Reggie jacks one up, up, long gone at Tiger Stadium

By Larry Whiteside, Globe Staff, 07/11/99

After 28 years it still ranks among the most famous home runs ever hit in an All-Star Game. Purists remind you that Reggie Jackson's 523-foot blast in the 1971 classic actually never left Tiger Stadium. But does it really matter?

Certainly, it was a blow that helped shape Jackson's legacy. With Jackson's help, the American League broke an eight-game losing steak and scored a 6-4 victory over the National League before 53,559. The teams combined for six home runs in the 42nd midsummer classic. But it was Jackson's blast that went down in history. The ball seemed headed toward downtown Detroit. Instead, the ball -- still on the rise -- struck a light tower transformer at a point around 60 feet above the roof, which stands 82 feet above the playing field. Jackson, who was pinch-hitting for his Oakland A's teammate Vida Blue, stopped only a few feet out of the batter's box, as if to salute his achievement.

The victim was Pittsburgh Pirates righthander Dock Ellis. With a 3-and-2 count, he threw Jackson a high slider over the plate.

Tiger Stadium had mystified hitters for years, which only added to the shock of Jackson's home run. There had been 13 balls hit over the roof. Jackson was credited with No. 14. (To date, there only have been 35 home runs to leave Tiger Stadium on the fly. Thirty-one have cleared the roof in right. Only four have gone out over the roof in left.)

Designed as a 23,000-seat, open-end stadium, Navin Field grew into a double-deck stadium that by 1936 seated 36,000. Two years later, the park was enclosed and renamed Briggs Stadium after owner Walter Briggs. Once the improvements were complete, the park was as inviting as Fenway Park and just as difficult to master. Hitters mostly took aim at the short porches down each line, 340 feet in left and 325 in right.

The fences were difficult to reach in the power alleys (365 and 375, respectively), and an impossible 440 feet away in straightaway center field. To lift the ball out of the stadium required a stroke that encouraged fly balls. A fly ball to anywhere but down the line was like a missile heading for Death Valley. Tigers pitchers lived off such an advantage. Most deep fly balls were caught. Jackson knew this, and he had the strength to pull a power pitch and lift it.

On this day in 1971, the National League All-Star team was loaded with Hall of Fame sluggers: Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Johnny Bench, Roberto Clemente, and Willie McCovey. Aaron, Bench, and Clemente all hit opposite-field home runs to right, but only Bench's came with a man on base. There were three two-run homers hit by the American Leaguers, one each by Jackson, Frank Robinson, and Harmon Killebrew. Only Robinson's homer went to the opposite field. The other two challenged the park and won.

Although he had made the All-Star team in 1969, Jackson wasn't even supposed to be on the '71 team. The fans preferred to see Robinson, Carl Yastrzemski, and Bobby Murcer. Manager Earl Weaver added Killebrew, and hometown hero Al Kaline was playing his final All-Star Game. Only when Tony Oliva of Minnesota came up lame did Weaver elect to add Jackson to the team.

The NL was leading in the third inning, 3-0, when Jackson got the call. Blue had thrown only seven pitches in the first inning. But in the second, he hit Stargell with a pitch. Bench followed with a two-run homer to right-center, and the Nationals had a 2-0 lead. Then Aaron homered in the third. "They said this guy [Blue] throws as hard as Sandy Koufax," said Aaron. "I've just got to say that's just not true."

But Blue turned out to be an afterthought after what happened in the bottom of the third. Ellis, a surprise starter, gave up a leadoff single to Red Sox veteran shortstop Luis Aparicio. Jackson was announced as the pinch hitter for Blue, which started the crowd buzzing. Jackson had led the AL in 1969 with 47 home runs and was as dangerous as any NL slugger. He also led the league in strikeouts his first three seasons. The fans expected fireworks, but nothing like what transpired.

Ellis ran the count full and geared for the ultimate confrontation -- fastball pitcher vs. fastball hitter. Instead, Ellis threw a high slider. Jackson did not get cheated. He circled the bases with that home run strut that would become his trademark. After the game, Jackson dedicated the home run to Robinson, who was named the game's most valuable player. Robinson's two-run homer off Ellis later in the inning had put his team ahead to stay, 4-3.

Killebrew hit his two-run homer off Ferguson Jenkins of the Cubs in the sixth inning. But it was the rocket hit by Jackson that will always be remembered.

"It was the longest home run I've ever seen," recalled Kaline.

Jackson agreed. That's probably the longest ball I've ever hit. It's a good thing the tower was in the way. I couldn't have hit it any farther if I'd used a fungo bat."

As it turned out, Jackson's warm feeling toward Robinson extended beyond the All-Star Game. Robinson, a Baltimore Oriole, had been his manager and mentor in Puerto Rico the previous winter. He learned as much about life as he did about baseball, and this was a great time to repay him.

"He straightened me out," said Jackson. "He got me to control my temper. He made me believe in myself. You're a star. Give your ability a chance. That's what I did."