Reggie's Charm

Winning follows Jackson

San Francisco Giant Joe Morgan had to smile when his friend Bill Russell, the basketball player, said mischievously, "Isn't it funny how those winning teams keep following you around?" From Cincinnati to Houston, now even to San Francisco. Evidently some players know not only how to win but how to pass it along, and perhaps one knows best of all: Reginald Martinez Jackson.

The last American League team to win a world championship without Reggie Jackson (who has won five) was Baltimore back in 1970. Discovering how to win in Oakland (1972, '73, '74), Jackson shared his knowledge with the New York Yankees in 1978 and 1979. This year the Yankees let Jackson get away to California, and naturally the Angels are in the playoffs. "His charisma rubs off," says Buzzie Bavasi, the California general manager. "Of course, he's having a good year, 37 homers. You can't be too charismatic if you're having a bad one. Reggie's hard play induces hard play. Then he draws the media fire off everybody. Fred Lynn couldn't handle that before Reggie came, and now Fred's having a fine year."

Jackson muses, "How can I talk about this without ballyhooing myself?" And, amazingly, he decides that he cannot. "Let's just say that I'm like Joe Morgan. Joe and I, we're just good-luck charms. Winning teams keep following us around."

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