DUNEDIN, Fla. – No matter how bad the abuse heaped on Alex Rodriguez gets this season, it won’t compare to what Reggie Jackson heard in the spring of 1977.
Jackson, who was in the infant stages of a five-year, $3 million deal, was in the batter’s box in Orlando during a spring training game.
“It was quiet when I stepped in and I heard this guy yell, ‘This [n-word] makes too much money,” Jackson said yesterday.
Rodriguez isn’t likely to hear racial slurs from the stands in 2009, but the abuse he will receive for being outed as a steroid cheat and later admitting it will be severe.
And though Jackson considers Rodriguez a friend – they dined together Tuesday night – Mr. October is down about the Steroid Era.
“People I talk to, we love the game and I get offended. I played and hit a lot of home runs. I am disappointed. I get angry and emotional, and I have been reprimanded by the commissioner (Bud Selig) and the president (Randy Levine) of the team.”
Jackson said about voicing his opinion, “I am hurt and bewildered and I don’t know if we can ever get past it.”
Jackson is 11th on the all-time home run list with 563. Rodriguez is 10 back and could pass Jackson in April.
“He will go by me like I am standing still,” Jackson said.
As much as he can’t push the steroid issue aside, Jackson understands he is a friend and an employee of the same team Rodriguez plays for.
“He is a friend. He plays for the Yankees and I work for the Yankees,” said Jackson, a Yankees special adviser. “Alex is a player I have feelings for. As (GM) Brian Cashman said, ‘You don’t have choices. He is a friend and a significant asset.’ “