Joe Jackson

Jackson becomes eligible for the Hall of Fame in the summer of 2028

Joseph Jefferson “Shoeless Joe” Jackson (July 16, 1887 – December 5, 1951), a baseball player banned for his unproven connection to the Black Sox Scandal in professional baseball, was the finest natural hitter Babe Ruth ever saw, and Ruth imitated him. "I thought he (Joe Jackson) was the greatest hitter I had ever seen, the greatest natural hitter I ever saw. He's the guy who made me a hitter. I copied his swing," Ruth said. Jackson's career batting average (.356) is the third highest in all of Major League Baseball.

Far from "throwing" the 1919 World Series to the other team, Jackson put in a spectacular performance that was as flawless as practically possible and not something indicative of someone trying to lose. Jackson broke records for his batting during the 1919 World Series, and was also spectacular in his fielding:

“

Shoeless’ performance for the White Sox in left field was astounding. In 13 fielding opportunities, Jackson made absolutely no errors and threw a Red out at the plate trying to score on a fly ball. Another one of Joe’s throws to home would have been in time had Cicotte not deflected the ball away from catcher Ray Schaulk. If he were to throw the Series, Joe would have made at least one error in 8 games. In this case, not a single botched catch or errant throw. Of the 12 errors the White Sox made, 9 were owned by the other 7 Black Sox. Shoeless Joe played flawlessly in left field.

”

Shoeless Joe was the victim of judicial activism and collusion by owners. He was acquitted at trial, but merely a day after the verdict and without doing any investigation, Commissioner (and former judicial activist) Kenesaw Mountain Landis wrongly made the high-profile Jackson the scapegoat for misconduct by others. Shoeless Joe then won a civil case against the White Sox, but the judge tossed out the jury verdict. The smears of Shoeless Joe by Eight Men Out and other accounts of him fail to include how a jury held in favor of him in his civil trial. Former DOJ attorney John Dowd, who did a thorough investigation of Pete Rose, stated in 2020 that Jackson should be in the Hall of Fame.

Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis, the perpetrator of this injustice, had repeatedly abused his power as a federal district court judge, and was repeatedly reversed on appeal. He had previously been overturned for an activist ruling against Standard Oil. He imposed numerous draconian sentences against people who resisted the draft during World War I, some of which were reversed on appeal while others were commuted. In agreeing to become baseball commissioner, he insisted on absolute power, and then he abused it. The tyrant Landis was a racist who kept blacks out of the major leagues, yet his name is engraved into MLB MVP awards to the dismay of recipients.

A recounting of the criminal and civil trials by a former prosecutor overlooks the significance of how the former judge Landis and the state court judge pandered to the headlines to rashly and harshly punish the high-profile Jackson, whom they personally disliked. Commentary hostile to Jackson often overlook that he was illiterate, and was deprived of due process by Landis in banning Jackson for life without even doing an investigation.

The House of Representatives passed a resolution by voice vote in 1999 demanding Jackson's exoneration, and many politicians and star athletes (including Ted Williams) over the years (including conservative ones) have insisted likewise.

A museum is maintained to this day for Shoeless Joe in South Carolina in a home. He is portrayed in the novel Shoeless Joe, the opera The Fix, and the movies Eight Men Out and Field of Dreams (1989). The Field of Dreams was a positive portrayal of Joe Jackson (though the actor played right-handed rather than Joe's left-handed play), praised by a big supporter of Jackson.

Joe Jackson's legacy is preserved by a museum in his hometown of Greenville, South Carolina.