BEFORE: I've got my BFF Andy staying with us for a couple of days, so we took him out to Long Island on Friday to show him how we do a cigarette run, from the Poospatuck reservation, most often that also includes a nice lunch at a restaurant from my Yelp! lists and usually shopping, although today I really also needed to find a post office (ideally, one with a much smaller line than the one by my house, where the wait for service can be two hours long) and right next to the post office, a very convenient beer store where I was able to start stocking up interesting fall and winter beers. After lunch at a place that specializes in French Dip sandwiches, it was a bit too late for shopping, so we headed home, but I think he got the idea of what Long Island is all about.
Andy wanted to watch the "Cheech & Chong's Last Movie" doc, so I was willing to watch it again, but that end part where they're really genuinely actively fighting was still tough. Then we latched on to a Jack Lemmon marathon on TCM, caught the tail end of "The Out of Towners" and the whole remake of "The Front Page" (which was better the 2nd time around, and shared with a friend), but I had to bow out once "Some Like It Hot" came on, despite the fact that I JUST watched the doc about Marilyn Monroe and that would have been totally appropriate. No, I went upstairs and watched "Reggie", I would not force my fellow former Masshole to have to watch a doc about a famous NY Yankee, it's bad enough that I need to watch it for my chain to continue.
Despite playing for a number of different teams, it was difficult to attach a state to the life or career of Reggie Jackson, most of his MLB years were spent playing for the Oakland A's or the Yankees, and I've covered both California and New York already, of course. But since there are a lot of Yankees fans in Connecticut (as well as Red Sox fans), today's "Get to Know a State" state is going to be CONNECTICUT. I've been to Connecticut many times, so I'm up to 25 states visited out of 41, I should finish above 50% for sure.
Date admitted to the U.S.: January 9, 1788 (the 5th state)
Claim to fame: TWO major casinos, we've been to them both, and Mystic Seaport, a fun place to visit. Some pretty good rest stops, too.
Nickname: The Constitution State or the Nutmeg State, or the Land of Steady Habits (that last one isn't really the flex you think it is)
State Motto: Qui transtulit sustinet, which is Latin for "stop here between New York and Boston"
State Flower: Mountain laurel
State Bird: American robin
State Fish: American shad
State Animal: Sperm whale
State Insect: Praying mantis
State Tree: Charter Oak
State Dog: Siberian Husky (go, U.Conn Huskies!)
State Shellfish: Eastern oyster
State Mineral: Garnet
Notable Sports Teams: Well, there's a WNBA team, the Sun, which is based near the Mohegan Sun casino. The rest is all college teams and minor-league stuff, due to being right between two VERY big sports cities.
Fun Facts: I'm familiar with the fact that the state is split, perhaps right down the middle, between Yankees fans and Red Sox fans. On our trips up to Massachusetts we have a favorite rest stop that sells souvenirs from both teams, as well as candy, beverages, fried chicken and fireworks. One-stop shopping, right? But I've learned that the imaginary dividing line between the two fan bases is called the "Munson-Nixon" like, a play on Mason-Dixon based on Yankees player Thurman Munson and Red Sox player Trot Nixon. Connecticut is claiming to be the birthplace of the American hamburger, which is a bit contentious, and is now trying to position itself as the best state for pizza, which is even more contentious.
Joe Dimaggio carries over from "The Mystery of Marilyn Monroe: The Unheard Tapes" and we'll send out another Birthday SHOUT-out to Magic Johnson, born 8/14/1959.
THE PLOT: Follows the story of baseball megastar Reggie Jackson as he contemplates his legacy as one of the first iconic black athletes, a pioneer in the fight for dignity, respect, and a seat at the table.
AFTER: Again, I was raised in Red Sox territory, but I live in Yankee territory, however if I'm going to root for any NY baseball team, it's going to be the Queens-based Mets. Yankees fans are not allowed to have it both ways, they can't brag about how many championships their team has won and also complain about how long it's been since they had one. Pick one, be proud of your team or complain about how much they suck. By the same token, Reggie Jackson can't really complain about not having the same opportunities as other players if there's footage of him counting his World Series rings and then rotating the very expensive cars in his multi-car garage. I mean, sure, he owned a chain of car dealerships, and it appears he invested his baseball money wisely but then I don't want to hear about the struggles, because it seems like he's done very well for himself.
Did he encounter racism? Sure, most likely. Is the system still inequitable if there aren't many black managers or owners in baseball? Yeah, probably. But I can't agree with the portrayal of Reggie Jackson as a trailblazer when there were so many black players that came before him, who didn't have the same opportunities that HE did. Those are the history makers, Satchel Paige and Jackie Robinson and Hank Aaron and Willie Mays, and so many others. Reggie got into the Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility, was a member of FIVE World Series championship teams, and was a 14-time All-Star. I just don't think the deck was stacked against him the same way it was for, say, Jackie Robinson or Hank Aaron. I agree that Hank Aaron got a bad deal because of the hatred he encountered while breaking Babe Ruth's HR record, as if he was out to diminish a white man's accomplishments, which was not true at all. But where, exactly, does Reggie Jackson feel that he didn't get the respect or attention that he deserved?
The NY Yankees is an evil, evil, entity, this was drilled into me at a very young age, and I still believe it. If you want to say that Steinbrenner or Billy Martin were unreasonable or even racist, I'm willing to listen. But show me some proof first, that's all I ask. By the same token, you can't imply that Robert F. Kennedy killed Marilyn unless you've got some proof in your pocket. If anything, Reggie Jackson broke the facial hair barrier in baseball, not the race barrier. Before Reggie players needed to be clean-shaven, and when he showed up for spring training in 1972 with a mustache and refused to shave it off, that was huge. OK, so the Oakland Athletics were a fairly loosey-goosey team, but I know that Steinbrenner was dead-set against mustaches and beards, if Reggie played with facial hair he was probably fined PER GAME, and that takes some cojones. We wouldn't have had that great period in the 1980's and 90's when some pitchers had throwback handlebar mustaches or mutton chops without Reggie Jackson. We need to band together and stand against facial hair harassment by employers, I'm pretty sure it's unconstitutional somehow.
Reggie Jackson also benefited from free agency, I know it seems crazy now, but players in baseball used to have very tight, almost lifetime contracts, and it took a court case to determine that this was tantamount to slavery. Free agency was a game-changer, and it re-shuffled the entire league, but the best players saw salary increases, and that I think was a good thing. Hey, if you're not making the money you think you deserve, you should have the right to other options, find a team out there that could use your talents and also has some more money to spare. It seems more in line with American capitalism, we have a free-market in this country and every man (or woman) should get a salary in line with their talents and experience - in an ideal world, of course, and I know it's not, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't try.
Reggie didn't rub everyone the right way, of course, that much is clear, and the conflicts with Yankees manager Billy Martin are probably the most famous. I mean, the team was on top and had a winning record, everything should have been coming up roses, and here's the manager arguing with whether Reggie is hustling to catch balls in the outfield. The flip-side of that, of course, is Reggie being arrogant enough to think he doesn't have to hustle, or should definitely be batting clean-up to have a chance to improve his RBI stats. Of course, there's no questioning the stats during the World Series games, which is why Jackson became known as "Mr. October".
I'm only crediting Jackson with the fact that in 2021 he finally came around and determined what an evil, evil organization the New York Yankees is. Better late than never, I guess. He spent a long time after retiring from playing baseball with the Yankees as a special advisor, but eventually determined they weren't doing enough community work for people of color or making things more equitable overall. Well, he's probably not wrong, I just wonder why it took him three decades to figure that out - was he letting them slide on certain issues or just not paying close enough attention?
Directed by Alex Stapleton
Also starring Reggie Jackson (last seen in "Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary"), Hank Aaron (last seen in "Yogi Berra: It Ain't Over"), Derek Jeter (ditto), Jose Altuve, Vida Blue, Dolores Jackson Burton, JIm Crane, Julius Erving (last seen in "Hustle"), Rollie Fingers, Franco Harris, Rick Hendrick, Joe Jackson, Aaron Judge, Joe Rudi, Hal Steinbrenner, Dave Stewart
with archive footage of Muhammad Ali (last seen in "Being Eddie"), Tom Brokaw (last seen in "Bang My Box: The Robin Byrd Story"), Jim Brown (last seen in "Earth, Wind & Fire"), Johnny Carson (last seen in "Audrey"), Howard Cosell (last seen in "Mel Brooks: The 99 Year Old Man!"), Dave Duncan, Charles Finley, Curt Flood, Lou Gehrig, Bob Gibson, Rickey Henderson, Martinez Jackson, LeBron James (last seen in "Citizen Ashe"), Lyndon Johnson (also carrying over from "The Mystery of Marilyn Monroe: The Unheard Tapes"), Magic Johnson, Mickey Mantle (also last seen in "Yogi Berra: It Ain't Over"), Willie Mays (ditto), George Steinbrenner III (ditto), Billy Martin (last seen in "Lorne"), Willie McCovey, Thurman Munson, Joe Namath (last seen in "I Am Burt Reynolds"), Pat Nixon (last seen in "Remastered: Tricky Dick and the Man in Black"), Richard Nixon (last seen in "Film Geek"), Satchel Paige (last seen in "The Saint of Second Chances"), Dan Rather (last seen in "Raise Hell: The Life & Times of Molly Ivins"), Ronald Reagan (last seen in "I'm Chevy Chase and You're Not"), Frank Robinson, Jackie Robinson (last seen in "Join or Die"), Pete Rose (last seen in "Recorder: The Marion Stokes Project"), Bill Russell (last seen in "Citizen Ashe"), Babe Ruth (last seen in "Famous Nathan"), Bud Selig, Giancarlo Stanton, Bob Uecker,
and the voice of Walter Cronkite (last seen in "Starring Dick Van Dyke")
RATING: 5 out of 10 Reggie! bars, which of course weren't "bars" at all, they were discs.
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