stir it bad."

Jackson has consistently denied saying anything negative about Munson in the interview and that his quotes were taken out of context. However, Dave Anderson of the ''New York Times'' subsequently wrote that he had drinks with Jackson in July 1977, and that Jackson told him, "I'm still the straw that stirs the drink. Not Munson, not nobody else on this club." Regardless, as Munson was beloved by his teammates, Martin, Steinbrenner and Yankee fans, the relationships between them and Jackson became very strained.

On June 18, in a 10-4 loss to the Boston Red Sox in a nationally-televised game at Fenway Park in Boston, Jim Rice, a powerful hitter but notorious slow runner, hit a ball into shallow right field that Jackson appeared to weakly attempt to field. Jackson failed to reach the ball which fell far in front of him, thereby allowing Rice to reach second base. Furious, Martin removed Jackson from the game without even waiting for the end of the inning, sending Paul Blair out to replace him. When Jackson arrived at the dugout, Martin yelled that Jackson had shown him up. They argued, and Jackson said that Martin's heavy drinking had impaired his judgment. Despite Jackson being eighteen years younger, about two inches taller and maybe forty pounds heavier, Martin lunged at him, and had to be restrained by coaches Yogi Berra and Elston Howard. Red Sox fans could see this in the dugout and began cheering wildly, and the NBC TV cameras showed the confrontation to the entire country.

Yankee management managed to defuse the situation by the next day, but the relationship between Jackson and Martin was permanently poisoned. Nevertheless, late in the season, after resisting requests from various sources to do so, most particularly Steinbrenner, Martin put Jackson in the fourth position in the batting order, the "cleanup" position generally reserved for the team's most powerful hitter. Jackson's hitting improved (he had 13 home runs and 49 RBIs over his next 50 games), and the team went on a winning streak. On September 14, while in a tight three-way race for the American League Eastern Division crown with the Red Sox and Orioles, Jackson ended a game with the Red Sox by hitting a home run off Reggie Cleveland, giving the Yankees a 2-0 win. The Yankees won the division by two and a half games over the Red Sox and Orioles, and came from behind in the top of the 9th inning in the fifth and final game of the American League Championship Series to beat the Kansas City Royals for the pennant.

Mr. October

During the World Series against the Dodgers, Munson was interviewed, and suggested that Jackson, because of his past post-season performances, might be the better interview subject. "Go ask Mister October", he said, giving Jackson a nickname that would stick. (In Oakland, he had been known as "Jax" and "Buck.") Jackson hit home runs in Game 4 and Game 5 of the Series.

Jackson's crowning achievement came with his three-home-run performance in World Series-clinching Game 6, each on the first pitch, off three different Dodger pitchers. (His first plate-appearance, during inning two, resulted in a four-pitch walk.) The first came off starter Burt Hooton, and was a line drive shot into the lower right field seats at Yankee Stadium. The second was a much faster line drive off reliever Elias Sosa into roughly the same area. With the fans chanting his name, "Reg-GIE! Reg-GIE! Reg-GIE!" the third came off reliever Charlie Hough, a knuckleball pitcher, making the distance of this home run particularly remarkable. It was a towering drive into the black-painted batter's eye seats in center, 475 feet away.

Since Jackson had hit a home run off Dodger pitcher Don Sutton in his last at bat in Game 5, his three home runs in Game 6 meant that he had hit four home runs on four consecutive swings of the bat against four different Dodger pitchers. Jackson became the first player to win the World Series MVP award for two different teams. In 27 World Series games, he amassed 10 home runs, including a record five during the 1977 Series (the last three on first pitches), 24 RBI and a .357 batting average. Babe Ruth is the only other player to hit three home runs in a single World Series game, accomplishing the feat twice - in 1926 and 1928 (both in Game 4). In 2009,Chase Utley of the Philadelphia Phillies tied Jackson's record for most home runs in a single World Series.

An often forgotten aspect of the ending of this decisive Game 6 was the way Jackson left the field at the game's end. Ironically, despite everything Jackson had done for the Yankees that night, the uncontrollable behavior of Yankee Stadium fans left him feeling understandably worried for his safety. Fans had been getting somewhat rowdy in anticipation of the game's end, and some had actually thrown firecrackers out near Jackson's area in right field. Jackson was alarmed enough about this to walk off the field, in order to get a helmet from the Yankee bench to protect himself. Shortly after this point, as the end of the game neared, fans were actually bold enough to climb over the wall, draping their legs over the side in preparation for the moment when they planned to rush onto the field. When that moment came, after pitcher Mike Torrez caught a pop-up for the game's final out, Jackson started running at top speed off the field, actually body checking past some of these fans filling the playing field in the manner of a football linebacker.

The Bronx Zoo

The Yankees' home opener of the 1978 season, on April 13 against the Chicago White Sox, featured a new product, the "Reggie!" bar. In 1976, while playing in Baltimore, Jackson had said, "If I played in New York, they'd name a candy bar after me." The Standard Brands company responded with a circular "bar" of peanuts dipped in caramel and covered in chocolate, a confection which was originally named the Wayne Bun as it was made in Ft. Wayne, Indiana. The Reggie! bars were handed to fans as they walked into Yankee Stadium. Jackson hit a home run, and when he returned to right field the next inning, fans began throwing the Reggie bars on the field in celebration. Jackson told the press that this confused him, thinking that maybe the fans did not like the candy. The Yankees won the game, 4-2.

But the Yankees could not maintain their success, as manager Billy Martin lost control. On July 23, after suspending Jackson for disobeying a sign during a July 17 game, Martin made a statement about his two main antagonists, referring to comments Jackson had made and team owner George Steinbrenner's 1972 violation of campaign-finance laws: "They're made for each other. One's a born liar, the other's convicted." It was moments like these that gave the Yankees the nickname "The Bronx Zoo."

Martin resigned the next day (some sources have said he was actually fired), and was replaced by Bob Lemon, a Hall of Fame pitcher for the Cleveland Indians who had been recently fired as manager of the White Sox. Steinbrenner, a Cleveland-area native, had hired former Indians star Al Rosen as his team president (replacing another Cleveland figure, Gabe Paul). Steinbrenner jumped at the chance to involve another hero of his youth with the Yankees; Lemon had been one of Steinbrenner's coaches during the Bombers' pennant-winning 1976 season.

After being 14 games behind the first-place Red Sox on July 18, the Yankees finished the season in a tie for first place. The two teams played a one-game playoff for the division title at Fenway Park, with the Yankees winning 5-4. Although the home run by light-hitting shortstop Bucky Dent in the seventh inning got the most notice, it was an eighth-inning home run by Jackson that gave the Yankees the fifth run they ended up needing. The next day, with the American League Championship Series with the Royals beginning, Jackson hit a home run off the Royals' top reliever at the time, Al Hrabosky, the flamboyant "Mad Hungarian." The Yankees won the pennant in four games, their third straight.

Jackson was once again in the center of events in the World Series, again against the Dodgers. Los Angeles won the first two games, taking the second when rookie reliever Bob Welch struck Jackson out with two men on base with two outs in the ninth inning. The Yankees won Game 3 on several fine defensive plays by third baseman Graig Nettles, and took Game 4 in ten innings. The key play in Game 4 (and of the Series) came in the sixth inning with one out and Thurman Munson on second and Jackson on first. Lou Piniella hit a low line drive, Jackson had to stop between bases, not knowing if the ball would be caught. It was not, and Dodger shortstop Bill Russell stepped on second to force Jackson and threw to first. The ball hit Jackson on the right hip and caromed away while Piniella reached first and advanced to second, with Munson scoring.

Dodger manager Tommy Lasorda argued with the umpires, saying that Jackson intentionally interfered and that Piniella should also be declared out. The umpires did not change their call, and the Yankees went on to win. The Yankees won the series in Game 6, with Jackson getting revenge on Welch with a home run.

1980-1981 seasons

In 1980, Jackson batted .300 for the only time in his career, and his 41 home runs tied with Ben Oglivie of the Milwaukee Brewers for the American League lead. However, the Yankees were swept in the ALCS by the Kansas City Royals.

In 1981, the last year of his Yankee contract, Jackson endured several difficulties from George Steinbrenner. Steinbrenner consulted Jackson about signing then-free agent Dave Winfield, and Jackson expected Steinbrenner to work out a new contract for him as well. Steinbrenner never did (some say never intending to) and Jackson played the season as a free agent. Jackson started slowly with the bat, and, when the 1981 Major League Baseball strike began, Steinbrenner invoked a clause in Jackson's contract forcing him to take a complete physical examination. Jackson was outraged and blasted Steinbrenner in the media. When the season resumed, Jackson's hitting improved, partly to show Steinbrenner he wasn't finished as a player. He hit a long home run into the upper deck in Game 5 of the strike-forced 1981 American League Division Series with the Brewers, and the Yankees went on to win the pennant again. However, Jackson injured himself running the bases in Game 2 of the 1981 ALCS and missed the first two games of the World Series, both of which the Yankees won.

Jackson was medically cleared to play Game 3, but manager Bob Lemon refused to start him or even play him, allegedly acting under orders from Steinbrenner. The Yankees lost that game and Jackson played the remainder of the series, hitting a home run in Game 4. However, they lost the last three games and the Series to the Dodgers.

California Angels (1982-1986) and Oakland Athletics (1987)

Jackson became a free-agent again once the 1981 season was over. The owner of the California Angels, legendary entertainer Gene Autry, had heard of Jackson's desire to return to California to play, and signed him to a five-year contract.

On April 27, 1982, in Jackson's first game back at Yankee Stadium with the Angels, he broke out of a terrible season-starting slump to hit a home run off former teammate Ron Guidry. The at-bat began with Yankee fans, angry at Steinbrenner for letting Jackson get away, starting the "Reg-GIE!" chant, and ended it with the fans chanting "Steinbrenner sucks!" By the time of Jackson's election to the Hall of Fame, Steinbrenner had begun to say that letting him go was the biggest mistake he has made as Yankee owner.

That season, the Angels won the American League West, and would do so again in 1986, but lost the American League Championship Series both times. On September 17, 1984, on the 17th anniversary of the day he hit his first home run, he hit his 500th, at Anaheim Stadium off Bud Black of the Royals.

In 1987, he signed a one-year contract to return to the A's, wearing the number 44 with which he was now most associated rather than the number 9 he previously wore in Oakland. He announced he would retire after the season, at the age of 41. In his last at-bat, at Comiskey Park in Chicago on October 4, he collected a broken-bat single up the middle, but the A's lost to the White Sox, 5-2. He is the last Kansas City A's player to play in a Major League Baseball game.

Jackson played 21 seasons and reached the post-season in 11 of them, winning six pennants and five World Series. His accomplishments include winning both the regular-season and World Series MVP awards in 1973, hitting 563 career home runs (sixth all-time at the time of his retirement), maintaining a .490 career slugging percentage, being named to 14 All-Star teams, and the dubious distinction of being the all-time leader in strikeouts with 2,597. Jackson was the first major leaguer to hit one hundred home runs for three different clubs, having hit over 100 for the Athletics, Yankees, and Angels.

Personal life

During his freshman year at Arizona State, he met Jennie Campos, a Mexican-American. Jackson asked Campos on a date, and discovered many similarities, including the ability to speak Spanish, and being raised in a single parent home (Campos father was killed in the Korean War). An assistant football coach tried to break up the couple because Jackson was black and Campos was considered white. The coach contacted Campos' uncle, a wealthy benefactor of the school, and he warned the couple that their being together was a bad idea. But the relationship held up and she later became his first wife.

During the mid 1980's Jackson dated actress Jenilee Harrison, former star of Three's Company.

During the off-season, though still active in baseball, Jackson worked as a field reporter and color commentator for ABC Sports. Just over a month before signing with the Yankees in fall 1976, Jackson did analysis in the ABC booth with Keith Jackson and Howard Cosell the night his future team won the American League pennant on a homer by Chris Chambliss. During the 1980s (1983, 1985, and 1987 respectively), Jackson was given the task of presiding over the World Series Trophy presentations. In addition, Jackson did color commentary for the 1984 National League Championship Series (alongside Don Drysdale and Earl Weaver). After his retirement as an active player, Jackson returned to his color commentary role covering the 1988 American League Championship Series (alongside Gary Bender and Joe Morgan).

He also made appearances in the film ''The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!'', in which he played the Angels' outfielder diabolically programmed to kill the Queen of England. He also appeared in ''Richie Rich'', ''BASEketball'', ''Summer of Sam'' and ''The Benchwarmers''. He played himself in the ''Archie Bunker's Place'' episode "Reggie-3 Archie-0" in 1982, a 1990 ''MacGyver'' episode, "Squeeze Play," and the ''Malcolm in the Middle'' episode "Polly in the Middle," from 2004. Jackson was also considered for the role of Geordi LaForge in the series ''Star Trek: The Next Generation'', a role which ultimately went to Levar Burton. From 1981-1982 he hosted for Nickelodeon ''Reggie Jackson's Wide World of Sports''.

He co-authored a new book in 2010, ''Sixty-Feet Six-Inches'', with fellow Hall of Famer Bob Gibson. The book, whose title refers to the distance between the pitcher's mound and home plate, details their careers and approach to the game.

Post-retirement honors

Jackson and Steinbrenner would reconcile, and Steinbrenner would hire him as a "special assistant to the principal owner", making Jackson a consultant and a liaison to the team's players, particularly the minority players. By this point, the Yankees, long noted for being slow to adapt to changes in race relations, have come to develop many minority players in their farm system and seek out others via trades and free agency. Jackson usually appears in uniform at the Yankees' current spring training complex in Tampa, Florida, and has been sought out for advice by current stars such as Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez.

thumb|200px|left|Reggie Jackson's plaque in the [[National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum|Baseball Hall of Fame]]Jackson was inducted to the Hall of Fame in . He chose to wear a Yankees cap on his Hall of Fame plaque after the Oakland Athletics unceremoniously fired him from a coaching position in 1991.

The Yankees retired his uniform number 44 on August 14, 1993, shortly after his induction into the Hall of Fame. The Athletics retired his number 9 on May 22, 2004. He is one of only eight Major League Baseball players to have their numbers retired by more than one team, and one of only three to have different numbers retired by two MLB teams.

In 1999, Jackson placed 48th on Sporting News 100 Greatest Baseball Players. That same year, he was named one of 100 finalists for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team, but was not one of the 30 players chosen by the fans.

thumb|250px|Reggie Jackson during the 2009 World Series victory parade.The Yankees dedicated a plaque in his honor on July 6, 2002, which now hangs in Monument Park at Yankee Stadium. The plaque calls him "One of the most colorful and exciting players of his era" and "a prolific hitter who thrived in pressure situations." Each Yankee so honored and still living was on hand for the dedication: Phil Rizzuto, Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford and Don Mattingly. Ron Guidry, a teammate of Jackson's for all five of his seasons with the Yankees, was there, and would be honored with a Monument Park plaque the next season. Out of respect to some of the players who Jackson admired while growing up, Jackson invited Willie Mays, Hank Aaron and Ernie Banks to attend the ceremony, and each did so. Like Jackson, each was a member of the Hall of Fame and had hit over 500 career home runs. Each had also played in the Negro Leagues.

Jackson expanded his love of antique cars into a chain of auto dealerships in California, and used his contacts to become one of the foremost traders of sports memorabilia. He has also been the public face of a group attempting to purchase a major league team, already having made unsuccessful attempts to buy the Athletics and the Angels. His attempt to acquire the Angels along with Jimmy Nederlander (minority owner of the New York Yankees), Jackie Autry (widow of former Angels owner Gene Autry) and other luminaries was thwarted by Mexican American billionaire Arturo Moreno who outbid Jackson's group by nearly $50 million for the team in the winter of 2002.

In 2007, ESPN aired a mini-series called ''The Bronx is Burning'', about the 1977 Yankees, with the conflicts and controversies around Jackson a central part of the storyline. Jackson is portrayed by Daniel Sunjata. In 2008, he threw out the first pitch at Yankees Opening Day, the last one at Yankee Stadium. He also threw out the first pitch at the first game at the new Yankee Stadium (an exhibition game).

On October 9, 2009, Reggie Jackson threw the opening pitch for Game 2 of the ALDS between the New York Yankees and the Minnesota Twins.

See also

List of famous Puerto Ricans

List of Major League Baseball Home Run Records

List of Major League Baseball leaders in career stolen bases

500 home run club

List of top 300 Major League Baseball home run hitters

DHL Hometown Heroes

Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame

Major League Baseball titles leaders

Notes

References

Boyfriends

External links

ReggieJackson.com

The Sporting News' Baseball's 25 Greatest Moments: Reggie! Reggie! Reggie!

''Sports Illustrated'' - covers

Reggie Jackson Exclusive Interview for MSG's The Bronx is Burning: Summer of '77

}}

Category:500 home run club Category:African American baseball players Category:African American baseball coaches Category:American League Most Valuable Player Award winners Category:American League All-Stars Category:American League home run champions Category:American League RBI champions Category:American people of Puerto Rican descent Category:Arizona State University alumni Category:Arizona State Sun Devils baseball players Category:Arizona State Sun Devils football players Category:National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees Category:Baltimore Orioles players Category:California Angels players Category:Kansas City Athletics players Category:Major League Baseball announcers Category:Major League Baseball designated hitters Category:Major League Baseball hitting coaches Category:Baseball players from Pennsylvania Category:Major League Baseball right fielders Category:Major League Baseball World Series Most Valuable Player award winners Category:New York Yankees executives Category:New York Yankees players Category:Oakland Athletics players Category:Oakland Athletics coaches Category:People from Montgomery County, Pennsylvania Category:People from Oakland, California Category:Puerto Rican baseball players Category:Major League Baseball players with retired numbers Category:Lewiston Broncs players Category:Modesto Reds players Category:Birmingham A's players Category:1946 births Category:Living people Category:Car collectors

de:Reggie Jackson es:Reggie Jackson fr:Reggie Jackson ko:레지 잭슨 it:Reggie Jackson ja:レジー・ジャクソン simple:Reggie Jackson fi:Reggie Jackson sv:Reggie Jackson

Coordinates	52°40′13″N6°3′46| }}″N
Name	Ron Fairly
Position	First baseman / Right fielder
Bats	Left
Throws	Left
Birth date	July 12, 1938
Birth place	Macon, Georgia
Debutdate	September 9
Debutyear	1958
Debutteam	Los Angeles Dodgers
Finaldate	September 23
Finalyear	1978
Finalteam	California Angels
Stat1label	Batting average
Stat1value	.266
Stat2label	Home runs
Stat2value	215
Stat3label	Runs batted in
Stat3value	1,044
Teams	Los Angeles Dodgers (–) Montreal Expos (–) St. Louis Cardinals (–) Oakland Athletics () Toronto Blue Jays () California Angels ()
Highlights	2× All-Star selection (1973, 1977) 3× World Series champion (, , ) }}

Ronald Ray Fairly (born July 12, 1938 in Macon, Georgia) is a former Major League Baseball player and broadcaster. He either played in or broadcast over 7,000 major league games from through .

College career

Fairly played varsity baseball for Rod Dedeaux at the University of Southern California (), and he made the most of it. He hit .348 with team highs of nine home runs and 67 RBI while lettering as a sophomore center fielder on the 1958 Trojan baseball team which won USC's second College World Series championship. There he was a teammate of future baseball executive and General Manager Pat Gillick. An All-District 8 selection that season, he was signed by the Los Angeles Dodgers as an amateur free agent. After two brief minor league stops, he made the big club late in September 1958.

Professional career

A competitive player and highly disciplined hitter, Fairly had a short and compact swing with occasional power to all fields. With his glove, he was a competent first baseman as well as all three outfield positions, being best suited for right field. His talents were overshadowed by a notorious lack of speed. He is one of very few players to play 1000 games or more in both the outfield and the infield.

Fairly hit two home runs in the 1965 World Series when the Dodgers defeated the Minnesota Twins.

In 21-season career, Fairly played for the Los Angeles Dodgers (1958–69), Montreal Expos (1969–74), St. Louis Cardinals (1975–76), Oakland Athletics (1976), Toronto Blue Jays (1977) and California Angels (1978). He was named to two All-Star Games: as an Expo in 1973 and as a Blue Jay in 1977. Fairly is the only player to be named an All-Star with both Canada-based Major League teams.

A career .266 hitter with 215 home runs and 1044 RBI in 2442 games, Fairly was selected an All-Star in and . He also played in four World Series. He retired at age of 40 after the season.

Broadcaster

After his playing days, Fairly began his broadcasting career in at KTLA in Los Angeles and later joined Bob Starr in the California Angels radio/television booth. In , Fairly moved up the coast and could be heard on KNBR as the voice of the San Francisco Giants. In , he went further north as a broadcaster for the Seattle Mariners, where he stayed through the season. Fairly served primarily as a color commentator, but occasionally stepped in to do play-by-play as well.

In 1997, Fairly was selected to the ''USC's Athletic Hall of Fame'', joining former Trojans Marcus Allen, Buster Crabbe, Charles Dumas, Frank Gifford, Ronnie Lott, Fred Lynn, Tom Seaver and O.J. Simpson, et al.

On September 21, 2006, the Mariners announced that Ron Fairly had decided to retire from his post as team broadcaster after 14 seasons, ending a 27-year career in Major League broadcasting. Coupled with 21 years as a player, Fairly spent 48 years in the Major Leagues.

From June 15 to June 17, 2007, Fairly briefly came out of retirement to work as a television analyst for the Mariners during a three-game interleague series against the Houston Astros, in Houston, due to broadcaster Mike Blowers being on vacation.

From July 15 to July 18, 2010, Fairly broadcast the Mariners' four-game series against the Los Angeles Angels with Rick Rizzs on KIRO 710 to fill in for Dave Niehaus, who was on vacation.

In 2011 Fairly returns once more to the Mariners' radio booth, as one of a rotating group of guest announcers filling in on the broadcasts following Niehaus' death after the 2010 season.

See also

List of top 300 Major League Baseball home run hitters

List of Major League Baseball players with 1000 RBI

External links

Baseball Library.com - Ron Fairly

USC Athletic Hall of Fame inductees (1994-2005) - Ron Fairly - 1997

''Seattle Post-Intelligencer'' - Fairly to retire from Mariners booth - 22-Sep-2006

Category:1938 births Category:Living people Category:Baseball players from Georgia (U.S. state) Category:Major League Baseball first basemen Category:Major League Baseball right fielders Category:Los Angeles Dodgers players Category:Montreal Expos players Category:St. Louis Cardinals players Category:Oakland Athletics players Category:Toronto Blue Jays players Category:California Angels players Category:California Angels broadcasters Category:National League All-Stars Category:American League All-Stars Category:San Francisco Giants broadcasters Category:Seattle Mariners broadcasters Category:Major League Baseball announcers Category:USC Trojans baseball players Category:People from Macon, Georgia Category:St. Paul Saints (AA) players Category:Des Moines Bruins players Category:Spokane Indians players

fr:Ron Fairly

Coordinates	52°40′13″N6°3′46| }}″N
Name	Joan Baez
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Joan Chandos Báez
Birth date	January 09, 1941
Origin	Staten Island, New York City, New YorkUnited States
Occupation	Musician, Songwriter, Activist
Instrument	vocals, guitar, piano, ukulele
Genre	folk, folk rock, country
Years active	1958–present
Label	Vanguard (1960–1971) A&M; (1972–1977) Portrait/CBS (1977–1981) Gold Castle (1987–1991) Virgin (1991–1993) Guardian (1995–2002) Koch (2003–present)
Associated acts	Jackson Browne, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Judy Collins, Donovan, Bob Dylan, Steve Earle, Mimi Fariña, the Grateful Dead, Janis Ian, the Indigo Girls, Odetta, Pete Seeger, Paul Simon, Rocker T, Dar Williams
Website	joanbaez.com }}

Joan Chandos Baez () (born January 9, 1941) is an American folk singer, songwriter, musician and activist.

Baez has a distinctive vocal style, with a strong vibrato. Her recordings include many topical songs and material dealing with social issues.

Baez began her career performing in coffeehouses in Boston and Cambridge, and rose to fame as an unbilled performer at the 1959 Newport Folk Festival. She began her recording career in 1960, and achieved immediate success. Her first three albums, ''Joan Baez'', ''Joan Baez, Vol. 2'', and ''Joan Baez in Concert'' all achieved gold record status, and stayed on the charts for two years.

Baez has had a popular hit song with "Diamonds & Rust" and hit covers of Phil Ochs's "There but for Fortune" and The Band's "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down". Other songs associated with Baez include "Farewell, Angelina", "Love Is Just a Four-Letter Word", "Joe Hill", "Sweet Sir Galahad" and "We Shall Overcome". She performed three of the songs at the 1969 Woodstock Festival, helped to bring the songs of Bob Dylan to national prominence, and has displayed a lifelong commitment to political and social activism in the fields of nonviolence, civil rights, human rights and the environment.

Baez has performed publicly for over 53 years, releasing over 30 albums. Fluent in Spanish as well as in English, she has also recorded songs in at least six other languages. She is regarded as a folk singer, although her music has diversified since the 1960s, encompassing everything from folk rock and pop to country and gospel music. Although a songwriter herself, Baez is generally regarded as an interpreter of other people's work, having recorded songs by The Allman Brothers Band, The Beatles, Jackson Browne, Bob Dylan, Mercedes Sosa, Woody Guthrie, The Rolling Stones, Pete Seeger, Paul Simon, Stevie Wonder, and many others. In recent years, she has found success interpreting songs of modern songwriters such as Ryan Adams, Steve Earle and Natalie Merchant.

Early life

Baez was born on Staten Island, New York. Her father, Albert Baez, was born in 1912 in Puebla, Mexico, and died March 20, 2007. His father, Joan's grandfather, the Reverend Alberto Baez, left Catholicism to become a Methodist minister and moved to the U.S. when Albert was two years old. Albert grew up in Brooklyn, New York, where his father preached to—and advocated for—a Spanish-speaking congregation. Her father first considered becoming a minister but instead he turned to the study of mathematics and physics, where he later became the co-inventor of the x-ray microscope and author of one of the most widely used physics textbooks in the U.S. The Baez family converted to Quakerism during Joan's early childhood, and she has continued to identify with the tradition, particularly in her commitment to pacifism and social issues.

Her mother, Joan Bridge Baez, referred to as Joan Senior or "Big Joan", was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, the second daughter of an English Episcopal priest. Joan Senior and Albert met at a high-school dance in Madison, New Jersey, and quickly fell in love. After their marriage, the newlyweds moved to California.

Baez had two sisters — the elder, Pauline, and the younger, Mimi Fariña. Mimi died of cancer in California in 2001.

Because of her father's work in health care and with UNESCO, the family moved many times, living in towns across the U.S, as well as in England, France, Switzerland, Italy, Canada, and the Middle East, including Iraq, where they were in 1951. Joan became involved with a variety of social causes early in her career, including civil rights and non-violence. Social justice, she stated in the PBS series ''American Masters, ''is the true core of [her] life, looming larger than music.''''

Music career

Early years

A friend of Joan's father gave her a ukulele. She learned four chords, which enabled her to play rhythm and blues, the music she was listening to at the time. Her parents, however, were fearful that the music would lead her into a life of drug addiction. When she was 8, at her aunt's behest, Baez attended a concert by folk musician Pete Seeger, and found herself strongly moved by his music. She soon began practicing the songs of his repertoire and performing them publicly. One of her very earliest public performances was at a retreat in Saratoga, California, for a youth group from Temple Beth Jacob, a Redwood City, California, congregation. In 1957, Baez bought her first Gibson acoustic guitar.

College music scene in Massachusetts

In 1958, her father accepted a faculty position at MIT, and moved his family to Belmont, a suburb of Boston, Massachusetts. At that time, it was within the center of the up-and-coming folk-music scene, and Baez began busking near home in Boston and nearby Cambridge. She also performed in clubs, and attended Boston University for about six weeks. In 1958, at the Club 47 in Cambridge, she gave her first concert. When designing the poster for the performance, Baez considered changing her performing name to either Rachel Sandperl, the surname of her long-time mentor, Ira Sandperl or Maria from the song "They Call the Wind Maria". She later opted against it, fearing that people would accuse her of changing her last name because it was Spanish. The audience consisted of her parents, her sister Mimi, and a small group of friends to a total of eight patrons. She was paid ten dollars. Baez was later asked back and began performing twice a week for $25 per show.

A few months later, Baez and two other folk enthusiasts made plans to record an album in the cellar of a friend's house. The three sang solos and duets, a family friend designed the album cover, and it was released on Veritas Records that same year as ''Folksingers 'Round Harvard Square''. Baez later met Bob Gibson and Odetta, who was at the time one of the most prominent vocalists singing folk and gospel music. Baez cites Odetta as a primary influence along with Marian Anderson and Seeger. Gibson invited Baez to perform with him at the 1959 Newport Folk Festival, where the two sang two duets, "Virgin Mary Had One Son" and "We Are Crossing Jordan River". The performance generated substantial praise for the "barefoot Madonna" with the otherworldly voice, and it was this appearance that led to Baez signing with Vanguard Records the following year although Columbia Records tried to sign her first. Baez later claimed that she felt she would be given more artistic license at a more "low key" label.

First albums and 1960s breakthrough

Her true professional career began at that 1959 Newport Folk Festival; following that appearance, she recorded her first album for Vanguard, ''Joan Baez'' (1960), produced by Fred Hellerman of The Weavers, who produced many albums by folk artists. The collection of traditional folk ballads, blues and laments sung to her own guitar accompaniment sold moderately well. It featured many popular Child Ballads of the day, such as "Mary Hamilton" and was recorded in only four days in the ballroom of New York City's Manhattan Towers Hotel. The album also included "El Preso Numero Nueve", a song sung entirely in Spanish. That same song later appeared on her Spanish-language album, ''Gracias a la Vida'' (1974).

Her second release, ''Joan Baez, Vol. 2'' (1961) went "gold", as did ''Joan Baez in Concert, Part 1'' (1962) and ''Joan Baez in Concert, Part 2'' (1963). Like its immediate predecessor, ''Joan Baez, Vol. 2'' contained strictly traditional material. Her two albums of live material, ''Joan Baez in Concert, Part 1'' and its second counterpart, were unique in that, unlike most live albums, they contained only new songs, rather than established favorites. It was ''Joan Baez in Concert, Part 2'' that featured Baez's first-ever Dylan cover. From the early to mid-1960s, Baez emerged at the forefront of the American roots revival, where she introduced her audiences to the then-unknown Dylan (the two became romantically involved in late 1962, remaining together through early 1965), and was emulated by artists such as Judy Collins, Emmylou Harris, Joni Mitchell and Bonnie Raitt.

Though primarily an albums artist, several of Baez' singles have charted and the first being her 1965 cover of Phil Ochs' "There but for Fortune", which became a mid-level chart hit in the U.S. and a top-ten single in the United Kingdom. Baez added other instruments to her recordings on ''Farewell, Angelina'' (1965), which features several Dylan songs interspersed with more traditional fare. Deciding to experiment after having exhausted the folksinger-with-guitar format, Baez turned to Peter Schickele, a classical music composer, who provided classical orchestration for her next three albums: ''Noël'' (1966), ''Joan'' (1967) and ''Baptism: A Journey Through Our Time'' (1968). ''Noël'' was a Christmas album of traditional material, while ''Baptism'' was akin to a concept album, featuring Baez reading and singing poems written by celebrated poets such as James Joyce, Federico García Lorca and Walt Whitman.

In 1968, Baez traveled to Nashville, Tennessee, where a marathon recording session resulted in two albums. The first, ''Any Day Now'' (1968), consists exclusively of Dylan covers. The other, the country-music-infused ''David's Album'' (1969) was recorded for husband David Harris, a prominent anti-Vietnam War protester eventually imprisoned for draft resistance. Harris, a country-music fan, turned Baez toward more complex country-rock influences beginning with ''David's Album''. Later in 1968, she published her first memoir, ''Daybreak'' (by Dial Press). In 1969, her appearance at Woodstock in upstate New York afforded her an international musical and political podium, particularly upon the successful release of the documentary film ''Woodstock'' (1970). Beginning in the late 1960s, Baez began writing many of her own songs, beginning with "Sweet Sir Galahad" and "A Song For David" which was written for her husband after he was imprisoned for draft evasion.

1970s and the end of Vanguard years

After eleven years with Vanguard, Baez decided in 1971 to cut ties with the label that had released her albums since 1960. She delivered them one last success with the gold-selling album ''Blessed Are...'' (1971) which spawned a top-ten hit in Robbie Robertson's "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down", her cover of The Band's signature song. With ''Come from the Shadows'' (1972), Baez switched to A&M; Records, where she remained for four years and six albums.

Joan Baez wrote and performed a song titled "The Story of Bangladesh" at the Concert for Bangladesh, Madison Square Garden in 1971.

During this period, in late 1971, she reunited with Schickele to record two tracks, "Rejoice in the Sun" and "Silent Running" for the science-fiction film, ''Silent Running''. The two songs were issued as a single on Decca (32890). In addition, another LP was released on Decca (DL 7-9188), and was later reissued by Varese Sarabande on black (STV-81072) and green (VC-81072) vinyl. In 1998 a limited release on CD by the "Valley Forge Record Groupe" was released.

''Where Are You Now, My Son?'' (1973) featured a 23-minute title song which took up all of the B-side of the album. Half spoken word poem and half tape-recorded sounds, the song documented Baez's visit to Hanoi, North Vietnam, in December 1972, during which she and her traveling companions survived the 11-day long Christmas Bombings campaign over Hanoi and Haiphong. ''(See Vietnam War in Civil rights section below.)''

''Gracias a la Vida'' (1974) (the title song written and first performed by Chilean folk singer Violeta Parra) followed and was a success in both the U.S. and Latin America. It included the song "Cucurrucucú paloma". Flirting with mainstream pop music as well as writing her own songs for ''Diamonds & Rust'' (1975), the album became the highest selling of Baez's career and spawned a second top-ten single in the form of the title track.

After ''Gulf Winds'' (1976), an album of entirely self-composed songs, and ''From Every Stage'' (1976), a live album that had Baez performing songs "from every stage" of her career, Baez again parted ways with a record label when she moved to CBS Records for ''Blowin' Away'' (1977) and ''Honest Lullaby'' (1979).

1980s and 1990s

In 1980, Baez was given honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degrees by Antioch University and Rutgers University for her political activism and the "universality of her music". In 1983, she appeared on the Grammy Awards, performing Dylan's anthemic "Blowin' in the Wind", a song she first performed twenty years earlier.

Baez also played a significant role in the 1985 Live Aid concert for African famine relief, opening the U.S. segment of the show in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She has toured on behalf of many other causes, including Amnesty International's 1986 ''A Conspiracy of Hope'' tour and a guest spot on their subsequent ''Human Rights Now!'' tour.

Baez found herself without an American label for the release of ''Live Europe 83'' (1984), which was released in Europe and Canada, but not released commercially in the U.S. She did not have an American release until the album ''Recently'' (1987) on Gold Castle Records.

In 1987, Baez's second autobiography called ''And a Voice to Sing With'' was published and became a ''New York Times'' bestseller. That same year, she traveled to the Middle East to visit with and sing songs of peace for the people of Israel, the Gaza Strip, and the West Bank.

In May 1989, Baez performed at a music festival in communist Czechoslovakia, called Bratislavská lýra. While there, she met future Czechoslovakian president Václav Havel, whom she let carry her guitar so as to prevent his arrest by government agents. During her performance, she greeted members of Charter 77, a dissident human-rights group, which resulted in her microphone being shut off abruptly. Baez then proceeded to sing ''a cappella'' for the nearly four thousand gathered. Havel cited her as a great inspiration and influence in that country's Velvet Revolution, the revolution in which the Soviet-dominated communist government there was overthrown.

Baez recorded two more albums with Gold Castle, ''Speaking of Dreams'', (1989) and ''Brothers in Arms'' (1991). She then landed a contract with a major label, Virgin Records, recording ''Play Me Backwards'' (1992) for Virgin shortly before the company was purchased by EMI. She then switched to Guardian, with whom she produced a live album, ''Ring Them Bells'' (1995), and a studio album, ''Gone from Danger'' (1997).

In 1993, at the invitation of Refugees International and sponsored by the Soros Foundation, she traveled to the war-torn Bosnia and Herzegovina region of then-Yugoslavia in an effort to help bring more attention to the suffering there. She was the first major artist to perform in Sarajevo since the outbreak of the Yugoslav civil war.

In October of that year, Baez became the first major artist to perform in a professional concert presentation on Alcatraz Island (a former U.S. federal prison) in San Francisco, California, in a benefit for her sister Mimi's Bread and Roses organization. She later returned for another concert in 1996.

2000 to present

Beginning in 2001, Baez has had several successful long-term engagements as a lead character at San Francisco's Teatro ZinZanni. In August 2001, Vanguard began re-releasing Baez's first 13 albums, which she recorded for the label between 1960 and 1971. The reissues, being released through Vanguard's Original Master Series, feature digitally restored sound, unreleased bonus songs, new and original artwork, and new liner-note essays written by Arthur Levy. Likewise, her six A&M; albums were reissued in 2003. In 2003, Baez was also a judge for the third annual Independent Music Awards to support independent artists' careers. Her album, ''Dark Chords on a Big Guitar'' (2003), features songs by composers half her age, while a November 2004 performance at New York City's Bowery Ballroom was recorded for a live release, ''Bowery Songs'' (2005).

On October 1, 2005, she performed at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival, at San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. Then, on January 13, 2006, Baez performed at the funeral of Lou Rawls, where she led Jesse Jackson, Sr., Wonder, and others in the singing of "Amazing Grace". On June 6, 2006, Baez joined Bruce Springsteen on stage at his San Francisco concert, where the two performed the rolling anthem "Pay Me My Money Down". In September 2006, Baez contributed a live, retooled version of her classic song "Sweet Sir Galahad" to a Starbucks's exclusive XM Artist Confidential album. In the new version, she changed the lyric "here's to the dawn of their days" to "here's to the dawn of ''her'' days", as a tribute to her late sister Mimi, about whom Baez wrote the song in 1969. Later on, October 8, 2006, she appeared as a special surprise guest at the opening ceremony of the Forum 2000 international conference in Prague, Czech Republic. Her performance was kept secret from former Czech Republic President Havel until the moment she appeared on stage. Havel remains a great admirer of both Baez and her work. During Baez's next visit to Prague, in April 2007, the two met again when she performed in front of a sold-out house at Prague's Lucerna Hall, a building erected by Havel's grandfather. On December 2, 2006, she made a guest appearance at the Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir's Christmas Concert at the Paramount Theatre in Oakland, California. Her participation included versions of "Let Us Break Bread Together" and "Amazing Grace". She also joined the choir in the finale of "O Holy Night".

In February 2007, Proper Records reissued her live album ''Ring Them Bells'' (1995), which featured duets with artists ranging from Dar Williams and Mimi Fariña to the Indigo Girls and Mary Chapin Carpenter. The reissue features a 16-page booklet and six unreleased live tracks from the original recording sessions, including "Love Song to a Stranger", "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere", "Geordie", "Gracias a la Vida", "The Water Is Wide" and "Stones in the Road", bringing the total tracklisting to 21 songs (on two discs). In addition, Baez recorded a duet of "Jim Crow" with John Mellencamp which appears on his album ''Freedom's Road'' (2007). He has called the album a "Woody Guthrie rock album". The recording was heavily influenced by albums from the 1960s, which is why he invited an icon from that era to appear with him. Also in February 2007, she received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. The day after receiving the honor, she appeared at the Grammy Awards ceremony and introduced a performance by the Dixie Chicks. September 9, 2008, saw the release of the studio album ''Day After Tomorrow'', produced by Steve Earle and featuring three of his songs. On June 29, 2008, Baez performed on the Acoustic Stage at the Glastonbury Festival in Glastonbury, U.K., playing out the final set to a packed audience. On July 6, 2008, she played at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Montreux, Switzerland. During the concert's finale, she spontaneously danced on stage with a band of African percussionists.

On August 2, 2009, Baez played at the 50th Newport Folk Festival, which also marked the 50th anniversary of her breakthrough performance at the first festival. On October 14, 2009, PBS aired an episode of its documentary series, American Masters, entitled, ''Joan Baez: How Sweet the Sound''. It was produced and directed by Mary Wharton. A DVD and CD of the sound track were released at the same time.

Social and political involvement

1950s

In 1956, Baez first heard Martin Luther King, Jr. speak about nonviolence, civil rights and social change which brought tears to her eyes. Several years later, the two became friends, later marching and demonstrating together on numerous occasions.

In 1957, at age 16, Joan committed her first act of civil disobedience by refusing to leave her Palo Alto High School classroom in Palo Alto, California for an air-raid drill. After the bells rang, students were to leave the school, make their way to their home air-raid shelters, and pretend they were surviving an atomic blast. Protesting what she believed to be misleading government propaganda, Baez refused to leave her seat when instructed and continued reading a book. For this act she was punished by school officials, and was ostracized by the local population for being a supposed "Communist infiltrator."

Civil Rights

The early years of Joan Baez's career saw the civil-rights movement in the U.S. become a prominent issue. Her performance of "We Shall Overcome", the civil-rights anthem, at King's 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom permanently linked her to the song. Baez again sang "We Shall Overcome" in Sproul Plaza during the mid-1960s Free Speech Movement demonstrations at the University of California, Berkeley in Berkeley, California, and at many other rallies and protests.

Her recording of the song "Birmingham Sunday" (1964) ,written by her brother-in-law, Richard Fariña, was used in the opening of ''4 Little Girls'' (1997), Spike Lee's documentary film about the four young victims killed in the 1963 bombing.

Baez joined King on his 1965 march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, singing for the marchers in the town of St. Jude, Alabama, as they camped the night before arriving in Montgomery. She linked arms with King to protect African-American schoolchildren in Grenada, Mississippi who were trying to attend "white" schools.

In 1966, she stood in the fields alongside César Chávez and California's migrant farm workers as they fought for fair wages and safe working conditions and performed at a benefit on behalf of the United Farm Workers (UFW) union in December of that year. In 1972, she was at Chávez's side during his 24-day fast to draw attention to the farmworkers' struggle and can be seen singing "We Shall Overcome" during that fast in the film about the UFW, "Si Se Puede" ("It can be done").

Vietnam War

Highly visible in civil-rights marches, Baez became more vocal about her disagreement with the Vietnam War. In 1964, she publicly endorsed resisting taxes by withholding sixty percent of her 1963 income taxes. In 1964, she founded the Institute for the Study of Nonviolence (along with her mentor Sandperl) and encouraged draft resistance at her concerts.

Baez was arrested twice in 1967 for blocking the entrance of the Armed Forces Induction Center in Oakland, California and spent over a month in jail. ''(See also David Harris section below.)''

She was a frequent participant in anti-war marches and rallies, including:

numerous protests in New York City organized by the Fifth Avenue Vietnam Peace Parade Committee, starting with the March 1966 Fifth Avenue Peace Parade, a free 1967 concert at the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C., that had been opposed by the Daughters of the American Revolution which attracted a crowd of 30,000 to hear her anti-war message,

the 1969 Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam protests.

There were many others, culminating in Ochs's The War Is Over celebration in New York City in May 1975.

During the Christmas season 1972, Baez joined a peace delegation traveling to North Vietnam, both to address human rights in the region, and to deliver Christmas mail to American prisoners of war. During her time there, she was caught in the U.S. military's "Christmas bombing" of Hanoi, North Vietnam, during which the city was bombed for eleven straight days.

Her disquiet at the human-rights violations of communist Vietnam made her increasingly critical of its government and she organized the May 30, 1979, publication, of a full-page advertisement (published in four major U.S. newspapers) in which the communists were described as having created a nightmare, which put her at odds with a segment of the U.S. left wing, who were uncomfortable criticizing a leftist régime. In a letter of response, Jane Fonda said she was unable to substantiate the "claims" Baez made regarding the atrocities being committed by the Cambodian Khmer Rouge.

Human rights

Baez was instrumental in founding the USA section of Amnesty International in the 1970s, and has remained an active supporter of the organization.

Baez' experiences regarding Vietnam's human-rights violations ultimately led her to found her own human-rights group, Humanitas International, whose focus was to target oppression wherever it occurred, criticizing right and left-wing régimes equally.

She toured Chile, Brazil and Argentina in 1981, but was prevented from performing in any of the three countries, for fear her criticism of their human-rights practices would reach mass audiences if she were given a podium. While there, she was surveiled and subjected to death threats. A film of the ill-fated tour, ''There but for Fortune'', was shown on PBS in 1982.

In 1989, after Tiananmen Massacre Baez wrote and released the song ''China'' to condemn the Chinese Communist Party for its bloody slaughter of thousands of student protesters who called for establishment of democratic republicanism.

In a second trip to Southeast Asia, Baez assisted in an effort to take food and medicine into the western regions of Cambodia, and participated in a United Nations Humanitarian Conference on Kampuchea.

On July 17, 2006, Baez received the Distinguished Leadership Award from the Legal Community Against Violence. At the annual dinner event they honored her for her lifetime of work against violence of all kinds.

Gay and lesbian rights

Baez has also been prominent in the struggle for gay and lesbian rights. In 1978, she performed at several benefit concerts to defeat the Briggs Initiative, which proposed banning all gay people from teaching in the public schools of California. Later that same year, she participated in memorial marches for the assassinated San Francisco city supervisor, Harvey Milk who was openly gay.

In the 1990s, she appeared with her friend Janis Ian at a benefit for the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, a gay lobbying organization, and performed at the San Francisco Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride March.

Her song "Altar Boy and the Thief" from ''Blowin' Away'' (1977) was written as a dedication to her gay fanbase.

Environmental causes

On Earth Day 1999, Baez and Bonnie Raitt honored environmental activist Julia Butterfly Hill with Raitt's ''Arthur M. Sohcot Award'' in person on her -high redwood treetop platform, where Hill had camped to protect ancient redwoods in the Headwaters Forest from logging.

War in Iraq

In early 2003, Baez performed at two rallies of hundreds of thousands of people in San Francisco protesting the U.S. invasion of Iraq (as she had earlier done before smaller crowds in 1991 to protest the Gulf War).

In August 2003, she was invited by Emmylou Harris and Earle to join them in London, U.K., at the Concert For a Landmine-Free World.

In the summer of 2004, Joan joined Michael Moore's "Slacker Uprising Tour" on American college campuses, encouraging young people to get out and vote for peace candidates in the upcoming national election.

In August 2005, Baez appeared at the Texas anti-war protest that had been started by Cindy Sheehan.

Opposing death penalty

In December 2005, Baez appeared and sang "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" at the California protest at the San Quentin State Prison against the execution of Tookie Williams. She had previously performed the same song at San Quentin at the 1992 vigil protesting the execution of Robert Alton Harris, the first man to be executed in California after the death penalty was reinstated.

Poverty

On May 23, 2006, Baez once again joined Julia "Butterfly" Hill, this time in a "tree sit" in a giant tree on the site of the South Central Farm in a poor neighborhood of downtown Los Angeles, California. Baez and Hill were hoisted into the tree, where they remained overnight. The women, in addition to many other activists and celebrities, were protesting the imminent eviction of the community farmers and demolition of the site, which is the largest urban farm in the state. Because many of the South Central Farmers are immigrants from Central America, Baez sang several songs from her 1974 Spanish-language album, ''Gracias a la Vida'', including the title track and "No Nos Moverán" ("We Shall Not Be Moved").

2008 Presidential election

Throughout most of her career, Baez remained apprehensive about involving herself in party politics. However, on February 3, 2008, Baez wrote a letter to the editor at the ''San Francisco Chronicle'' endorsing Barack Obama in the 2008 U.S. presidential election. She noted: "Through all those years, I chose not to engage in party politics.... At this time, however, changing that posture feels like the responsible thing to do. If anyone can navigate the contaminated waters of Washington, lift up the poor, and appeal to the rich to share their wealth, it is Sen. Barack Obama."

Playing at the Glastonbury Festival in June, Baez said during the introduction of a song that one reason she likes Obama is because he reminds her of another old friend of hers: Martin Luther King, Jr.

Although a highly political figure throughout most of her career, Baez had never publicly endorsed a major political party candidate prior to Obama. She performed at The White House on February 10, 2010 as part of an evening celebrating the music associated with the civil rights movement, performing "We Shall Overcome".

Iran's people

On June 25, 2009, Baez created a special version of "We Shall Overcome" with a few lines of Persian lyrics in support of peaceful protests by Iranian people. She recorded it in her home and posted the video on YouTube and on her personal website. She dedicated the song "Joe Hill", to the people of Iran during her concert at Merrill Auditorium, Portland, Maine on July 31, 2009. Joe Hill was a union martyr framed on a murder charge, whose spirit is said to be present today when workers fight for better conditions or pay.

Joan Baez Award

On March 18, 2011 Joan Baez was honored by Amnesty International at their 50th Anniversary Annual General Meeting in San Francisco. The tribute to Joan Baez was the inaugural event for the Amnesty International Joan Baez Award for Outstanding Inspirational Service in the Global Fight for Human Rights. Joan Baez was presented with the first award in recognition of her historic, ground-breaking and courageous human rights work with Amnesty International and beyond, and the inspiration she has given activists around the world. In future years, the award is to be presented to an artist - music, film, sculpture, paint or other medium - who has similarly helped advance human rights.

Personal life

Early relationships

Baez's first real boyfriend was a young man called Michael New, whom she met at college. Years later in 1979, he inspired her song "Michael". New was a fellow student from Trinidad, West Indies, who, like Baez, attended classes only occasionally. The two spent a considerable amount of time together, but Baez was unable to balance her blossoming career and her relationship. The two bickered and made up repeatedly, but it was apparent to Baez that New was beginning to resent her success and newfound local celebrity. One night she saw him kissing another woman on a street corner. Despite this, the relationship remained intact for several years, long after the two moved to California together in 1960.

Bob Dylan

Baez first met Dylan in 1961 at Gerde's Folk City in New York City's Greenwich Village. At the time, Baez had already released her debut album and her popularity as the emerging "Queen of Folk" was on the rise. Baez was initially unimpressed with the "urban hillbilly", but was impressed with one of Dylan's first compositions, "Song to Woody", and remarked that she would like to record it.

At the start, Dylan was more interested in Baez's younger sister, Mimi, but under the glare of media scrutiny that began to surround Baez and Dylan, their relationship began to develop into something more.

By 1963, Baez had already released three albums, two of which had been certified gold, and she invited Dylan on stage to perform alongside her at the Newport Folk Festival. The two performed the Dylan composition "With God on Our Side", a performance that set the stage for many more duets like it in the months and years to come. Typically while on tour, Baez would invite Dylan to sing on stage partly by himself and partly with her, much to the chagrin of her fans.

Before meeting Dylan, Baez's topical songs were very few: "Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream", "We Shall Overcome", and an assortment of negro spirituals. Baez would later say that Dylan's songs seemed to update the topics of protest and justice.

By the time of Dylan's 1965 tour of the U.K., their relationship had slowly begun to fizzle out after they had been romantically involved off and on for nearly two years. The tour and simultaneous disintegration of their relationship was documented in D.A. Pennebaker's documentary film ''Dont Look Back'' (1967).

Baez toured with Dylan as a performer on his Rolling Thunder Revue in 1975–76. She sang four songs with Dylan on the live album of the tour, ''The Bootleg Series Vol. 5: Bob Dylan Live 1975, The Rolling Thunder Revue'', released in 2002. Baez appeared with Dylan in the one hour TV special, ''Hard Rain'', filmed at Fort Collins, Colorado, in May 1976. Baez also starred as 'The Woman In White' in the film ''Renaldo and Clara'' (1978), directed by Bob Dylan and filmed during the Rolling Thunder Revue. Dylan and Baez toured together again in 1984 along with Carlos Santana.

Baez discussed her relationship with Dylan in Martin Scorsese's documentary film ''No Direction Home'' (2005), and in the PBS American Masters biography of Baez, ''How Sweet the Sound'' (2009).

Baez penned at least two songs about Dylan. In "To Bobby", written in 1972, she urged Dylan to return to political activism, while in "Diamonds & Rust", the title track from her 1975 album, she revisited her feelings for him in warm, yet direct terms.

References to Baez in Dylan's songs are far less clear. Baez herself has suggested that she was the subject of both "Visions of Johanna" and "Mama, You Been on My Mind", although the latter was more likely about his relationship with Suze Rotolo. As for "Visions of Johanna", "She Belongs to Me" and other songs alleged to have been written about Baez, neither Dylan nor biographers such as Clinton Heylin and Michael Gray have had anything definitive to say one way or the other regarding the subject of these songs.

David Harris

In October 1967, Baez, her mother, and nearly seventy other women were arrested at the Oakland, California, Armed Forces Induction Center for blocking the doorways of the building to prevent entrance by young inductees, and in support of young men who refused military induction. They were incarcerated in the Santa Rita Jail, and it was here that Baez met David Harris, who was kept on the men's side but who still managed to visit with Baez regularly.

The two formed a close bond upon their release and Baez moved into his draft-resistance commune in the hills above Stanford, California. The pair had known each other for three months when they decided to wed. After confirming the news to The Associated Press, media outlets began dedicating ample press to the impending nuptials (at one point, ''Time'' magazine referred to it as the "Wedding of the Century".)

After finding a pacifist preacher, a church outfitted with peace signs and writing a blend of Episcopalian and Quaker wedding vows, Baez and Harris married each other in New York City on March 26, 1968. Her friend Judy Collins sang at the ceremony. After the wedding, Baez and Harris moved into a home in the Los Altos Hills on of land called Struggle Mountain, part of a commune, where they tended gardens and were strict vegetarians.

A short time later, Harris refused induction to the armed forces and was indicted. On July 16, 1969, Harris was taken by federal marshals to prison. Baez was visibly pregnant in public in the months that followed, most notably at Woodstock Festival, where she performed a handful of songs in the early morning. The documentary film ''Carry it On'' was produced during this period, and was released in 1970. The film's behind-the-scenes looks at Harris's views and arrest and Baez on her subsequent performance tour was positively reviewed in ''Time Magazine'' and the ''New York Times''.

Among the songs Baez wrote about this period of her life are "A Song For David", "Myths", "Prison Trilogy (Billy Rose)" and "Fifteen Months" (the amount of time Harris was imprisoned.)

Their son, Gabriel, was born in December 1969. Harris was released from Texas prison after 15 months, but the relationship began to dissolve and the couple divorced amicably in 1973. They shared custody of Gabriel, who primarily lived with Baez. Explaining the split, Baez wrote in her autobiography, "I am made to live alone." Baez and Harris remained on friendly terms throughout the years; they reunited on camera for the 2009 ''American Masters'' documentary for PBS. , she has not remarried. Their son Gabriel is a drummer and occasionally tours with his mother.

Later-life relationships

She dated Apple Computer cofounder Steve Jobs during the late 1970s and early 1980s. A number of sources have stated that Jobs had considered asking Baez to marry him, except that her age at the time (early 40s) made the possibility of their having children unlikely. Baez mentioned Jobs in the acknowledgments in her 1987 memoir ''And a Voice to Sing With''.

Recent years

Baez is a resident of Woodside, California, and lives with her mother in a house that has a backyard tree house in which she spends a good deal of time meditating, writing, and "being close to nature."

Baez's son, percussionist Gabriel Harris, has been a member of her touring band in recent years; he and his wife Pamela live with their daughter Jasmine, in close proximity to Baez' home in Woodside. Baez' cousin, Peter Baez, was a medical marijuana activist. Another cousin, John C. Baez, is a mathematical physicist.

Popular culture

In comedy albums

The comedy album ''National Lampoon's Radio Dinner'' (1972) includes a Baez parody, "Pull the Triggers, Niggers" (deliberately misspelled as "Pull the Tregroes" on the album's outside liner notes), performed by Baez sound-alike Diana Reed. The satiric song made specific reference to Baez's ex-boyfriend Dylan's defense of Black Panther and convicted murderer, George Jackson.

In film

In the film ''Forrest Gump'' (1994), Jenny reveals that she wants "to be a famous folksinger, like Joan Baez." A Baez tour poster can be seen above her dorm-room bed in the same scene. A live Baez version of "Blowin' in the Wind" is featured on the film's soundtrack.

A character based on Baez appears in ''I'm Not There'' and is portrayed by Julianne Moore.

In music

"Here's to You" (music by Ennio Morricone, lyrics by Baez), a song Baez originally performed for the Italian film ''Sacco e Vanzetti'' (1971), became a hymn for the 1960s and 1970s civil-rights movement. It also appears on the soundtrack for the film ''The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou'' (2004). The song is also played over the credits of the quasi-documentary film ''Deutschland im Herbst'' (1977) and was recently used in the video game ''Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots''.

In print

Cartoonist Al Capp, creator of the comic strip ''Li'l Abner'', during the 1960s satirized Baez as "Joanie Phoanie". Joanie was an unabashed communist radical who sang songs of class warfare while hypocritically traveling in a limousine and charging outrageous performance fees to impoverished orphans. Capp had this character singing bizarre songs such as "A Tale of Bagels and Bacon" and "Molotov Cocktails for Two". Although Baez was upset by the parody in 1966, she admits to being more amused in recent years. "I wish I could have laughed at this at the time", she wrote in a caption under one of the strips, reprinted in her autobiography. "Mr. Capp confused me considerably. I'm sorry he's not alive to read this, it would make him chuckle".

In V.S. Naipaul's 1979 novel A Bend in the River, the protagonist Salim attends a dinner party hosted by Raymond, one of the President's closest political advisors. At the party, Raymond's wife Yvette plays a record of Joan Baez's cover of "Barbara Allen" establishing a subtle backdrop amidst the brewing tensions between the principal characters.

Baez was featured in the Joan Didion essay "Where the Kissing Never Stops" (1966), in Didion's compilation ''Slouching Towards Bethlehem'' (1968).

In television

Baez has been lampooned multiple times on ''Saturday Night Live'' by comedienne Nora Dunn. One skit features a game show entitled ''Make Joan Baez Laugh!'' where a dour Baez is ushered onstage while celebrity guests try their hand at getting her to a crack a smile.

Discography

References

Further reading

Baez, Joan. 1968. ''Daybreak — An Intimate Journal''. New York City, New York: Dial Press.

Baez, Joan, 1987. ''And a Voice to Sing With: A Memoir''. New York City, New York: Summit Books. ISBN 0-671-40062-2

Baez, Joan. 1988. ''And a Voice to Sing With: A Memoir''. Century Hutchinson, London, U.K. ISBN 0-7126-1827-9

Fuss, Charles J., 1996. ''Joan Baez: A Bio-Bibliography'' (Bio-Bibliographies in the Performing Arts Series). Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press.

Garza, Hedda, 1999. ''Joan Baez'' (Hispanics of Achievement). Chelsea House Publications.

Hajdu, David. 2001. ''Positively 4th Street. The Lives and Times of Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, Mimi Baez Fariña And Richard Fariña''. New York City, New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN 0-86547-642-X

Heller, Jeffrey, 1991. ''Joan Baez: Singer With a Cause'' (People of Distinction Series), Children's Press.

Jaeger, Markus. 2006. ''Joan Baez and the Issue of Vietnam''. ibidem-Verlag, Austria. (book is in English)

Romero, Maritza, 1998. ''Joan Baez: Folk Singer for Peace'' (Great Hispanics of Our Time Series). Powerkids Books.

External links

; Main links

Joan Baez — official website

Joan Baez on Proper Records (her current European label)

Joan Baez in Vietnam 1972

Joan Baez page by Richard L. Hess

"Joan Baez: The Folk Heroine Mellows With Age" 1984 article and interview, reprinted in 2007 by ''Crawdaddy!''

Ira Sandperl's web site including photos with Baez

“Carry It On”, 1970 documentary film of Joan Baez and David Harris produced by The New Film Company, Inc., Cambridge, Massachusetts

; Video links

It Ain't Me Babe (Live 1965)

End of tour interview with Youth Peace Ambassador (November 21, 2008)

Joan Baez BBC Concert Live 1965

;Audio links

2008 Joan Baez concert, recorded at Harvard University's Sanders Theater from WGBH (FM) radio, Boston, Massachusetts

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