Last Updated: June 17th, 2026 by Michael Schatz
As fans of sports, we’re routinely in awe of the athletes we watch. They do things we wish we could do. They run fast. Jump high. They possess incredible strength and agility. They seem larger than life.
Don't lose this article. Enter your email below, and I'll send it to you right now. Plus, we'll send you other unbelievable stories from baseball's past.
And then there’s Bo Jackson.
Bo Jackson, in his prime, was a one-man highlight reel. He was going viral before going viral was cool. He would do things that no other human being could do. And let’s not forget he was the star of maybe the best sports commercial ever with his ‘Bo Knows’ campaign – shoutout to all my millennials.
There are so many moments of Bo Jackson exhibiting freakish athletic ability that it’s hard to name the best. But a top contender has to be when Bo decided to turn into Spiderman.
It was July 11, 1990. Bo’s Kansas City Royals were in Baltimore to face the Orioles. O’s outfielder Joe Orsulak ripped a pitch to the left-center gap. Off the bat, it had extra bases written all over it.
But Bo Jackson was playing center field.
He sprinted towards the track, reached up, and snagged the ball out of the air. But his momentum was carrying him straight into the wall – and outfield walls in the 90s weren’t exactly known for their comfort.
A disaster was approaching. But this is Bo Jackson we’re talking about. So instead of crashing into it, Bo propelled himself up the wall – running horizontally for a few feet – and then eased himself down and threw the ball in like nothing had happened. It was one of the most memorable outs you’ll ever see.
After the game, Bo revealed that his gravity-defying move wasn’t to show anyone up. He was nursing a separated shoulder, so the Spiderman move was his way of avoiding re-injury.
“So instead of crashing into it, I just decided to do what I used to do when I was a kid and just run up the wall and come back down,” Bo shared.
The Royals would go on to lose the game 7-5, but does anyone actually remember that? All they remember is seeing Bo Jackson scale the wall like a superhero.
And for those rumors, well, let’s just say we’ve never seen Bo Jackson and Spiderman in the same place at the same time.