‘Curse of Reggie’ on the A’s franchise was launched with ’76 deal
If you believe in sports curses, we’ve got one that hits home for longtime Bay Area baseball fans.
What if we told you when the A’s shocked the sports world 34 years ago today by trading superstar Reggie Jackson they may have also unwittingly unleashed “The Curse of Reggie” on themselves?
There’s certainly enough circumstantial evidence to be a believer. What happened to the A’s once Reggie left town wasn’t pretty.
First, let’s revisit the blockbuster trade on April 2, 1976 which triggered our theory. A’s owner Charlie Finley, either unable or unwilling (or both) to compete financially with other clubs as the age of free agency fast approached, decided to deal Jackson,
arguably baseball’s best player.
With Reggie as their unquestioned star, the A’s launched a dynasty by winning five straight division titles (1971-75) and becoming just the second franchise to ever win three straight World Series titles (1972-74). Although he’d later stir things up in New York, Jackson back then seemed content in Oakland.
“I’ve got things too good here. I’d be stupid to go anywhere else,” Jackson told Bay Area reporters in ’75.
Finley, who recognized talent much less obvious than Jackson’s, smartly tried to sign him to a long-term deal before the ’76 season. Finley reportedly offered him a three-year, $525,000 contract. Jackson and his agent reportedly countered with a deal worth up to $750,000.
Finley was outraged by the demand and, after his take-it-now-or-leave counteroffer was rejected, hours later Jackson was property of the Baltimore Orioles. In the stunning deal, the A’s sent Jackson, star pitcher Ken Holtzman and minor league pitcher Bill VanBommel to the Orioles for outfielder Don Baylor, pitcher Mike Torrez and pitching phenom Paul Mitchell.
Jackson wasn’t happy with the trade as he was hoping to at least try to win one more World Series in Oakland. He refused to report to the Orioles for a month, finally making his debut on May 2 — when the A’s came to Baltimore. Naturally, Reggie drove in a key run to help beat the A’s 3-2.
Meanwhile, the A’s in 1976 without Reggie would get off to a horrific 18-24 start before finally straightening out. However, the A’s still finished 2 1/2 games behind division-winning Kansas City as Jackson’s power and penchant for delivering in the clutch was sorely missed.
None of the players the A’s received in the Jackson deal lasted in Oakland more than a year and a half. Jackson would enjoy another stellar season in Baltimore in ’76, hitting 27 homers and driving in 91 runs in 134 games. He also led the American League with a .502 slugging percentage and an OPS+ of 155. The following winter Jackson signed a whopping fiveyear, $2.9 million deal with the Yankees.
We’ll readily admit the greatest mass exodus of free-agent talent in baseball history that hit Oakland after the ’76 season was also quite a factor in the franchise’s demise. You can’t simultaneously lose players such as Rollie Fingers (Padres), Joe Rudi (Angels), Don Baylor (Angels), Sal Bando (Brewers), Gene Tenace (Padres), Campy Campaneris (Rangers) in one winter and not feel the effects. Not to mention the A’s also lost two future Hall of Famers who had brief contributions for Oakland that year in Willie McCovey and Billy Williams.
But we can’t ignore the Reggie effect. Without Jackson, the A’s would mostly languish throughout the rest of Mr. October’s career. Over the final 12 years of Jackson’s career, the A’s would make just one brief postseason appearance, in the strike-shortened 1981 season. If you subscribe to our belief in the “Curse of Reggie,” you’ll note it was Reggie himself — and his Yankees — who swept the A’s out of the postseason in 1981.
Here’s even more eerie proof getting rid of Reggie was bad karma for the A’s. It seems the curse was only lifted after the A’s brought Jackson back to Oakland in 1987 for the last season of his Hall of Fame career.
You think it’s a coincidence the A’s immediately went on to make three straight World Series appearances (beating the Giants in 1989) after Jackson finally made his peace with the franchise?
Also on this day ...
2019: The Giants acquire outfielder Kevin Pillar from the Blue Jays in a trade sending three players — infielder Alen Hanson and pitchers Derek Law and Juan De Paula — to Toronto. Pillar, who was just 1for 16with Toronto at the time of the deal, would go on to set career-bests in slugging percentage (.442) and OPS (.735) with the Giants while hitting a career-high-tying 21 homers and driving in a team-best 87runs in 2019.
2017: The Giants’ Madison Bumgarner sets a Major League Baseball record with two home runs in San Francisco’s seasonopening 6-5loss in Arizona. Bumgarner, who became the first pitcher ever to hit multiple homers on Opening Day, struck out 11batters in seven innings but the Giants bullpen blew the game.
2016: 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who was on the verge of being released by San Francisco, reportedly had the second of two meetings with Broncos GM John Elway about playing in Denver. It would seemingly be the closest Kaepernick would come to rejoining an NFL team since finishing the 2015 season with the 49ers.
1982: Under orders from A’s manager Billy Martin, Oakland pitcher Steve McCatty comes to bat against the Padres in spring training using a 15-inch toy bat. It was Martin’s way of protesting not being allowed to use the designated hitter at San Diego’s spring training home in Yuma, Arizona. McCatty didn’t bother swinging the bat, though, and wound up being called out on strikes.