Reggie: Martin made racial, anti-Semitic remarks

NEW YORK - Former slugger Reggie Jackson says the late Billy Martin made racial and anti-Semitic remarks while managing the New York Yankees.

Jackson talked about Martin in an interview on the MLB Network that will be shown Monday night.

Jackson helped lead the Yankees to World Series championships in 1977 and 1978.

The Hall of Famer says he did not accept the way Martin managed him and heard him use racial epithets when referring to black players such as Elliott Maddox and Billy Sample.

Jackson also thought there was anti-Semitism in remarks Martin made about Yankees pitcher Ken Holtzman.

"There are players that played for him that would tell you that [he made racist or anti-Semitic comments about those players]," Jackson said. "So there was an uneasiness, a knowledge about the person that I was very uncomfortable with. . . . I wasn't his choice and he wanted to show George [Steinbrenner]. So that was kind of an oddity, a craziness that I never could follow, and I struggled to have respect for Billy as a person and had it reinforced with the anti-Semitism that I witnessed."

Jackson hit 563 career home runs in a career that lasted through 1987. He says he was aware some players were using performance-enhancing drugs at the time.