“I wouldn’t wish it on anybody,” the Hall of Famer said while reflecting on a painful past at Rickwood Field in Birmingham.
Brought onto a set Thursday to share memories of playing at a historic baseball stadium in Alabama, MLB Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson expressed raw, unsparing thoughts about the racism he experienced decades ago.
“I walked into restaurants and they would point at me and say, ‘The can’t eat here.’ I would go to a hotel and they would say, ‘The can’t stay here,’” the 78-year-old told a Fox Sports panel that featured recently retired major league stars Alex Rodriguez, David Ortiz and Derek Jeter.. Billed as the country’s oldest ballpark, it was home to the Negro Leagues’ Black Barons as well as the minor league Birmingham Barons.
As part of its efforts to honor the Negro Leagues, MLB brought Thursday’s game to Rickwood Field, where Barry Bonds and Ken Griffey Jr. were among a number of notable Black former players on hand. The pregame festivities included a tribute to Willie Mays, whoAs a young member of the Athletics’ organization in 1967, just before the major league club moved from Kansas City to Oakland, Jackson played for Birmingham at Rickwood Field and other ballparks in the South.
Jackson then shared a sentiment he repeated several times during the Fox Sports interview: “I wouldn’t wish it on anybody.”The former slugger for the A’s, Orioles, Yankees and Angels credited a number of White teammates, plus then-manager John McNamara, with helping him get through that period. Jackson said he spent several nights a week for many weeks sleeping on their couches until they received threats to “burn our apartment complex down” if he didn’t leave.
It’s not the first time that Jackson, who finished his 21-year MLB career with 563 homers and five World Series titles, has spoken of his experiences with racism. He hasit played a role in the Mets’ decision to pass on him with the No. 1 pick in the 1966 MLB draft in favor of Steve Chilcott, a White player who never reached the major leagues.
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