Stop me if you've heard this one. Shoeless Joe Jackson was a naive, uneducated mill worker who was taken advantage of by corrupt gamblers. Along with seven of his teammates, he was banned from baseball for his alleged involvement in the 1919 World Series scandal - despite his excellent play during the series (.375 batting average with no errors) and favorable verdict from a grand jury. Afterwards, a heartbroken Jackson quietly disappeared from the limelight. Unable to walk away from the game he loved, he continued to play under an alias for small-town and semi-pro teams. According to one well-known source, Jackson appeared post-humously on a magic field in the middle of an Iowa corn farm, where his ghost was at long last able to enjoy the sport free from the harsh accusations of team owners and league commissioners. There is a tragic romanticism induced by these stories, and if that's how you'd like to remember the legendary player then stop reading now. If you'd like to hear the rest of the story, continue on...
While Jackson was uneducated, the truth is he was neither naive nor quiet. Upon being banned and released from his team without compensation, Shoeless Joe sued the White Sox for damages, back-pay, and the salary remaining on his active three-year contract. The jury at least partially sided with Jackson, awarding him $16,000 of unpaid salary. Unfortunately for the ex-ballplayer, the ruling was immediately overturned. The inconsistencies in Jackson's own recounting of his role in the scandal were substantial enough for the judge to charge him with perjury and throw him briefly behind bars. When asked about his fate, Jackson responded he had nothing left to prove in baseball and was done with the game. He did attempt to defy the ban a couple of times, when local teams offered him some money to play out short-term contracts, but he sustained his family mostly through a series of business ventures.As it often happens, much of "the rest of the story" takes place in the earlier chapters. So let's back up a few years to the spring of 1910. Jackson arrived in Cleveland unknown and unproven after two years of minor league ball. That didn't stop him from confronting the already-established Ty Cobb, face-to-face, one day before a game. In no uncertain terms, Jackson verbally declared himself to be a better player than the reigning batting champ. The following year, Jackson produced a .408 batting average in his first full big league season. Cobb hit .420. Jackson again called out Cobb prior to the 1916 season, telling the sports media that this was the year he would finally surpass his rival. Incidentally, Jackson had something else in common with Cobb besides his hitting prowess. He wasn't shy about holding out at the beginning of a season, demanding higher salary for his services, threatening to take his skills elsewhere if not accommodated.
To go back further than that, one can visit Jackson's hometown of Greenville, South Carolina. The field where 13-year old Joseph got his start with a gritty cotton mill league has been well-maintained and is now called Joe Jackson Memorial Park. His house has been turned into a museum. The controversial player is celebrated by local residents with a statue and large mural, and sports fans from all over remember him by leaving a baseball at his nearby grave. There is no question that Shoeless Joe is a beloved figure in Greenville and many other places where baseball is played, but is he as innocent as his world series statistics and loyal fans suggest? We'll likely never know. In sorting through accounts of the scandal, it's very difficult to separate fact from fiction ("Say it aint so, Joe" probably never happened). Jackson himself told differing versions of the events. When tried in court alongside his teammates, he told the jury he was promised $20k for helping to throw the series, but only got paid $5k. In other accounts, he indicated that he refused to take any money and even attempted to inform the team owner of the fix (the owner wouldn't listen). His responses to the allegations ranged from outright denial to reportedly admitting "I could have tried harder on a couple of fly balls." On the bright side, there probably is some truth to the claim that Jackson was not present at any of the secret meetings between the gamblers and players, lending credibility to the theory that his role in the ordeal was relatively minor.
As for his rivalry with Ty Cobb... years later, a mellowed-out Cobb praised his opponent's hitting skills. He also remarked that Jackson lacked the student-of-the-game mentality that would have made him the better player. Student or not, Jackson's .356 career batting average is the third highest of all-time. In 1920, his last season before the ban, he finally made good on his promise to out-hit Cobb (.382 to Cobb's .334). George Sisler batted .407.
For further reading:
-The transcript from Joe Jackson's grand jury testimony:
-An interview with Joe Jackson in 1949:
-Photos of Joe Jackson sites in Greenville, SC
