9 days remain until Athletics Opening Day at the Toronto Blue Jays on March 27, 2026. With Las Vegas on the horizon, this daily countdown tracks the best A’s players by jersey number.
Today, March 18, 2026, the number is 9.
Reggie Jackson, No. 9
Reggie Jackson is the best Athletics player to wear No. 9 because he’s one of the most important players in franchise history, wore the number during the A’s rise to a dynasty, and produced Hall of Fame value in Oakland. The “Mr. October” legend spans multiple teams, but his foundation as a superstar was built with the A’s.
Jackson’s overall resume is enormous (74.0 career WAR, 563 home runs), and his Oakland years are the key for this series. In 10 seasons with the A’s (1967-1975, plus 1987), he hit 269 homers, drove in 776 runs, scored 756 runs, and posted 48.1 WAR with a 145 OPS in green and gold. He also won the 1973 AL MVP with Oakland and was an annual All-Star caliber force in the heart of those championship lineups.
Why Jackson gets No. 9
Jackson gets No. 9 because he wasn’t just good in Oakland — he was defining. He arrived as a Kansas City/Oakland franchise cornerstone, turned into a full-blown superstar, and helped lead the A’s to the top of the sport. If you’re assigning jersey numbers to franchise identity, No. 9 is basically already claimed.
Other good players wore 9 for the A’s, but none have the combination of peak, postseason mythmaking, hardware, and franchise footprint that Jackson brings.
Career start and background
Jackson was born May 18, 1946, in Abington, Pa., and starred at Arizona State. The Kansas City Athletics drafted him No. 2 overall in 1966, and he debuted in 1967. He became a centerpiece almost immediately after the move to Oakland, then hit his peak in the early 1970s as the A’s became baseball’s standard.
Other notable No. 9s
- Reggie Jackson
- Mike Gallego
- Olmedo Sáenz
- Roger Repoz
Career check
No. 9 goes to Reggie Jackson. He’s a Hall of Famer, an Oakland MVP, and a dynasty-era icon whose A’s production (48.1 WAR, 269 HR) makes him the clear choice to own this number.
Related story
Dave Stewart to throw first pitch at Circa Opening Day event
Welcome to Dice City Sports — where we provide premium, exclusive, up-to-date news and analysis surrounding the Las Vegas sports scene. Follow along on social media, and check back for new articles daily!
Dice City Sports editor Mark Hebert covers the Vegas Golden Knights, Las Vegas Raiders, Athletics, and UNLV baseball and softball. He has 24 years of journalism experience, is also a senior reporter at Exhibit City News, and previously covered the Dallas Stars and Texas Rangers. Follow him on X or connect on LinkedIn.
