Jackson rejoins Yankees

Reggie Jackson rejoined the New York Yankees for Thursday's series opener against the Athletics in Oakland.

Jackson is a special adviser with the Yankees, but he recently took a leave of absence from the team after being quoted in Sports Illustrated that several players, including Kirby Puckett, Gary Carter, Bert Blyleven, Jim Rice, Don Sutton and Phil Niekro, shouldn't be in the Hall of Fame.

He also questioned the legitimacy of Alex Rodriguez's statistics since Rodriguez admitted to using performance-enhancing substances several years ago.

Jackson will be with the Yankees instead of attending the Hall of Fame induction ceremonies in Cooperstown, N.Y., on Sunday.

"I think it's all behind us. I think that's the most important thing," Yankees manager Joe Girardi told reports. "I think Reg has made a number of calls to try to rectify everything. I'm OK with it. I'm glad he's here. Let's just move on."

Jackson did not comment Thursday except to say, "I'm here, like you, to watch the game, watch them keep winning."