Editing Reggie Jackson (section)

====The Bronx Zoo====
[[File:Reggie Jackson bats at Yankee Stadium.jpg|thumb|Jackson bats at [[Yankee Stadium (1923)|Yankee Stadium]], July 1979.]]
The Yankees' home opener of the [[1978 New York Yankees season|1978]] season, on April 13 against the [[1978 Chicago White Sox season|Chicago White Sox]], featured a new product, the [[Bun Bars|"Reggie!" bar]]. In 1976, while playing in [[1976 Baltimore Orioles season|Baltimore]], Jackson had said, "If I played in New York, they'd name a candy bar after me." The [[Standard Brands]] company responded with a circular "bar" of peanuts dipped in caramel and covered in chocolate, a confection that was originally named the "Wayne Bun" as it was made in [[Fort Wayne, Indiana]]. The "Reggie!" bars were handed to fans as they walked into Yankee Stadium. Jackson hit a home run, and when he returned to right field the next inning, fans began throwing the Reggie bars on the field in celebration. Jackson told the press that this confused him, thinking that maybe the fans did not like the candy.<ref>{{Cite news| url = https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2009-nov-06-sp-random6-story.html|title= Mr. October tells of time it rained chocolate on him|author=Mike Penner|work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date = November 6, 2009}}</ref> The Yankees won the game, 4–2.

But the Yankees could not maintain their success, as manager Billy Martin lost control. On July 23, after suspending Jackson for disobeying a sign during a July 17 game, Martin made a statement about his two main antagonists, referring to comments Jackson had made and team owner George Steinbrenner's 1972 violation of campaign-finance laws: "They're made for each other. One's a born liar, the other's convicted." It was moments like these that gave the Yankees the nickname "The Bronx Zoo."

Martin resigned the next day (some sources have said he was actually fired<ref>{{cite web|last=Friedman |first=Ian C. |url=http://www.iancfriedman.com/?p=1561 |title="One's a born liar, the other's convicted." – Billy Martin, July 24, 1978 » IAN C. FRIEDMAN – WORDS MATTER |publisher=Iancfriedman.com |date=July 13, 2010 |access-date=February 6, 2014}}</ref>), and was replaced by [[Bob Lemon]], a Hall of Fame pitcher for the [[Cleveland Indians]] who had been recently fired as manager of the White Sox. Steinbrenner, a [[Cleveland]]-area native, had hired former Indians star [[Al Rosen]] as his team president (replacing another Cleveland figure, [[Gabe Paul]]). Steinbrenner jumped at the chance to involve another hero of his youth with the Yankees; Lemon had been one of Steinbrenner's coaches during the Bombers' pennant-winning 1976 season.

After being 14 games behind the first-place [[1978 Boston Red Sox season|Red Sox]] on July 18, the Yankees finished the season in a tie for first place. The two teams played a [[1978 American League East tie-breaker game|one-game playoff]] for the division title at Fenway Park, with the Yankees winning 5–4. Although the home run by light-hitting shortstop [[Bucky Dent]] in the seventh inning got the most notice, it was an eighth-inning home run by Jackson that gave the Yankees the fifth run they ended up needing. The next day, with the [[1978 American League Championship Series|American League Championship Series]] with the [[1978 Kansas City Royals season|Royals]] beginning, Jackson hit a home run off the Royals' top reliever at the time, [[Al Hrabosky]], the flamboyant "Mad Hungarian." The Yankees won the pennant in four games, their third straight.

Jackson was once again in the center of events in the [[1978 World Series|World Series]], again against the [[1978 Los Angeles Dodgers season|Dodgers]]. Los Angeles won the first two games at Dodger Stadium, taking the second when rookie reliever [[Bob Welch (baseball)|Bob Welch]] struck Jackson out with two men on base with two outs in the ninth inning. The series then moved to New York, and after the Yankees won Game Three on several fine defensive plays by third baseman Graig Nettles, Game Four saw Jackson in the middle of a controversial play on the basepaths. In the sixth inning, after collecting an RBI single, Jackson was struck in the hip–possibly on purpose–by a ball thrown by Dodger shortstop [[Bill Russell (shortstop)|Bill Russell]] as Jackson was being forced at second base. Instead of completing a double play that would have ended the inning, the ball caromed into foul territory and allowed Thurman Munson to score the Yankees' second run of the inning. In spite of the Dodgers' protests of interference on Jackson's part, the umpires allowed the play to stand. The Yankees tied the game in the eighth inning and eventually won in the tenth.

Following a blowout win in Game Five, both teams headed back to Los Angeles. In Game Six, Jackson got his revenge against Welch by blasting a two-run home run in the seventh inning, putting the finishing touch on a series-clinching, 7–2 win for the Yankees.

On April 19, 1979, following a Yankee loss to the [[Baltimore Orioles]], Jackson started kidding [[Cliff Johnson (baseball)|Cliff Johnson]] about his inability to hit [[Goose Gossage]]. While Johnson was showering, Gossage insisted to Jackson that he struck out Johnson all the time when he used to face him, and that he was terrible at the plate. "He either homers or strikes out", Gossage said. He had previously given Johnson the nickname "Breeze" in reference to how his big swing kept Gossage cool on the pitcher's mound in hot weather. When Jackson relayed this information to Johnson upon his return to the locker room, all the players assembled, egged on by Jackson, started laughing at him and in unison loudly called him "Breeze" with some waving their arms and hands before doubling over. Johnson, infuriated, went after Gossage and a fight broke out, resulting in Gossage suffering torn ligaments in the thumb on his pitching hand; both men were fined (Jackson, despite instigating the fracas, was not), Gossage missed three months due to the injury, and Johnson was traded away two months later. Teammate [[Tommy John]] called it "a demoralizing blow to the team."<ref name="John 201">John and Valenti, p. 201</ref> Jackson joined Gossage on the disabled list for a month in June with a torn calf muscle.<ref name="John 201"/> In 131 games, he batted .297 with 29 home runs and 89 RBI.<ref name="reference">{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/j/jacksre01.shtml|title=Reggie Jackson Stats|work=Baseball-Reference|access-date=May 26, 2021}}</ref>