Bo Jackson Voices Some Frustration

Bo Jackson’s public image, normally as rock-hard as his chiseled, 6-foot-1, 225-pound body, cracked Monday like one of those bats he likes to snap over his knee.

Disheartened by the Kansas City Royals’ last-place showing and his own hitting slump, the normally reserved Jackson poured his emotions to a Kansas City Star reporter.

“It’s driving me crazy,” Jackson said of the Royals’ 22-34 record entering Tuesday night’s game against the Angels. “To lose a game by one run because I didn’t get a hit or I missed a ball--whenever we lose, I take it personally. I feel like there was something I could have done to help the team.”

Jackson, who had two hits in his past 24 at-bats going into Tuesday’s game, didn’t help his team--or his emotional outlook--Sunday when he struck out four times and hit into a double play in the Royals’ loss to Oakland.

Jackson, hitting .268 with six home runs and 20 RBIs--he had 12 homers and 35 RBIs at this point last season--punctuated one of those strikeouts by breaking a bat over his knee, the sixth time this season he has shattered a bat in frustration.

Five of those, Jackson broke over his knee. One, he broke over his head. It’s a scene that has made for great footage on the 11 o’clock news, but not one Jackson would include among his highlights.

“It eats the heck out of me when I go up to bat and strike out,” Jackson, who has struck out 70 times this season, told the Star. “When I break a bat over my knee, that’s the last thing I want to do. What I really want to do is tear the whole stadium up, turn it upside down, run everybody out of the stands--just because I didn’t get a hit.

“I want to go in the dugout and break things and throw things. But people are watching us, they want to see us self-destruct, but we can’t do that.”

Sometimes when he goes back to the bench, Jackson said, “I just want to cry.”

Jackson’s candid comments surprised his manager, John Wathan, and his teammates.

“Bo showed a human side in that article that he hasn’t showed before,” Wathan said. “Many times, he puts a protective shield up. I’m sure that surprised a lot of people.”

Including teammate Frank White, the Royals’ second baseman. “Some guys talk to their wives, their mothers, their friends--no matter how good or bad a player is, there’s a time when you have to unload,” White said. “If it makes Bo feel good that he got that off his chest, I hope it relaxes him.”