Bo Jackson: Could He Have Been the Greatest of All Time?

Vincent Edward Jackson was one of the greatest baseball players of all time.

There, I've said it and I firmly believe it. Let's not talk about how amazing he was on the football field for a moment and concentrate solely on his baseball attributes and what he brought to the game. Athleticism, tenacity, skill, and pure entertainment value.

Bo Jackson was not the greatest hitter. Bo Jackson was not the best fielder. Bo Jackson was the pure definition of "five-tool" player though. What he brought to the game consisted of jaw-dropping home runs, breathtaking plays in the outfield, and he was intelligent to boot. Now, I'm sure you're thinking that Bo was an average player at best, or perhaps, how can I make this declaration of him being the greatest of all time?

It is simple: he was.

Stiff Competition

In Bo's first four full baseball seasons he was competing with the likes of players named Bonds and McGwire, both also cutting their teeth at the same time.

Each player showcased certain talents and Bo was certainly in the mix in ever category. In making my bold assertions, I knew that numbers would speak volumes, so what I've done is compared Bo Jackson's first four full seasons against those of Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, Alex Rodriguez and Albert Pujols.

All four men played a separate total number of games so I mapped out there numbers to reflect averages based on playing 162 games per year. All four players have at some point in their careers been considered the greatest player in baseball.

You Wish He Was on Your Team

In an average season, playing in Kansas City, Bo could be expected to put up 35 home runs, 101 RBI, an OBP of .309, an .800 OPS and a .486 slugging percentage, and he'll score 89 runs and steal 25 bases.

Lets look at that stat line for a moment and picture THAT player in YOUR favorite team's lineup today.

These numbers are reflected solely on his first four seasons in the league—not hindered by injuries and there has never been so much as a whisper of Bo Jackson having ever used steroids.

Having said that, Bonds in those same four years put up numbers that looked like: 22 home runs, 77 RBI, .281 OBP, .858 OPS, .494 slugging, 106 runs and 36 stolen bases

Mark McGwire: 41 home runs, 113 RBI, .358 OBP, .871 OPS, .513 slugging, 92 runs. I won't even bother mentioning stolen bases, it's laughable.

BO > Big Mac & Bonds

Grouping A-Rod in with Big Mac and Bonds is appropriate, as he has already admitted to using steroids in his early career—with that in mind A-Rod had spectacular numbers that look like this: 35 home runs, 115 RBI, .347 OBP, .871 OPS, .524 slugging, 124 runs and 31 stolen bases.

Albert Pujols is just a phenom. His numbers do blow everyone else out of the water so it seems counterproductive to even list his numbers.

Injury Slowed Him Down

The problem with Bo Jackson is that his career was derailed with injury and he became about a third of the player he could have become.

For the fun of it, I took his numbers and averaged things out over a 16 year career. It's interesting to see where he would *probably* sit at the end of his career.

His stat line would look like this: 1,436 career runs scored. This would put him ahead of Tony Gwynn, Roberto Clemente and Andre Dawson all-time, to name a few. He would end with roughly 2,364 career hits, just behind Alan Trammel and just ahead of Carlton Fisk, and 340 career doubles—putting him ahead of Hall of Famers Yogi Berra and Dusty Baker. Sixty-eight triples is not a mind blowing number, but it is Ozzie Smith territory, another hall member.

Could He Have Curtailed the Strikeouts?

His RBI totals would land somewhere in the 1,620 area placing him ahead of guys like Jim Thome, George Brett, Mike Schmidt and Andre Dawson. As for the long-ball, most likely his career number would have been in the 572 arena—which would place him 9-11th all time.

The one statistic that would be a terrible stat is his strikeout total, assuming he would not be able to contain his need to swing. Assuming everything stays the same, he would have set the mark for most strikeouts by a player with 3,220.

Ouch.

The GOAT

With that being said, Bo still had a propensity for the game that you just don't see today. To close out, I want to share this great clip with you all of one of the greatest players of all time.