Reggie Jackson, saying that he was overjoyed...

Reggie Jackson, saying that he was overjoyed at “being penciled in as a baseball player,” signed a one-year contract as a free agent with the Oakland A’s.

No details of the contract were announced, but Jackson will play as a designated hitter primarily against right-handed pitching.

“It will probably be my last year, but I’m a guy who never says never,” Jackson said at a news conference.

The 40-year-old slugger, who is sixth on the all-time home run list with 548 in a career that began in 1967 with the Kansas City A’s, said that if Oakland had not offered him an opportunity to return after an 11-year absence, “I probably would have shut it (his career) down.”

Jackson played in Oakland from 1968 through 1975, leading the A’s to five division championships and three World Series titles.

He was traded to the Baltimore Orioles in 1976 and went to the Yankees in 1977 as a free agent. Last season was his fifth with the Angels.

Said Jackson: “I was unwanted in spring training. I don’t want to knock them, but it’s hard knowing that you’re not wanted, that whatever you do is not good enough.”