PhilYouIn.com

In 1976, while playing for the Baltimore Orioles, Reggie Jackson said, “If I played in New York, they’d name a candy bar after me.”

Another time, while sitting at his locker, a reporter asked him what he was thinking about. “The magnitude of me,” he replied.

Reggie was a bit of a hot dog.

Well. Reggie was a free agent after 1976 and he signed with the Yankees. And in the final game of the 1977 World Series, Reggie hit THREE home runs in THREE consecutive at bats off of THREE different pitchers. On THREE consecutive swings of the bat!

One of the most incredible athletic feats. Ever.

Sure enough, the following winter, Standard Brands introduced the ‘Reggie Bar!’ Square in shape, orange in color, with a photo of Reggie swinging the bat in his Yankee uniform on its front.

Catfish Hunter, the terrific Yankee pitcher (baseball players sure had great nicknames back then), quipped, “It’s the candy bar that when you unwrap it, it tells you how good it is.”

The Yankees began the 1978 season on the road, before returning for their home opener on April 13. Standard Brands had a promotion waiting: a Reggie Bar! for every paying customer. All 40,078 of them.

In the bottom half of the very first inning, with the game scoreless, Reggie came to bat with two men on base and one out. The crowd rose in unison to cheer and salute their remarkable World Series hero.

On a 2 and 1 count, mighty Reggie struck the ball with a vicious swing of his 33.5 oz. bat.

The Chicago right fielder ran to the warning track, then just stood helplessly and watched as the ball soared over the wall.

The place went NUTS! Fans began chanting ‘Reg-GIE! Re-GIE!!”

As Reggie passes 1st base, a Reggie Bar! flew out of the stands, landing a few feet behind him. He didn’t seem to notice.

As he approached 2nd base, three more bars landed in his vicinity, one bouncing off of his helmet.

When he made his turn for 3rd base, 10,000 Reggie Bars! came flying from the chanting crowd, frisbee style.

“Reg-GIE! REG-GIE!” they shrieked, the chant echoing through the ballpark as their idol continued his jog around the bases, arms now covering his face.

Reggie laughed his way into the dugout. It took the grounds’ crew 15 minutes to clear the field of chocolate.

The White Sox later kvetched about the game delay, how it was a disgraceful waste of food, that there were starving children in the world, blah blah blah. They also complained that someone could have gotten hurt.

Bunch of sore losers, those White Sox..