More MLB: Scoreboard | Standings | Probable Pitchers | Sortable Stats | Odds
It seems that more and more of these old scouting reports are beginning to surface on the Internet, and I'm all for that. It's rather cool to see what scouts thought of future big-leaguers when they saw them play for the first time.
And here is the report on a 22-year-old player for Auburn by the name of Vincent Edward Jackson. We know him as Bo Jackson:
That's a lot of 7s and 8s. And a good amount of gushing in the comments.
And obviously rightfully so, because just one season later, Bo was making his big-league debut with the Royals. Come 1989, he was stealing the show in the All-Star Game (video included in this post with several other Bo-loving videos).
I love that this scout said Bo was the "best pure athlete in America today." We have no way of proving anything close to this, but I'd venture to guess it's possible Bo Jackson was the best pure athlete in the history of American sports. Not only did he make nationals in collegiate track, but he could have been one of the best running backs in NFL history and was an All-Star-caliber player in Major League Baseball.
It's a shame the 1991 hip injury ruined Jackon's athletic career, but he still managed 141 homers (an average of 33 per 162 games), 82 stolen bases and a 112 OPS-plus in parts of eight big-league seasons.
So, once again, we salute the tremendous talent Bo had on the baseball diamond. He definitely "knew" baseball.
