Reggie Jackson Does Not Hold Back Over Racism In 1960's Birmingham
Baseball Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson, who played in Birmingham in 1967, faced challenges that most of us can't imagine. Jackson shared that he would've never made it out of Birmingham alive without Johnny McNamara and his teammates. "I would've [gotten] killed here because I would've beat someone's [butt]."
CBS reports:
"Fortunately, I had a manager, in Johnny McNamara, that … if I couldn't eat in the place, nobody would eat. We would get food to travel. If I couldn't stay in a hotel, they'd drive to the next hotel and find a place where I could stay," Jackson recalled. "Had it not been for Rollie Fingers, Johnny McNamara, Dave Duncan, Joe and Sharon Rudi … I slept on their couch three, four nights a week for about a month and a half. Finally, they were threatened that they would burn our apartment complex down unless I got out."
Jackson concluded by saying that without McNamara and his teammates, that he would've never made it out of Birmingham alive. "I would've [gotten] killed here, because I would've beat someone's [butt]."