110 Greatest Baseball Players

103.  RF Reggie Jackson, Oakland Athletics

Jackson first gained notice when he was drafted in the first round by the Kansas City Athletics in 1966.  He reached the Majors with the Athletics in 1967 and followed them to Oakland when they were relocated in 1968.  In 1969, Jackson had nine runs batted in in one game, played in the All-Star Game and finished the season with 47 home runs.  He played in the All-Star Game in 1971.  He played in the All-Star Game in 1972.  In 1973, he played in the All-Star Game, won a World Series with the A's, was named the World Series MVP and was named the American League Most Valuable Player.  In 1974, he played in the all-Star Game and won a World Series with the A's.  In 1975, he was inducted into the College Baseball Hall of Fame following his career at Arizona State, won a Player-of-the-Week Award and played in the All-Star Game.  He played for Baltimore in 1976 where he won a Player-of-the Month Award.  He moved onto the Yankees in 1977, where he won a Player-of-the-Week Award, played in the All-Star Game, hit three home runs in Game Six of the World Series, won a World Series with the Yankees and was named the World Series MVP.  In 1978, he was suspended by Yankees manager Billy Martin for five games, played in the All-Star game and won a World Series with the Yankees.  In 1979, he won a Player-of-the-Week Award and played in the All-Star Game.  In 1980, he won two Player-of-the-week Awards, a Player-of-the-Month Award, played in the All-Star Game, finished the season with 41 home runs and won a Silver Slugger Award.  He played in the All-Star Game in 1981.  He went to California in 1982 and he played in the All-Star Game and won a Silver Slugger Award.  He played in the All-Star Game in 1983.  In 1984, he played in the All-Star Game and hit his 500th career home run.  Jackson finished his career by playing two more years in California and another year with the Athletics before retiring.  Jackson hit three home runs in a regular season game three times in his career.  He finished his career with 563 home runs and 1,702 runs batted in.  His number nine was retired by the Athletics and his number 44 was retired by the Yankees following the end of his career.  He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1993.  He stayed in the public eye after his retirement by dabbling in acting and appearing in the films Naked Gun, BASEketball, and The Benchwarmers.

Honorable Mention:

2B Alfonso Soriano, Chicago Cubs

Soriano's big-time professional baseball career began in Japan.  He came to the U. S. in 1999 and immediately emerged as a top prospect with the Yankees and played in the Futures Game on the World Team.  He was a top prospect again in 2000 and reached the Majors.  In 2001, he held the title of top prospect again and was named to the Topps All-Rookie Team.  In 2002, he won a Player-of-the-Week Award, played in the All-Star Game, finished the season with 50 doubles, finished the season with 39 homers and 41 steals and won a Silver Slugger Award.  In 2003, he won two Player-of-the-Week Awards, two Player-of-the-Month Awards, played in the All-Star Game and finished the season with 38 homers and 35 steals.  He went to Texas in 2004, where he had six hits in one game, played in the All-Star Game, was named the All-Star Game MVP and won a Silver Slugger Award.  In 2005, he won a Player-of-the-Week Award, played in the All-Star Game, finished the season with 36 homers and 30 steals and won a Silver Slugger Award.  In 2006 he went to Washington, where he played for the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic, played in the All-Star Game, finished the season with 46 home runs and 41 steals and won a Silver Slugger Award.  He went to the Cubs in 2007, where he won a Player-of-the-Week Award, won a Player-of-the-Month Award and played in the All-Star Game.  In 2008, he won a Player-of-the-Week Award and played in the All-Star Game.  Soriano has hit three home runs in a game three times in his career.  He has spent the last three seasons with the Cubs and is under contract for three more.  Soriano has already hit 340 home runs and has somewhere between five or six years left in the league.  He's not good enough to make this list yet, but he may very well be on his way.

RF Rocky Colavito, Cleveland Indians

Colavito got to the Majors with the Indians in 1955.  He finished the season with 41 home runs in 1958.  In 1959, he played in the All-Star Game and finished the season with 42 home runs.  He went to Detroit in 1960.  In 1961, he played in the All-Star Game and finished the season with 45 home runs.  In 1962, he had six hits in one game and played in the All-Star Game.  He went to the Kansas City Athletics in 1964, where he played in the All-Star Game.  He returned to the Indians in 1965 and played in the All-Star Game.  He played in the All-Star Game in 1966.  He finished his career with cups of coffees with the Indians, the Yankees, the Dodgers and the White Sox.  Colavito finished his career with 374 home runs but was snubbed from the Hall of Fame for no particular reason.  He won't make this list either.

OF Frank Howard, Washington Senators

Howard got to the Majors with cups of coffee with the Dodgers in 1958 and 1959.  He got to the Majors to stay in 1960 and was named to the Topps All-Rookie Team and was named the National League Rookie of the Year.  He won a Player-of-the-Month Award in 1962.  He won a World Series with the Dodgers in 1963.  He went to the Senators in 1965.  In 1968, he played in the All-Star Game and finished the season with 44 home runs.  in 1969, he played in the All-Star Game and finished the season with 48 home runs.  In 1970, he played in the All-Star Game and finished the season with 44 home runs.  He played in the All-Star Game in 1971.  He finished his career with a cup of coffee with Texas (the relocated Washington Senators) and parts of two seasons with Detroit.  He finished his career with 382 home runs.  Howard stayed in baseball as a coach following his career and eventually became a manager with San Diego and the Mets.  He was snubbed for the Hall of Fame and didn't make the cut for this list either.