HOUSTON — Reggie Jackson, who became an influential voice for Houston Astros owner Jim Crane across their four-year partnership, told the New York Post he is leaving the Astros organization.
Jackson joined Crane’s inner circle before the 2021 season and carried the official title of “special advisor.” He became a fixture in spring training, on select trips and behind the batting cages at Minute Maid Park, where he almost always cradled a bucket of popcorn while trying to deliver hitting advice.
In April, Jackson listed himself among “the four or five people that make the decisions with the Astros,” accentuating how significant his influence had grown within a remade baseball operations department. On at least one occasion, Jackson addressed the Astros spring training clubhouse and could be seen on the back fields during fundamental work. Jackson watched games alongside Crane in his suite at Minute Maid Park.
A 14-time All-Star and two-time World Series MVP, Jackson joined the Astros after a 30-year relationship with the New York Yankees, where he also held the title of “special advisor.”
Toward the end of his Yankees tenure, Jackson felt like a “hood ornament,” he said in his Amazon Prime documentary. The Astros gave him more cachet in their franchise’s decision-making and, thus, became Jackson’s new home.
Jackson, 78, told the Post he planned to spend more time with family in California. He did not rule out a return to the Yankees, which Jackson said “has always been a home for me.”
(Photo: Stacy Revere / Getty Images)
