Biographical

Portrait of Bo Jackson

Bo Jackson LFRoyals

Royals Player Cards | Royals Team Audit | Royals Depth Chart

Career Summary
Years PA AVG OBP SLG DRC+ WARP
8 2626 .250 .309 .474 106 10.4
Birth Date11-30-1962
Height6' 1"
Weight225 lbs
Age61 years, 4 months, 27 days
BatsR
ThrowsR
WARP Summary

MLB Statistics

YEAR TEAM AGE G PA H 2B 3B HR BB SO HBP SB CS AVG OBP SLG DRC+ DRAA BRR FRAA BWARP
1986 KCA 23 25 91 17 2 1 2 7 34 2 3 1 .207 .286 .329 50 -5.1 -0.4 -3.3 -0.7
1987 KCA 24 116 434 93 17 2 22 30 158 5 10 4 .235 .296 .455 78 -11.3 3.9 -0.5 0.2
1988 KCA 25 124 468 108 16 4 25 25 146 1 27 6 .246 .287 .472 101 1.1 2.2 7.9 2.2
1989 KCA 26 135 561 132 15 6 32 39 172 3 26 9 .256 .310 .495 128 18.1 3.5 3.4 3.8
1990 KCA 27 111 456 110 16 1 28 44 128 2 15 9 .272 .342 .523 139 20.1 2.9 6.7 4.4
1991 CHA 28 23 84 16 4 0 3 12 25 0 0 1 .225 .333 .408 103 0.5 -0.9 0.0 0.1
1993 CHA 30 85 308 66 9 0 16 23 106 0 0 2 .232 .289 .433 87 -3.7 -5.1 5.3 0.1
1994 CAL 31 75 224 56 7 0 13 20 72 1 1 0 .279 .344 .507 100 1.0 -1.4 -1.3 0.3
Career69426265988614141200841148232.250.309.47410620.64.618.410.4

Statistics for All Levels

'opp' stats - Quality of opponents faced - have been moved and are available only as OPP_QUAL in the Statistics reports now.
Minor league stats are currently shown —Click to hide.
YEAR Team Lg LG G PA oppAVG oppOBP oppSLG BABIP BPF BRAA repLVL POS_ADJ DRC+ DRC+ SD FRAA BRR DRAA BWARP
1986 KCA MLB AL 25 91 .253 .324 .399 .326 97 -3.4 2.5 -0.9 50 16 -3.3 -0.4 -5.1 -0.7
1986 MEM AA SOU 53 212 .000 .000 .000 .458 0.0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
1987 KCA MLB AL 116 434 .265 .331 .428 .326 99 -0.5 12.8 -2.4 78 9 -0.5 3.9 -11.3 0.2
1988 KCA MLB AL 124 468 .260 .321 .393 .307 102 4.2 12.2 -3 101 10 7.9 2.2 1.1 2.2
1989 KCA MLB AL 135 561 .260 .324 .385 .317 98 17.4 14.6 -4.6 128 10 3.4 3.5 18.1 3.8
1990 KCA MLB AL 111 456 .256 .322 .384 .323 100 24 12.2 -1 139 9 6.7 2.9 20.1 4.4
1991 CHA MLB AL 23 84 .247 .322 .377 .295 101 1.4 2.3 -1.4 103 13 0.0 -0.9 0.5 0.1
1991 SAR A+ FSL 2 7 .000 .000 .000 .333 0.0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
1991 BIR AA SOU 4 17 .000 .000 .000 .364 0.0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
1993 CHA MLB AL 85 308 .266 .336 .409 .307 98 -2.4 8.8 -3.9 87 10 5.3 -5.1 -3.7 0.1
1994 CAL MLB AL 75 224 .271 .338 .433 .364 98 8.8 6.8 -1.9 100 13 -1.3 -1.4 1.0 0.3

Statistics For All Levels

Minor league stats are currently shown —Click to hide.
Year Team lvl LG PA AB R H 2B 3B HR TB RBI BB SO SB CS AVG OBP SLG ISO SF SH
1986 MEM AA SOU 212 184 30 51 9 3 7 87 25 22 81 3 6 .277 .370 .473 .196 0 0
1986 KCA MLB AL 91 82 9 17 2 1 2 27 9 7 34 3 1 .207 .286 .329 .122 0 0
1987 KCA MLB AL 434 396 46 93 17 2 22 180 53 30 158 10 4 .235 .296 .455 .220 2 1
1988 KCA MLB AL 468 439 63 108 16 4 25 207 68 25 146 27 6 .246 .287 .472 .226 2 1
1989 KCA MLB AL 561 515 86 132 15 6 32 255 105 39 172 26 9 .256 .310 .495 .239 4 0
1990 KCA MLB AL 456 405 74 110 16 1 28 212 78 44 128 15 9 .272 .342 .523 .252 5 0
1991 SAR A+ FSL 7 6 1 2 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 .333 .333 .333 .000 0 0
1991 CHA MLB AL 84 71 8 16 4 0 3 29 14 12 25 0 1 .225 .333 .408 .183 1 0
1991 BIR AA SOU 17 13 2 4 0 0 0 4 0 4 2 1 2 .308 .471 .308 .000 0 0
1993 CHA MLB AL 308 284 32 66 9 0 16 123 45 23 106 0 2 .232 .289 .433 .201 1 0
1994 CAL MLB AL 224 201 23 56 7 0 13 102 43 20 72 1 0 .279 .344 .507 .229 2 0

Plate Discipline

YEAR Pits Zone% Swing% Contact% Z-Swing% O-Swing% Z-Contact% O-Contact% SwStr% CSAA

Injury History  —  No longer being updated

Last Update: 12/31/2014 23:59 ET

Date On Date Off Transaction Days Games Side Body Part Injury Severity Surgery Date Reaggravation
1989-07-23 1989-08-09 15-DL 17 15 Left Thigh Strain Quadriceps -
1989-06-24 1989-06-24 DTD 0 0 Left Thigh Strain Quadriceps - -
1988-06-01 1988-07-02 31 28 Left Thigh Strain Hamstring - -

Compensation

Year Team Salary

 

Service TimeAgentContract Status

Details

2019 Preseason Forecast

Last Update: 1/27/2017 12:35 ET

PCT PA R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS AVG OBP SLG DRC+ VORP FRAA WARP
Weighted Mean???????00??.000.000.00000.0?0.0

BP Annual Player Comments

No BP Book Comments have been found for this player.

BP Articles

Click here to see articles tagged with Bo Jackson

BP Chats

DateQuestionAnswer
2019-12-03 13:00:00 (link to chat)In discussing Sixto and TINSTAAPP, an argument between me and a friend arose: who was the more highly regarded position player prospect- Bo Jackson or Bryce Harper?
(Stan from North Carolina)		Bo is before my time, but you could argue Harper certainly had more hype strictly as a baseball guy, and was probably closer to a generational prospect than Bo was. (Miami Marlins Top 10 Chat)
2015-03-29 14:00:00 (link to chat)*Insert gushing about Mazara, ChiChi, Gallo, and Alfaro below*
(MonkeyEpoxy from Texas)		Mazara dominated games like Bo Jackson dominated Tecmo Bowl

ChiChi made Joey Votto look bad.

We all know what Alfaro can be. (Ryan Parker)
2014-07-07 11:00:00 (link to chat)After Trout's monster home run in KC, I saw a former BP dude speculate over this: Who do we see first; another Bo Jackson or another Mike Trout? What say you?
(Dave B. from South Korea)		I think we are more likely to see another monster athlete like Bo than a monster athlete like Bo that can bring all those raw physical gifts onto a baseball field like Trout. (Jason Parks on the Top 50)
2014-06-11 12:00:00 (link to chat)You have a left fielder. He's good. He hits some, fields some, he's a guy you want on your team. He has a 40-grade arm. How much more is he worth per year if he suddenly gets the best throwing arm in the league?
(Bill J. from Durham)		More. But not a lot more. The ground he covers and the jumps he gets are more important defensively, and then there is baserunning and hitting, so overall I don't think it changes the picture all that much. Be exciting though!

Did you all see Cespedes's throw last night? That was nuts. And maybe the best part is the clips of all the other great throws that people started finding and putting out on twitter. Bo Jackson! Vlad Guerrero! And the best was Jose Guillen! That one broke laws of physics. (Matthew Kory)
2014-05-13 11:00:00 (link to chat)What is one player that you wish you could have scouted as an amateur?
(Asking For a Friend from Chicago)		Bo Jackson. I would have ended up in prison. (Jason Parks)
2014-05-13 11:00:00 (link to chat)Regarding the Bo Jackson answer, was there even a player good enough to be the "perfect world" comp for Jackson's tools profile? Mays? Mantle?
(James from Los Angeles)		I can't speak to those players because, 1) I never saw them live, and 2) Different era/different athletic context. But as far as pure athletic gifts are concerns, its tough to put anybody over Bo Jackson, regardless of era or sport. (Jason Parks)
2014-05-13 11:00:00 (link to chat)As incredible as Bo Jackson's tools were, why do you think he didn't reach his ceiling? Are injuries solely to blame or did he not make the necessary adjustments?
(Jim from Portland)		Didn't focus on one sport early in the process; had approach/contact issues with the bat. If Bo focused on baseball in high school, signed out of high school, and entered a pro development system at that age, he's in the baseball HOF right now. Same with football. Think about that for a second. Wow. (Jason Parks)
2014-04-01 13:00:00 (link to chat)Out of curiosity, do you have any grades for Jameis Winston?
(Tony from Work)		I haven't seen him in person, but its not that crazy of a profile. I guess he could be a reliever but I think his status as a baseball prospect is exaggerated by his exploits on the football field. This isn't Bo Jackson. (Jason Parks)
2013-12-17 13:00:00 (link to chat)Better tools, Trout or Bo Jackson?
(RyanW from Fort Worth)		Raw tools? Bo Jackson. Trout is a much better hitter than Bo was, though. Bo had a lot of swing and miss, and he was aggressive looking for fastballs he could extend on and drive out of the park. But as far as the raw physical grades go, you could put an 8 on Bo's raw power, arm, glove, and speed. Hit tool was far behind the other tools. (Jason Parks)
2013-06-25 13:00:00 (link to chat)I heard a rumor watching Bo Jackson caused you to enter puberty. True or false?
(EricJ from SF)		Bo Jackson and a Sports Illustrated Swimsuit calendar that I kept under my bed. (Jason Parks on the Midseason Top 50 Prospects)
2013-04-25 12:30:00 (link to chat)Bo Jackson was drafted in the 2nd round of the 1982 June draft by the New York Yankees. He didn't sign and in the fall entered Auburn as a freshman. If he had signed with the Yankees and foregone any sort of football career, how much better of a baseball player might Bo have become?
(Paul from DC)		It's a great question. Obviously he was an all-time athletic talent. It's incredible that he was as good as he was with as little minor-league seasoning as he had--just 212 plate appearances before he made the majors. I don't know that it would be wise to throw a Hall of Fame projection on him, even assuming health, but perennial All-Star for sure. (Ben Lindbergh)
2013-04-04 11:00:00 (link to chat)Saw that ESPN Sports Science program listing the best athletes of all time. Naturally, Bo Jackson won, a fact which completely disconcerted my 12 year old son. (What does he know, though?) Will we ever see the like of Mr. Jackson again?
(wileecoyote121 from Larchmont, NY)		I'm sure we will, but the myth of Bo will be hard to defeat, at least for our generation. Bo was the best athlete I ever saw on a field. Period. But athletes are getting bigger and stronger and faster, and eventually a new freak like Bo will roll into our universe. I just hope his fire burns longer than Bo's did. What a shame. (Jason Parks)
2013-04-04 11:00:00 (link to chat)Isn't Trout close to Bo right now?
(Mike from Utica, NY)		I don't think so. I don;t think Trout could start at tailback for an NFL team. Bo Jackson probably had four 80-grade tools; hit tool might have been average. Trout is clearly a monster at the plate and has more baseball ready skills than ever did. But as gifted as Trout is, I wouldn't put him in Bo's league. Bo was a true freak. (Jason Parks)
2013-04-15 13:00:00 (link to chat)If you could go back and give any player a completely healthy career to see what they could do with their full capabilities, who would you pick? I'm having a tough time deciding between Mickey Mantle and Eric Davis...
(Nick from Los Feliz, CA)		Hey Nick, this is another fun one. I'm tempted to say Bo Jackson because of the tools, but I don't know how complete a ballplayer he would have become even without the injury. A healthy career from Davis boggles the mind. I literally get goosebumps thinking about it. I'll go with Davis. On the pitching side, Sandy Koufax or Bret Saberhagen. (Geoff Young)
2013-03-20 11:00:00 (link to chat)Everyone in LA freaked out when the Puig- Bo Jackson comparison was thrown out there by some media honks. People are really buzzing about him in LA. One of your co-workers said it's because of the slow news nature of Spring Training and not based on any impending actual value to the Dodgers. Are people crazy to waste a last round pick on him in a keeper draft. Will he see even 100 at bats in the bigs this year. If the Dodgers are in the hunt, there's no way they experiment with him this year right?
(lipitorkid from OC, CA)		It's not crazy in a keeper league if you can stash him on your bench without much cost, but I can't envision any meaningful playing time for him this season, for two reasons. First: Crawford, Kemp and Ethier. Second: zero walks in 46 spring at-bats. ZERO. With 10 K's. He's not ready. (Cory Schwartz)
2013-03-20 11:00:00 (link to chat)Better comp for Puig, Bo Jackson or Metallica? When do you see him having MLB impact...
(NDub from Detroit)		Dayan Viciedo, maybe? Next year at the very earliest but I'm not even sold on that. (Cory Schwartz)
2013-02-05 13:00:00 (link to chat)I can't recall ever seeing you comment about your own personal all-time favorite hitter and pitcher. Guessing they'll both be Texans.
(Steve from Toronto)		Bo Jackson is my favorite everything in everything (Jason Parks)
2013-02-05 13:00:00 (link to chat)Imagine your memory of every player is erased...which player would you most like to see play for the first time. I'd choose a young Julio Franco, the bat speed plus the arm and the crazy stance.
(Name from Place)		Bo Jackson. (Jason Parks)
2013-02-05 13:00:00 (link to chat)Prospect Smackdown: Rate Each on Tools(in their Pre Draft days) Josh Hamilton Vs Bo Jackson
(rangerfans2 from Fort Worth)		Bo Jackson for every tool except maybe the hit tool. (Jason Parks)
2012-12-13 13:00:00 (link to chat)If you had to guess, how would each of Bo Jackson's tools rate on the scouting scale?
(richardkr34 from Saint Paul, MN)		I've spoken to several industry sources about Bo Jackson's tools. Consensus on his power/arm/run, but grades on his hit tool and glove varied. Bo Jackson's tools: Hit (5+); Power (8); Run (8); Arm (8); Glove (6+) (Jason Parks)
2012-12-05 13:00:00 (link to chat)Who had more 90's juice, Bell Biv Devoe or Blackstreet?
(MRubio52 from Chicago)		Is this even a question?

BBD was like a solid everyday regular ballplayer. They can be Delino Deshields. Blackstreet's peak -- and I'm speaking of "No Diggity" here, of course -- was short but sky-high. I'm calling them the Bo Jackson of New Jack Swing. (Ian Miller)
2012-07-25 13:30:00 (link to chat)Mike Trout ... most fun player to watch in the majors right now? Most fun player to watch since ... Griffey, Bonds, Bo Jackson, other?
(dianagram from VORGville)		I don't know if Trout has the persona or charisma of those players, at least as a 20-year-old, so if that affects your enjoyment or appreciation of his play, maybe not. But as far as the actual production and skill set goes? Sure. (Ben Lindbergh)
2012-07-24 13:00:00 (link to chat)What kind of career numbers would we probably have seen from Bo Jackson with out the injuries and a full focus on baseball ?
(19braves77 from Pensacola,FL)		Now that's an interesting question. From 88-90, he went from 2.1 WARP to 3.5 to 4.5. Now, you can't assume the upward trend will continue, but as you imply, Bo was not your typical case. Best case, a Sammy Sosa type career (with many fewer homers due to a later start and the overall environment). More likely case, a slightly faster, slightly better defending version of Kevin McReynolds (stat-wise, not excitement) (Dan Turkenkopf)
2012-06-12 13:00:00 (link to chat)If Bo Jackson had never returned to football, what sort of career stats do you think he'd have accumulated?
(Paul from DC)		He would have had Jose Canseco's 30s. He wouldn't have been a Hall of Famer. (Sam Miller)
2012-03-20 13:00:00 (link to chat)So do you break out the stopwatch in spring training to get ready for a summer of trot tracking, or do you just wing it opening day? And is any town less enthused by opening day than my hometown? Double the pessimism, half the fun...
(Mike from Chicago)		My first year doing it was on a complete whim on the first or second day of the season. Last year, I guess you could say I practiced by looking at those classic home runs (like Bo Jackson's timeout-hr or Chris Chambliss's fans-overrun-the-field postseason bomb.

As for Chicago, I certainly get what you're saying. But I was at the BP2012 event last night and there seemed to be quite a few Cubs and White Sox fans there who were very eager about the upcoming season. If I were you, I'd focus on those guys and not the doom-and-gloom guys that I'm sure are dominating Chicago's wonderful sports-talk radio. (Larry Granillo)
2011-04-18 13:00:00 (link to chat)Tom Milone a young Jamie Moyer? Is that something you'd project for any pitcher?
(Jim from Washington)		No no no and a thousand times no. KG edict #32192 Do not, EVER EVER EVER comp a player to Jamie Moyer. There are 20,000 lefties with Jamie Moyer's stuff on a pure scouting level, and one Jamie Moyer. Don't do it. No Maddux comps, and no Bo Jackson comps either. (Kevin Goldstein)
2011-04-18 13:00:00 (link to chat)Bubba Starling the next Bo Jackson?
(El Chompiras from Chopiralandia)		What did I just tell you people? (Kevin Goldstein)
2011-04-18 13:00:00 (link to chat)Can you compare Greg Maddux to Jamie Moyer?
(Jeff from Eh...)		Bo Jackson has better tools. (Kevin Goldstein)
2010-06-07 18:30:00 (link to chat)Will the 2005 draft ever be topped??? It was topped before it ever happened, in 1985. I just wrote this for tomorrow morning's draft piece: . The first round included, in order of selection, B.J. Surhoff, Will Clark, Bobby Witt, Barry Larkin, Barry Bonds, Pete Incaviglia, Walt Weiss, Brian McRae, Joe Magrane, Gregg Jeffries, Rafael Palmeiro, and Joey Cora, as well as Cameron Drew, who put up outstanding numbers in the minors until a knee injury ended his career at 24, while the second round held Bruce Ruffin, Mike Schooler, and Randy Johnson (John Smoltz was hiding down in round 22). And Bo Jackson too (a flyer in rd 20)!
(PBSteve from Beautiful New Jersey)		See? Steven Goldman knows all. (Kevin Goldstein)
2009-10-20 14:00:00 (link to chat)Before Joba "Neville" Chamberlain, who was the player with the highest ratio of hype to accomplishment? I nominate Bo Jackson. Your thoughts?
(oira61 from San Francisco)		24 years old, 280 innings, 3.60 ERA, K per innings, better than 2/1 K/BB. At baseball-age 23, he was more or less a league-average starter in short innings while being mishandled.

Oh, could everyone stop saying that Chamberlain was "converted" to starting? HE WAS ALWAYS A STARTER. (Joe Sheehan)
2009-10-09 13:30:00 (link to chat)Fun subjective question: Based on what you've seen and older scouts you know, who are the five most physically talented prospects of the past 25-30 years? Griffey, A-Rod, Bo Jackson, Eric Davis, Strawberry?
(Jonathan from New York)		I love this question, but the discussion would take . . . years. Justin Upton comes to mind for recent guys, Dave Winfield if we can go back a few more years. (Kevin Goldstein)
2009-09-10 13:00:00 (link to chat)Speaking of independent leagues, Baseball America keeps featuring this one guy (his name escapes me) with a hip replacement who can really pitch, and who keeps getting signed by organized clubs, but who never passes the physical on account of liability issues. Considering that ballplayers regularly have reconstructive surgery on all sorts of joints, is this kind of thing a reasonable concern?
(Christopher from Nashville)		Bo Jackson. (Will Carroll)
2009-04-10 16:30:00 (link to chat)Can Joey Votto make the All-Star team this year or is first base in the NL too stacked?
(Brandon from Charleston)		I have to admit a sincerely-held disinterest in the All-Star Game as an event; I haven't watched a full frame of any ASG since Bo Jackson took Rick Reuschel deep. The Reds don't have a lot of easy candidates for this year's manager to choose from, but Votto's one of them. (Christina Kahrl)
2008-11-14 13:00:00 (link to chat)Take Brandon's question and substitute Bo Jackson for Eric Davis.
(Mike K from Athens, GA)		It's a somewhat harder question because Bo knew a lot of things, but he didn't know the strike zone--though he was clearly getting to know it better at the point that it all fell apart. With a normal career arc, I suspect that he would have suffered a decline in bat speed somewhere that would have really curtailed his KILL THE BALL approach and left him without much to fall back on, but that's just speculation. What I'm trying to say is I don't think it would have been a long career either way, but obviously there would have been around three more years in the 1989-1990 zone. Would have been fun. He was always entertaining, even when striking out. (Steven Goldman)
2008-07-24 13:00:00 (link to chat)Hi CK. Been thinking about this since the AS game - trying to come up with a way to not risk players' health through multi-extra inning AS games. Why not, if its tied after nine, from then on, start each half inning with a runner on second (the last batter from the previous inning)? With a run expectancy of over 60% (I think), it would seem to increade the likelyhood of an entertaining game resolution in relatively short order. What do you think? [I also think they should have a re-entry rule for position player starters.]
(jimbeau from Left Coast)		I'm probably the last person to ask about the All-Star Game. I don't think I've watched a complete inning of that corporate junket and baseball-flavored entertainment since Rick Reuschel got rocked by Bo Jackson. I like my baseball to count, using teams that get designed and employed to win, not ones that get run like a Little League squad. I'd leave it an exhibition, and end the game automatically after 12 innings if nobody's won it by then; it will have fulfilled its purpose as an exhibition and junket in that amount of time. In the words of one neo-realist philosopher, "I pity the foo' who takes the All-Star Game seriously." (Christina Kahrl)
2008-07-22 13:00:00 (link to chat)Hi, Kevin. Thanks for the chat. You mentioned recently that you tend to grade everything in your life on the 20--80 scale and that Bo Jackson was one of the few prospects to have had three 80-rated tools, so what's the Bo Jackson of albums? (Pick your own tools, such as sheer quality, impact, uniqueness, longevity, &c.)
(DaveKavanagh from Dublin, Ireland)		80 Albums, wow. The Clash - Sandanista. Big Black -- Songs About *****. The Pixies -- Surferosa. I'm sure there are many, many more. Those just came to mind. (Kevin Goldstein)
2008-06-04 16:00:00 (link to chat)KG, do you recall a guy in previous drafts like a Anthony Hewitt that had some many people split? If so, who was it and how have they turned out?
(Chris from Harrisonburg, VA)		Bo Jackson? (Kevin Goldstein)
2008-03-03 13:00:00 (link to chat)Everyone thinks White Noise is better. But it wasn't grabbing for the brass ring of being the "Great American Novel" to nearly the same extent. There's a certain majesty in Underworld's ambition that gets it noticed. Anyway, between Pafko at the Wall, and End Zone, would say Bo Jackson is a good comp for Delillo as a 2-sport star?
(J-Boogie from Cambridge)		Sure. Am I a horrible person for saying that among post-modern fiction, I might prefer Robert Coover? And I'm not even a huge fan of his baseball book -- it's no Gerald's Party for example. (Kevin Goldstein)


BP Roundtables

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