Reggie Tells the Exciting Life Story of Mr. October 

The new wave of sports documentaries about elite athletes of the past, which started three years ago with The Last Dance, has reached even further back into history with Reggie, a new documentary about the life and career of Baseball Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson. 

Many of the Last Dance-inspired documentaries, including the ones about Tom Brady and Derek Jeter, have been vanity projects produced through the subject’s own production company. That does not appear to be the case here; Jackson, in fact, says at one point that 

“I have hesitation with this documentary because I don’t have control of it.” 

Mr. October played his last Major League in 1987, nearly 36 years ago, and he’s 74 years old, which gives him a bit more perspective and distance than most great athletes who get profiled in this way. 

Directed by Alexandria Stapleton, who also made Corman’s World: Exploits of a Hollywood Rebel, the Jackson film weaves together lots of archival footage with Jackson’s memories, as well as his visits with some of his contemporaries. He visits Hank Aaron, who has since passed away, as well as Rollie Fingers and yes, Rollie still has the mustache. 

One major takeaway is that Jackson has a lot to say about race, as a prominent Black athlete who was one of the first big stars to be talked about in the press in euphemisms like “moody” and “temperamental.” And while Jackson was certainly known during his career for being outspoken, he wasn’t always so outspoken about that particular subject. 

Jackson’s father played in the Negro Leagues, doubling as the team’s bus driver, and when Reggie played in Birmingham as a minor leaguer, the notorious racist Bull Connor was the sheriff. 

The documentary makes a fine companion piece to Ricky, Howard Bryant’s fantastic biography of Rickey Henderson, published a year ago. Rickey was another Hall of Famer who played for many teams, including the A’s and Yankees; Henderson was much younger, but they were teammates for a time in Oakland. Like Reggie, Henderson was the sort of great player whose personality left sportswriters befuddled, and often ridiculously hostile. 

But those watching will still get to hear the stories you know are coming, mostly dealing with his times playing for the Oakland Athletes and the New York Yankees, both in the 1970s, when he won a total of five World Series. And yes, there is much discussion of his famous three-homer game in the 1977 World Series, as well as the numerous controversies involving George Steinbrenner and Billy Martin. 

There’s not much about Jackson’s time with the Orioles or Angels, and sadly nothing about his famous cameo in The Naked Gun, which had a brainwashed Reggie trying to assassinate Queen Elizabeth II. But Reggie did have a memorable tweet after Her Majesty’s passing last September: 

And speaking of world leaders, Jackson does not mention that he overlapped at Cheltenham High School outside Philadelphia with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. There’s a lot more about Jackson’s departure from his special assistant position with the Yankees, and his catching on in a similar position with the Astros, who won the World Series last year. 

Older fans who followed Jackson’s career will almost certainly enjoy Reggie, although they may very well learn some things about Mr. October that they never knew before.