Tuesday, October 13, 2009

The New Mr. October?

Most mornings when I'm eating breakfast before work, I'll watch a few minutes of SportsCenter. Today they ran some statistics that caught my attention. The following is a comparison between Mr. October himself, Reggie Jackson, and Alex Rodriguez through their first 42 playoff games:

Reggie Jackson: 42 games, 151 at-bats, 40 hits, 7 homers, 19 rbi, .265 batting
Alex Rodriguez: 42 games, 158 at-bats, 46 hits, 9 homers, 25 rbi, .291 batting

We all know the media beating that A-Rod has taken in recent years for his struggles in the postseason. But his recent success at the plate seems to put him in good company. Through their first 42 playoff games, A-Rod hit for a higher average, 6 more RBIs, and 2 more homers than Reggie Jackson.

In fairness, as Larry Brown points out, Reggie Jackson batted .400 with 8 homers and 17 RBIs in 15 World Series games for the Yankees. So I think we'll have to wait for A-Rod to play in even one World Series game before the Mr. October comparisons can be made. And, for what it's worth, SportsCenter noted this morning that in Reggie Jackson's very next playoff game (#43), he hit 3 homers.

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