Jackson talks of day it rained chocolate
Reggie Jackson remembers hitting the home run, rounding the bases, looking up and seeing a shower of candy bars.
It was April 1978, and the New York Yankees had welcomed fans to their home opener by handing out Reggie! bars, a chocolate, caramel and peanut confection named after the Yankees slugger. How good was the Reggie! bar? Jackson’s teammate, Catfish Hunter, famously remarked that when you take a bite out of one, it tells you how good it is.
But when Jackson looked up and saw that torrent of chocolate rain, he wasn’t sure that commendation was enough. Fans were throwing back the candy to celebrate the home run, but Jackson, reminiscing on his weekly show on Sirius XM’s Mad Dog Radio, said he was worried about consumer dissatisfaction.
“I was concerned that people didn’t like [the candy bar],” Jackson said. “Standard Brands and Curtiss Candy out of Chicago, they thought it was the greatest PR thing they ever could’ve dreamed of because they got like two and a half minutes of airtime on national television. They really thought that it was wonderful. I was nervous that people didn’t like it.”
Trivia time
Jackson played in how many World Series?
Outspending everyone else: priceless
A few quick facts about the Commissioner’s Trophy, which the Yankees won Wednesday night by defeating the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 6 of the World Series:
* It weighs 30 pounds.
* It is the only trophy in the four major U.S. sports not named after a specific person.
* It has a melt value of $7,750, according to gold purchaser Cash4Gold. On a team with an average annual salary of $7.75 million, $7,750 is almost pocket change. But as they say, even in New York, it’s the thought that counts.
E - Inquirer
The Philadelphia Inquirer had to apologize to readers for running an ad on Monday congratulating the Phillies for winning consecutive World Series championships. That ad is now a collector’s item.
“Well,” writes Elliott Harris of the Chicago Sun-Times, “you sure don’t see Chicago newspapers making mistakes like that.”
Trivia answer
Five. Jackson played in the World Series twice with Oakland and three times with the Yankees.
And finally
From Richard Oliver of the San Antonio Express-News, on the resumption of the Eagles-Cowboys rivalry Sunday in Philadelphia: “Oddsmakers have placed hatred as a seven-point favorite.”
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