He's 439th on the all-time home run list, tied with Scott Brosius and John Jaha. And when Raul Ibanez hits two more, Bo Jackson will be 440th.
But it's not fair to compare.Joe Posnanski of the Kansas City Star -- one of the best in the business -- wrote a fascinating column remembering Bo's baseball career this weekend. The stories are legendary, and stand the test of two decades.
It's hard to believe it's been 20 years since Jackson broke through as a rookie with the Kansas City Royals. And it's harder to imagine what kind of career he would have had if he hadn't suffered the hip injury while playing in the NFL, where he was almost equally mythical.
His career stats: .250 average, 141 homers, 415 RBIs. But also 841 strikeouts in 2,393 at-bats. And some highlight plays that defy explanation.
Comments
Dave Kingman
.236 BA
442 HR
1210 RBI
6677 ab
1816 sO
Once again, you leave the topic on the surface with little background … you cite the stats but fail to define them.
Did his average improve over his career?
Sure, Bo knows the whiff, but did he cut down his strike outs during his career?
If his career would have continued instead of being lost to injury, what kind of numbers did his stats suggest?
Well, hey, at least Georgey proved ya wrong last week, huh?
Bo was kind of an enigma in that his focus was somewhat watered down between the two sports. Baseball, being a bit more cerebral than the pure physicality of football, was clearly his 2nd best sport. But Bo had certain inalieanable abilities that almost defied human nature (explosive speed and power). . . that made him quite spectacular to observe on the diamond, and even more so to contemplate. He never reached maturity in baseball, so it is something to ponder. . .”what if?”.