I’m not sure about that. 10 years as an A and 1 as an O gave him 296 homers and a .264 or so BA. The 10 additional years with the Yanks & Angels got him there and the Mr. October stuff made him a superstar on the fame side.
If he had played all 10 with the Angels, he would have made it to the Hall but wouldn’t have been the Superstar.
I’m from New England, from a family who’s been there longer than most (whities). Red Sox fans to a one. When he appeared, we knew.
Antichrist.
If he was the Antichrist, what was Bucky?
At that point Jackson had an MVP Award (and finished high in the balloting a number of other times), a World Series MVP Award, six All-Star Game selections, and had been the best player on a team that won the World Series three years in a row. It that’s not over half a Hall of Fame career, what’s the standard? If you want to do sabermetrics, he was over 50 WAR at the time; once you’re past 60, you’re at worst even money to make it.
Dream crusher, but ultimately forgiven. I’ll admit it’s hard to say his name without reflexively adding his unofficial middle name. 
Reggie just hits different. It’s the arrogance and attitude, more than anything.
I don’t blame Bucky for that loss. I blame Zimmer, for starting Mike Torrez.
Reggie bars were awesome.
I was probably 4 years old when they discontinued that bar so I never had a chance to try one but they looked pretty good.
He had 500+ home runs when that was a lot less common. I think he’s a legit HoF’er.
Even without his 5 home run series, his time with Oakland (three consecutive World Series titles) was probably good enough on its own to get him into the Hall. My only gripe with him is, he went into the Hall as a Yankee, and even that went away when Rickey Henderson got in with an Oakland uniform.
Anybody else out there remember Reggie’s Regiment - a group of fans in the right field bleachers at the Oakland Coliseum would hold up a banner saying “HIT IT HERE REGGIE” whenever he batted?
Off topic but I hate the whole player going into the Hall of Fame as a player of a specific team nonsense. A player like Reggie was inducted because of the totality of his career, not because of his time with one team. IIRC, this started with Carlton Fisk. I don’t remember hearing about it before then.
I think Reggie put people in the ballpark who came to watch him hit homers. And people who came to revel in watching him fail to live up to his own hype. No doubt he hit some boomers…Dick Allen did, too. In fact, Dick made this list but Reggie didn’t.
What’s really interesting is to look at how good Babe Ruth was as a pitcher. Imagine if he’d batted more.
But you have to give it to Mr. Jackson, who actually threw no hitters in school. This isn’t Joe Schmoe pitching—it’s the All Star Game.
I am still waiting for someone to address a bigger issue: if you look at these sluggers, what do you do with the records of those who did steroids? This link may not be for the squeamish:
An irritant to entitled white baseball fans that saw a BIPOC athlete rub his talent and accomplishments in their faces. A true pioneer in sports.
Dick Allen not being in the HOF all this time is criminal.
Finding yourself in Mike Royko’s crosshairs has to be the lowlight of anybody’s life, eh? Almost forgot how good he was…
I’m trying to figure out when it wasn’t hard aside from a blaze of glory in the mid 1980s.
He gave me my best in-person baseball memory- I was in the center field upper deck of Tiger Stadium for the 1971 All Star Game. Watching that ball hit the transformer of the light tower to my left (right field) was something that I’ll never forget. Incidentally, Roberto Clemente’s centerfield blast landed a row behind me but it’s Reggie’s hit that was the highlight for me. Also seeing the AL pull off what was then a rare win.
As a player, sure he was cocky and full of himself. But when the game was on the line I wanted him to be up. No doubt Hall of Famer.