MLB Postseason: Top Ten Performers in Postseason History
By Keaton Moore
Reggie Jackson – “Mr. October”
A good place to start is with “Mr. October” himself.
After 21 seasons in the major leagues, Reggie Jackson held a .262 batting average with 563 home runs. He spent the majority of his career with the Oakland Athletics and New York Yankees, where he appeared in 66 postseason games.
Including five World Series appearances, Jackson batted .278 with 18 home runs, 48 RBI and 41 runs in eleven postseasons. He was also named the AL MVP in 1973 and World Series MVP in 1973 and 1977.
Only a year into his five season stint with the Yankees, Jackson and the Yankees faced the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1977 World Series. With already two home runs in Games 4 and 5, Jackson homered the Yankees to the World Series championship in Game 6.
Trailing 4-3 in the bottom of the fourth inning, Jackson came to the plate and put the Yankees on top with a two-run home run. He then went on to become the first of three batters in baseball history to hit three home runs in one World Series game. In the bottom of the fifth, he hit another two-run homer and hit a solo four-bagger in the bottom of the eighth. It was after that game, when the Yankees became World Series champions, that the nickname “Mr. October” was born.