Today in Baseball History: Reggie Jackson signs a free-agent contract with the Yankees

The 1976 Yankees were good. Like, really good. Billy Martin's Bronx Bombers won 97 games that regular season, starting pitchers Catfish Hunter, Ed Figueroa and Dock Ellis combined for 53 wins and catcher Thurman Munson earned himself the AL MVP Award. The team had six All-Stars and won the AL pennant, but the Yanks were dispatched by the Big Red Machine in a clean sweep in the '76 World Series.

They needed something to get them over the hump. They needed a bat, an arm, an attitude ... a straw that stirs the drink.

Enter: Reggie Jackson.

On Nov. 29, 1976, the Yankees introduced Jackson as their newest outfielder. Jackson had an AL MVP Award (1973), three World Series championships (though he was injured and didn't play in the '72 Fall Classic) and a World Series MVP Award under his belt before he turned 30. 

After a one-year stint with the Orioles, Jackson inked a five-year, $3 million contract to put the Yankees over the hump, and put them over he did.

The Yankees won the World Series that following season, as Jackson homered in his final at-bat of Game 5 and on the first pitch he saw in each of his three at-bats in Game 6 (he walked on four pitches in his first Game 6 plate appearance), earning himself the nickname Mr. October.

Over the course of his five years with the Yankees, Jackson mashed 144 home runs and maintained a .281 average. The Yankees won back-to-back World Series in '77 and '78, with Jackson taking home MVP honors in the former.