Reggie Jackson, Cheltenham High given mention by NY Yankees’ Pinstripe Alley

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January 1st, 2024 | By Ryan Genova

Reggie Jackson, a 1964 Cheltenham High School graduate, was named Pinstripe Alley’s #36 all-time Yankee despite his only playing five seasons in the Bronx.

The mention came with a detailed biography of his life and career, including his days in Wyncote and as a Panther. An excerpt:

Jackson was born on May 18, 1946, in Wyncote, Pennsylvania. He loved sports very early on, and that’s mainly because of the influence of his father, Martinez Jackson. He, according to Britannica, was the one encouraging young Reginald (yes, that is his birth name) to become an athlete at Cheltenham High School in Pennsylvania.

His family decided to go with an odd family arrangement when Reggie was a kid, according to his SABR (Society of American Baseball Research) bio: his father and his mother, Clara, split, with the former raising Reggie, his older brother James, and an older half-brother, Joe. She left with three of the children.

A Multi-Sport Star

There, at Cheltenham, Jackson was a very good football, basketball and baseball player, but he also excelled in track. He always drew attention from scouts because of his all-around natural ability.

That said, he wasn’t a stranger to adversity. He hurt his knee in an early season football game in his junior year in 1962 (he was a tailback) and was not supposed to play again according to doctors. He returned for the last game of the season, but in that contest, he fractured five cervical vertebrae. He was told his ability to walk could be compromised, but it’s safe to say he did much more than that and beat the odds in an impressive recovery.

For the full biography, you can click here. Here’s a bonus picture of our very own local historian Chuck Langerman with Jackson’s MLB Hall of Fame plaque:


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Photo: Flickr.com via tedtee308