Reggie Jackson helped put the Oakland A’s on the baseball map as a charismatic celebrity participant within the Nineteen Seventies, however the Corridor of Famer this week mentioned he had designs on one other position with the franchise — workforce proprietor.
The 76-year-old Jackson was on the “Howard Stern Present” and mentioned that cash was no object for his group, which he mentioned included Invoice Gates and Paul Allen, and he believed a deal was all however completed when the A’s have been up on the market within the early 2000s. Jackson suggests he had an settlement in place with then-A’s proprietor Ken Hofmann, and is “completely” satisfied then-MLB commissioner Bud Selig made certain the deal didn’t occur — paving the way in which for the A’s to be bought to a gaggle led by Selig’s fraternity brother on the College of Wisconsin, Lew Wolff, in 2005 for $180 million.
“It broke my coronary heart,” Jackson mentioned throughout a wide-ranging interview with Stern on Wednesday. “I went into despair for about six months.”
When @mroctober tried to purchase the Oakland @Athletics he says he was blocked by Bud Selig. He tells Howard what occurred and why he determined to not sue the previous #MLB commissioner. pic.twitter.com/aBQpLhcd85
— Stern Present (@sternshow) March 22, 2023
Jackson mentioned his group, which additionally included John McCaw, the previous part-owner of the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks, had sufficient cash that, “I might have purchased the Nationwide League.”
Jackson mentioned, “In writing, I despatched a letter to Ken Hofmann, who owned the A’s, that I’m prepared to pay $25 million greater than any bid that you simply get. Bud mentioned to me, he mentioned ‘Reggie, stick with me. I’ll information you thru. I’ll get this completed for you.’
“After which unexpectedly it got here out that the A’s have been bought to a man by the title of Lew Wolff — Bud Selig’s school buddy.”
Selig couldn't be reached for remark Thursday.
Pissed off A’s followers can solely surprise what the franchise may seem like now if Jackson and his group of deep pockets have been in cost.
Wolff bought his shares within the workforce in 2016, making John Fisher the only real principal proprietor. With Opening Day only a week away, the workforce heads into one other season of uncertainty — the A’s lease on the Coliseum runs out after subsequent season, there was no motion on a possible new stadium at Howard Terminal, and the darkish cloud of a possible transfer to Las Vegas continues to hover over the franchise.
Jackson’s wasn’t the one group in discussions with Hofmann and Steve Schott when the workforce was bought in 2005. Warriors major proprietor Joe Lacob has mentioned he had a presumed deal dissolve across the similar time. Lacob additionally says he’s had a standing supply with Fisher to purchase his a part of the workforce for greater than a decade.
In his Schott’s 2022 e-book “Lengthy Schott”, he wrote: “Reggie Jackson had a gaggle that he mentioned needed to purchase the workforce, with Brian Shapiro and different buyers, and mentioned they have been prepared to pay $25 million greater than what the Fishers have been providing. However by the point Reggie contacted me, we had the deal in place. It will have been nice and historic for Reggie to be a part of the possession group, as the primary African American proprietor. I had an excellent relationship with Reggie, having retired his No. 9 a 12 months earlier. However I needed to decide to the take care of the Fishers and baseball and couldn’t chase the final greenback.”
Jackson informed Stern he was so satisfied he was about to personal the workforce he broke into the majors with and helped result in three straight World Collection titles that he was ready to sue Selig and baseball when Wolff (Jackson says surprisingly) acquired the workforce as an alternative of his group.
When requested if he felt his repute as a “troublemaker” as a participant was an element within the potential deal failing, Jackson informed Stern, “I completely consider that. And I completely consider that Bud was the man concerned that denied me from getting a workforce. I had a 100-page lawsuit drawn up, I nonetheless have the deck — about 3-4 inches thick. And there’s six inches of textual content messages and all that form of stuff that went back-and-forth. I by no means filed it.”
Jackson mentioned he didn’t file the lawsuit on the recommendation of others, who recommended there can be vital retribution from the baseball house owners.
“I acquired scared away by some folks in baseball. They mentioned, ‘Reggie, the very first thing it's important to do is resign from baseball — from the Yankees. And also you most likely gained’t get employed once more. And also you most likely gained’t this and also you most likely gained’t that.’ And I didn’t know sufficient concerning the authorized system, and so forth.
“I ought to have sued. I didn’t. It’s clearly nonetheless in my craw.”
Jackson, who spent his first 9 seasons with the franchise and returned in 1987 for his remaining 12 months within the majors, has appeared at quite a few A’s capabilities on the Coliseum throughout the Fisher period, together with final 12 months’s celebration of the 1972 World Collection workforce. The subsequent doubtless look can be April 16, when the A’s honor the 1973 workforce that beat the Mets within the World Collection for the second of Oakland’s three straight championships.