We look forward to seeing you on your next visit to the library. Find a location near you.

Becoming Mr. October
(OverDrive MP3 Audiobook, OverDrive Listen)

Book Cover
Average Rating
Published:
Books on Tape 2013
Status:
Available from OverDrive
Description
A soul-baring, brutally candid, and richly eventful memoir of the two years—1977 and 1978—when Reggie Jackson went from outcast to Yankee legend
In the spring of 1977 Reggie Jackson should have been on top of the world. The best player of the Oakland A’s dynasty, which won three straight World Series, he was the first big-money free agent, wooed and flattered by George Steinbrenner into coming to the New York Yankees, which hadn’t won a World Series since 1962. But Reggie was about to learn, as he writes in this vivid and surprising memoir, that until his initial experience on the Yankees “I didn’t know what alone meant.”
     His manager, the mercurial, alcoholic, and pugilistic Billy Martin, never wanted him on the team and let Reggie—and the rest of the team—know it. Most of his new teammates, resentful of his contract, were aloof at best and hostile at worst. Brash and outspoken, but unused to the ferocity of New York’s tabloid culture, Reggie hadn’t realized how rumor and offhand remarks can turn into screaming negative headlines—especially for a black athlete with a multimillion-dollar contract. Sickened by Martin’s anti-Semitism, his rages, and his quite public disparagement of his new star, ostracized by his teammates, and despairing of how he was stereotyped in the press, Reggie had long talks with his father about quitting. Things hit bottom when Martin plotted to humiliate him during a nationally televised game against the Red Sox. It seemed as if a glorious career had been derailed.
     But then: Reggie vowed to persevere; his pride, work ethic, and talent would overcome Martin’s nearly sociopathic hatred. Gradually, he would win over the fans, then his teammates, as the Yankees surged to the pennant. And one magical autumn evening, he became “Mr. October” in a World Series performance for the ages. He thought his travails were over—until the next season when the insanity began again.
     Becoming Mr. October is a revelatory self-portrait of a baseball icon at the height of his public fame and private anguish. Filled with revealing anecdotes about the notorious “Bronx Zoo” Yankees of the late 1970s and bluntly honest portrayals of his teammates and competitors, this is eye-opening baseball history as can be told only by the man who lived it.
Also in This Series
Formats
OverDrive MP3 Audiobook
Works on MP3 Players, PCs, and Macs. Some mobile devices may require an application to be installed.
OverDrive Listen
Need Help?
If you are having problem transferring a title to your device, please fill out this support form or visit the library so we can help you to use our eBooks and eAudio Books.
More Like This
Other Editions and Formats
More Copies In LINK+
Loading LINK+ Copies...
More Details
Format:
OverDrive MP3 Audiobook, OverDrive Listen
Edition:
Unabridged
Street Date:
10/08/2013
Language:
English
ISBN:
9780804148368
Reviews from GoodReads
Loading GoodReads Reviews.
Citations
APA Citation (style guide)

Reggie Jackson. (2013). Becoming Mr. October. Unabridged Books on Tape.

Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation (style guide)

Reggie Jackson. 2013. Becoming Mr. October. Books on Tape.

Chicago / Turabian - Humanities Citation (style guide)

Reggie Jackson, Becoming Mr. October. Books on Tape, 2013.

MLA Citation (style guide)

Reggie Jackson. Becoming Mr. October. Unabridged Books on Tape, 2013.

Note! Citation formats are based on standards as of July 2022. Citations contain only title, author, edition, publisher, and year published. Citations should be used as a guideline and should be double checked for accuracy.
Copy Details
LibraryOwnedAvailable
Shared Digital Collection11
Staff View
Grouped Work ID:
a8b814eb-902c-32c3-3fa1-2134ff2d8308
Go To Grouped Work
Needs Update?:
No
Date Added:
Jun 12, 2018 18:17:46
Date Updated:
Dec 06, 2021 18:34:23
Last Metadata Check:
Mar 24, 2024 09:46:46
Last Metadata Change:
Feb 04, 2024 10:00:06
Last Availability Check:
Mar 24, 2024 09:46:49
Last Availability Change:
Dec 26, 2022 11:09:19
Last Grouped Work Modification Time:
Mar 28, 2024 02:11:39

OverDrive Product Record

sortTitle
Becoming Mr October
crossRefId
1219810
images
    • cover:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-100/1191-1/{87E0E6DE-725F-4339-B194-DEF15E982B2E}Img100.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
    • thumbnail:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-200/1191-1/{87E0E6DE-725F-4339-B194-DEF15E982B2E}Img200.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
    • cover150Wide:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-150/1191-1/87E/0E6/DE/{87E0E6DE-725F-4339-B194-DEF15E982B2E}Img150.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
    • cover300Wide:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-400/1191-1/87E/0E6/DE/{87E0E6DE-725F-4339-B194-DEF15E982B2E}Img400.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
formats
      • identifiers:
            • type: KoboAudioID
            • value: penguinrandomhouse_audio#9780804148344
            • type: ISBN
            • value: 9780804148368
      • name: OverDrive MP3 Audiobook
      • id: audiobook-mp3
      • identifiers:
            • type: KoboAudioID
            • value: penguinrandomhouse_audio#9780804148344
            • type: ISBN
            • value: 9780804148368
      • name: OverDrive Listen
      • id: audiobook-overdrive
mediaType
Audiobook
primaryCreator
    • role: Author
    • name: Reggie Jackson
id
87E0E6DE-725F-4339-B194-DEF15E982B2E
title
Becoming Mr. October
starRating
3.6
dateAdded
2016-12-15T23:44:00Z
contentDetails
      • href: https://link.overdrive.com/?websiteID=141&titleID=1219810
      • type: text/html
      • account:
          • name: Sacramento Public Library (CA)
          • id: 1151

OverDrive MetaData

isPublicDomain
False
formats
      • duration: 10:13:23
      • fileName: BecomingMrOctober_9780804148344_1219810
      • partCount: 8
      • fileSize: 294490216
      • identifiers:
            • audience: retailer
            • type: 8
            • value: penguinrandomhouse_audio#9780804148344
            • audience: library
            • type: ISBN
            • value: 9780804148368
      • rights:
            • type: PlayOnPC
            • value: 1
            • type: PlayOnPCCount
            • value: -1
            • type: BurnToCD
            • value: 1
            • type: BurnToCDCount
            • value: -1
            • type: PlayOnPM
            • value: 1
            • type: TransferToSDMI
            • value: 1
            • type: TransferToNonSDMI
            • value: 1
            • type: TransferCount
            • value: -1
            • type: CollaborativePlay
            • value: 0
            • type: PublicPerformance
            • value: 0
            • type: TranscodeToAAC
            • value: 1
      • name: OverDrive MP3 Audiobook
      • isReadAlong: False
      • id: audiobook-mp3
      • onSaleDate: 10/8/2013
      • samples:
            • source: Part 1
            • formatType: audiobook-mp3
            • url: https://excerpts.cdn.overdrive.com/FormatType-425/1191-1/1219810-BecomingMrOctober.mp3
            • source: Part 1
            • formatType: audiobook-overdrive
            • url: https://samples.overdrive.com/?crid=87E0E6DE-725F-4339-B194-DEF15E982B2E&.epub-sample.overdrive.com
      • duration: 10:13:27
      • fileName: BecomingMrOctober-57745
      • partCount: 0
      • fileSize: 294456421
      • identifiers:
            • audience: retailer
            • type: 8
            • value: penguinrandomhouse_audio#9780804148344
            • audience: library
            • type: ISBN
            • value: 9780804148368
      • name: OverDrive Listen
      • isReadAlong: False
      • id: audiobook-overdrive
      • onSaleDate: 10/8/2013
      • samples:
            • source: Part 1
            • formatType: audiobook-mp3
            • url: https://excerpts.cdn.overdrive.com/FormatType-425/1191-1/1219810-BecomingMrOctober.mp3
            • source: Part 1
            • formatType: audiobook-overdrive
            • url: https://samples.overdrive.com/?crid=87E0E6DE-725F-4339-B194-DEF15E982B2E&.epub-sample.overdrive.com
creators
      • role: Author
      • fileAs: Jackson, Reggie
      • bioText: REGGIE JACKSON was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1993. He hit 563 home runs and drove in 1,702 runs over the course of his twenty-one-year career. He played three World Series–winning seasons with the Oakland Athletics and two with the New York Yankees. He is a special adviser to the Yankees.

        KEVIN BAKER is the prize-winning author of the historical novels Dreamland, Paradise Alley, and Strivers Row; the baseball novel Sometimes You See It Coming; and, most recently, The Big Crowd. He served as chief historical researcher for the nonfiction bestseller The American Century. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Chicago Tribune, the Los Angeles Times, and Harper’s Magazine, among other publications.
      • name: Reggie Jackson
      • role: Author
      • fileAs: Baker, Kevin
      • name: Kevin Baker
      • role: Narrator
      • fileAs: Jackson, Reggie
      • bioText: REGGIE JACKSON was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1993. He hit 563 home runs and drove in 1,702 runs over the course of his twenty-one-year career. He played three World Series–winning seasons with the Oakland Athletics and two with the New York Yankees. He is a special adviser to the Yankees.

        KEVIN BAKER is the prize-winning author of the historical novels Dreamland, Paradise Alley, and Strivers Row; the baseball novel Sometimes You See It Coming; and, most recently, The Big Crowd. He served as chief historical researcher for the nonfiction bestseller The American Century. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Chicago Tribune, the Los Angeles Times, and Harper’s Magazine, among other publications.
      • name: Reggie Jackson
imprint
Random House Audio
publishDate
2013-10-08T00:00:00-04:00
edition
Unabridged
isOwnedByCollections
True
title
Becoming Mr. October
fullDescription
A soul-baring, brutally candid, and richly eventful memoir of the two years—1977 and 1978—when Reggie Jackson went from outcast to Yankee legend
In the spring of 1977 Reggie Jackson should have been on top of the world. The best player of the Oakland A’s dynasty, which won three straight World Series, he was the first big-money free agent, wooed and flattered by George Steinbrenner into coming to the New York Yankees, which hadn’t won a World Series since 1962. But Reggie was about to learn, as he writes in this vivid and surprising memoir, that until his initial experience on the Yankees “I didn’t know what alone meant.”
     His manager, the mercurial, alcoholic, and pugilistic Billy Martin, never wanted him on the team and let Reggie—and the rest of the team—know it. Most of his new teammates, resentful of his contract, were aloof at best and hostile at worst. Brash and outspoken, but unused to the ferocity of New York’s tabloid culture, Reggie hadn’t realized how rumor and offhand remarks can turn into screaming negative headlines—especially for a black athlete with a multimillion-dollar contract. Sickened by Martin’s anti-Semitism, his rages, and his quite public disparagement of his new star, ostracized by his teammates, and despairing of how he was stereotyped in the press, Reggie had long talks with his father about quitting. Things hit bottom when Martin plotted to humiliate him during a nationally televised game against the Red Sox. It seemed as if a glorious career had been derailed.
     But then: Reggie vowed to persevere; his pride, work ethic, and talent would overcome Martin’s nearly sociopathic hatred. Gradually, he would win over the fans, then his teammates, as the Yankees surged to the pennant. And one magical autumn evening, he became “Mr. October” in a World Series performance for the ages. He thought his travails were over—until the next season when the insanity began again.
     Becoming Mr. October is a revelatory self-portrait of a baseball icon at the height of his public fame and private anguish. Filled with revealing anecdotes about the notorious “Bronx Zoo” Yankees of the late 1970s and bluntly honest portrayals of his teammates and competitors, this is eye-opening baseball history as can be told only by the man who lived it.
reviews
      • premium: True
      • source: Publisher's Weekly
      • content:

        February 24, 2014
        If there ever was a clutch hitter in baseball, it was Reggie Jackson—so much so that his number was retired by two teams: the Oakland A’s and the New York Yankees. Jackson’s first stint with greatness came when he played for Oakland, earning MVP honors in the 1973 World Series. In 1977, as a Yankee, during game six of the World Series, Jackson hit three home runs. It was this moment that gave him the nickname Mr. October. But Jackson didn’t always hit the sweet spot in New York. His time in the Big Apple was marred by his deteriorating relationship with erratic manager Billy Martin, a rabid tabloid press, and the growing resentment of his teammates. Since the close of his career, Jackson has carved out a career as a professional motivational speaker—and this is evident in his prowess as narrator of this audio edition. His reading is crisp, but more importantly, he’s a natural—and oftentimes riveting—storyteller. And while during some of the book’s more dramatic moments, his reading seems a bit forced, this will be a must listen for baseball fans. A Doubleday hardcover. (Oct.)

popularity
62
links
    • self:
        • href: https://api.overdrive.com/v1/collections/v1L1BWwAAAA2I/products/87e0e6de-725f-4339-b194-def15e982b2e/metadata
        • type: application/vnd.overdrive.api+json
id
87e0e6de-725f-4339-b194-def15e982b2e
starRating
3.6
images
    • cover:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-100/1191-1/{87E0E6DE-725F-4339-B194-DEF15E982B2E}Img100.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
    • thumbnail:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-200/1191-1/{87E0E6DE-725F-4339-B194-DEF15E982B2E}Img200.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
    • cover150Wide:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-150/1191-1/87E/0E6/DE/{87E0E6DE-725F-4339-B194-DEF15E982B2E}Img150.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
    • cover300Wide:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-400/1191-1/87E/0E6/DE/{87E0E6DE-725F-4339-B194-DEF15E982B2E}Img400.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
isPublicPerformanceAllowed
False
languages
      • code: en
      • name: English
subjects
      • value: Biography & Autobiography
      • value: Multi-Cultural
      • value: Sports & Recreations
      • value: Nonfiction
publishDateText
10/08/2013
mediaType
Audiobook
shortDescription
A soul-baring, brutally candid, and richly eventful memoir of the two years—1977 and 1978—when Reggie Jackson went from outcast to Yankee legend
In the spring of 1977 Reggie Jackson should have been on top of the world. The best player of the Oakland A’s dynasty, which won three straight World Series, he was the first big-money free agent, wooed and flattered by George Steinbrenner into coming to the New York Yankees, which hadn’t won a World Series since 1962. But Reggie was about to learn, as he writes in this vivid and surprising memoir, that until his initial experience on the Yankees “I didn’t know what alone meant.”
     His manager, the mercurial, alcoholic, and pugilistic Billy Martin, never wanted him on the team and let Reggie—and the rest of the team—know it. Most of his new teammates, resentful of his contract, were aloof at best and hostile at worst. Brash and outspoken, but unused...
sortTitle
Becoming Mr October
crossRefId
1219810
publisher
Books on Tape
bisacCodes
      • code: BIO002000
      • description: BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Cultural & Regional
      • code: BIO016000
      • description: Biography & Autobiography / Sports
      • code: SPO003030
      • description: Sports & Recreation / Baseball / History