Reggie Jackson is the Only MLB Slugger To Do This for 3 Different Teams

He wasn't just slugging homers in October, ya know.

When you think of Reggie Jackson, what’s typically the first thing that comes to mind? It’s probably his memorable three-homer game during the 1977 World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

I can guarantee that this is almost always my thought when the left-handed slugger is mentioned. I mean, the dude’s nickname is Mr. October — it’s against the bylaws to not talk about his postseason career.

And while he was a stud in the playoffs (he hit .278/.358/.527 with 18 homers and 48 RBI in 77 games), Jackson was pretty good during the regular season, too. While his 2,597 career strikeouts are the most in MLB history, it’s easy to overlook when he paired it with 563 homers, 1,702 RBI, and a spot in the Hall of Fame.

Jackson is part of his fair share of exclusive clubs thanks to his on-field accomplishments. But there’s one thing he did that nobody else has done to this day.

Reggie Is in a League of His Own With This Statistic

The left-handed slugger enjoyed seven seasons of 30-plus home runs during his 21-year career. He also led the league in this category on four different occasions. While that alone isn’t a record, how Reggie got it done is.

As it currently stands, Jackson is the only hitter in MLB history to win a single-season home run crown for three different teams. Here are the occurrences:

• 1973: 32 homers for the Oakland Athletics

• 1975: 36 homers for the Oakland Athletics

• 1980: 41 homers for the New York Yankees

• 1982: 39 homers for the California Angels

Jackson paired these power performances with at least 100 RBI in each campaign. He also collected four All-Star Game appearances, four top-six finishes in MVP Award voting, and two Silver Slugger Awards during these years.

The most impressive season from a hardware standpoint was 1973 — Reggie took home his first and only MVP Award. In addition to leading the league in homers, he was also at the top of the leaderboard in RBI (117), runs scored (99), slugging percentage (.531), and OPS (.914).

But Here’s the Irony About This Record

This is an impressive record and shows just how good Reggie was over a long period of his career. But while he racked up four single-season home run crowns before hanging up his spikes, none of those occurrences constituted his career high.

Those 41 homers in 1980 with the Yankees were the second-most he ever hit in one season. His high-water mark, though, was in 1969 with the A’s. He slugged 47 homers with 36 doubles, 118 RBI, and 123 runs scored as a 23-year-old. This performance helped him earn his first All-Star Game selection and a fifth-place finish in American League MVP Award voting.

He did most of his work during this campaign ahead of the Midsummer Classic, too. Jackson hit 37 homers with 79 RBI on the strength of a .287/.414/.716 line in 91 first-half games. Down the stretch, he slugged just 10 homers with 39 RBI and a .258/.406/.453 line in 61 games.

Baseball, man. You gotta love it, right?