Martinez Jackson

Martinez Jackson (1905 – April 24, 1994) was a second baseman in Negro League Baseball who played in the 1930s for the Newark Eagles.^[1]

Jackson is best known for being the father of the outfielder and Baseball Hall of Fame member Reggie Jackson. According to reports, Mr. Jackson was paid $7 for a baseball game in the Negro Leagues, $14 for doubleheaders, before opening his own tailor shop in Philadelphia to make a better life for his wife and three sons.^[1][2]

During his interviews, Reggie Jackson loved to talk about his father and the values Mr. Jackson instilled in him. "He was a no-excuses man," Reggie has explained. "Just like George", in reference to his former employer George Steinbrenner, owner of the New York Yankees. "I did anything I could do not to go into the shop and have to work on the pressing machine," he added. Afterwards, the deal was that Reggie had to be on the first team or else he had to come to work at the tailor shop after school.^[1]

Mr. Jackson also talked proudly of his son Reggie, as he carried with him business cards that read: 'Marty the Tailor, Father of Famous Reggie Jackson'.^[3] He was present when Reggie was inducted into the Hall of Fame in January 1993 and later joined him in Cooperstown, even though his health had not been good in the months prior to the ceremonies. For a long time, he had a chronic bad leg as result of a World War II injury suffered while serving in North Africa.^[1]

Almost until the end, Mr. Jackson would spend time in his tailor shop. Formerly named 'Jack the Tailor of Ranstead Street,' he later became 'Marty the Tailor of Spencer Street in Olney'.^[1] He died in 1994 in Philadelphia at the age of 89, following complications from a stroke.^[3]

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