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He looks like the champ's champ. At 6 ft. and 200 lbs., he is built like a bull, with musculature that would make Atlas envious. He puts his 17-in. biceps. 27-in. thighs and 36-oz. bat to good use. When Ted Williams first watched Jackson swing, he said, "He's the most natural hitter I've ever seen." Williams, the hitter's hitter, has not been proved wrong.
In 1969, his second full year in the majors, Jackson hit 47 home runs. He hammered several balls more than 500 feet. In streak hitting, Jackson is unrivaled today. He has clubbed eight home runs in six days, accounted for ten runs batted in in one game and hit .630 over a seven-game stretch. As of last week, Jackson had a league-leading 13 home runs, 37 RBls and was batting .397—second in the A.L. In one win over Minnesota last week, Jackson was a one-man wild bunch, knocking in five of the A's seven runs with a homer, double and single.
Although Jackson's overdeveloped build leads to frequent muscle pulls—he sat on the bench for five days recently nursing a hamstring pull in his right leg—it also equips him with 9.6-sec. speed in the 100-yd. dash. But his game utilizes more than power and speed. "Reggie is a smart hitter," says the California Angels' Frank Robinson, one of only three players to win the batting triple crown in the past quarter-century. "This time you may strike him out, but next time he'll be waiting." In fact, Jackson goes to the plate with a plan for every pitcher. "I know what to expect," he explains, "and I know how to get what I want. If I want a fastball, I move up in the batter's box as though I am expecting a curve. When the pitcher tries to blow it by me, I'm ready. It's goodbye baseball."
Courting umpires is another Jackson tactic. Always speaking softly to the man behind the plate, even when he feels wronged, Jackson often gets the benefit of the doubt in return. "One umpire appreciates my manners so much," says Reggie, "that he reduces the strike zone when I come to bat. Whenever he's umpiring on the bases, he tells me, 'You'll get your pitch when I get behind the plate.' "
The final ingredient in Jackson's game is a passion to win and to dominate. "I'd rather hit than have sex," says the man who is not exactly a social recluse. "To hit is to show strength. It's two against one at the plate, the pitcher and the catcher versus you. When I'm up there, I'm thinking, 'Try everything you want. Rub up the ball. Move the fielders around. Throw me hard stuff, soft stuff. Try anything. I'm still going to hit that ball.' God, do I love to hit that little round sumbitch out of the park and make 'em say 'Wow!' " Opposing pitchers like Baltimore's perennial 20-game winner, Jim Palmer, believe him. "When I'm pitching against Jackson," says Palmer, "I'm happy just keeping the ball inside the park."