The People's Hero
The Founder of the Foundation is Birmingham native Ron “Papa Jack” Jackson. Ron played in the Major Leagues for 10 years with the Angels, Twins, Tigers and Orioles. Following his playing career he spent another 21 years coaching in both the major and minor leagues. His coaching highlight was, as the hitting coach for the Red Sox, winning the World Series in 2004.
Ron has a long history of community service beginning with being named the 2003 BoSox Man of the Year. In 2014, Ron coached Birmingham’s Willie Mays Youth Baseball team to the Reviving Baseball in Inner City (RBI) Classic Championship. In short, Ron continues to work tirelessly in the development of young men and women through the sports of Baseball and Softball, especially
those youth who would not ordinarily have access due to their individual circumstances. Papa Jack and his Foundation provides high level training to underserved youth through the Papa Jack Baseball Nike RBI program - Young Barons Travel Ball and various other youth development efforts such as the Hank
Aaron Invitational, and the MLB Breakthrough Series.
CARVING THE PATHWAY
Under Jackson's coaching, the World Champion Boston Red Sox led nearly every offensive category in Major League Baseball in 2003-2004, including batting average, runs, hits, doubles, extra-bases, total bases, sacrifice flies, slugging percentage, on-base percentage, and RBI's, setting all-time major league records for extra-base hits (649), total bases (2,832), and slugging percentage (.491), and capturing a World Series title in 2004!
LEGENDS INFLUENCED
MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS
