Bo Jackson Ten Best Plays As A Royal (Video)

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Bo Jackson’s best play’s as a Kansas City Royal player: 1. The Throw

I ranked this play the 9th greatest moment in Kansas City Royals history in an earlier post.

I wrote:

"No one really remembers the situation either, unless they go back and watch the video. Which, really, is quite amazing because Bo Jackson make what is probably his most spectacular defensive play of his career in a clutch situation. The Royals and Mariners were tied in the bottom of 10th inning in Seattle, when backup catcher Scott Bradley doubled into the left-field corner. With the fast Harold Reynolds at first base, he looked certain to score the winning run. Except Bo Jackson throws a 310-foot strike to home plate FROM THE WARNING TRACK. Harold Reynolds wasn’t exactly slow. He led the American League in stolen bases two years before and was still one of the fastest players in the league. Reynolds absolute disbelief was part of what made The Throw iconic. He slammed his batting helmet on the turf after he was called out, and stood at home plate with a bewildered look on his face."

Twenty-five years after Bo Jackson last played for Kansas City, The Throw is the play that everyone remembers. Part of it is that Harold Reynolds is now a host of Baseball Tonight on ESPN, and his co-workers will dredge up this video to tease him.

Still, think about it from Harold Reynolds point of view. A guy who made 2 All-Star teams and stole 250 bases in his career is best remembered for a play BO JACKSON made against him.

Looking back at Bo Jackson, you can’t help but wonder what he might have become. Bo was still growing as a baseball player. Every year of his Royals career, his OPS+ improved until he posted a 142 (42% above league average) in 1990.

Then he injured his hip in January of 1991 when he was tackled from behind in a playoff game against the Cincinnati Bengals.

He was never the same.

Bo’s football career ended. He had a gaudy 5.4 yards per carry average, which is more than NFL Hall-of-Famers Jim Brown (5.2 ypc), Barry Sanders (5.0 ypc), and Gale Sayers (5.0 ypc).

Bo hung on to play baseball for three more seasons with the Angels and White Sox. His damaged hip made him limp. Bo was a shadow of his former greatness, but could still shock and amaze occasionally—especially with his cannon arm:

Bo Jackson’s Career Stats:

MLB

Year	Tm	PA	AB	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+
1986	KCR	91	82	2	1	2	9	3	1	7	34	.207	.286	.329	.615	67
1987	KCR	434	396	17	2	22	53	10	4	30	158	.235	.296	.455	.750	94
1988	KCR	468	439	16	4	25	68	27	6	25	146	.246	.287	.472	.758	108
1989 ★	KCR	561	515	15	6	32	105	26	9	39	*172*	.256	.310	.495	.805	124
1990	KCR	456	405	16	1	28	78	15	9	44	128	.272	.342	.523	.866	142
1991	CHW	84	71	4	0	3	14	0	1	12	25	.225	.333	.408	.742	107

1993	CHW	308	284	9	0	16	45	0	2	23	106	.232	.289	.433	.722	94
1994	CAL	224	201	7	0	13	43	1	0	20	72	.279	.344	.507	.851	117
8 Yrs	2626	2393	86	14	141	415	82	32	200	841	.250	.309	.474	.784	112
162 Game Avg.	613	559	20	3	33	97	19	7	47	196	.250	.309	.474	.784	112

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com

NFL

	Games	Rushing	Receiving
Year	Age	Tm	Pos	G	Att	Yds	TD	Lng	Y/A	Y/G	A/G	Rec	Yds	Y/R	TD	Lng	R/G	Y/G	YScm
1987	25	RAI	FB	7	81	554	4	91	6.8	79.1	11.6	16	136	8.5	2	23	2.3	19.4	690
1988	26	RAI	FB	10	136	580	3	25	4.3	58.0	13.6	9	79	8.8	0	27	0.9	7.9	659
1989	27	RAI	RB	11	173	950	4	92	5.5	86.4	15.7	9	69	7.7	0	20	0.8	6.3	1019
1990*	28	RAI		10	125	698	5	88	5.6	69.8	12.5	6	68	11.3	0	18	0.6	6.8	766
Career				38	515	2782	16	92	5.4	73.2	13.6	40	352	8.8	2	27	1.1	9.3	3134

Provided by Pro-Football-Reference.com: View Original Table

ESPN’s 30 for 30 did a film on Bo Jackson’s career. Do yourself a favor. Watch it. The link leads to the full video on Youtube.

Next: Greatest Moments In Royals History

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KC Royals: Bo Jackson Ten Best Plays As A Royal (Video)

By John Viril | Feb 25, 2015

Bo Jackson’s best play’s as a Kansas City Royal player: 1. The Throw

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