- Tuesday, July 25, 2023
Joseph Jefferson Jackson, the greatest natural hitter in baseball, was born July 16, 1887 in Pickens, South Carolina to a laborer named George Jackson and his wife Martha. “Joe” Jackson was the first of six boys and two girls born to George and Martha. In the early 1900’s, Greenville, South Carolina was known as the “Textile Capital” of the world and churches, schools, stores and doctors’ offices were built around the mills. In 1901, the family moved to West Greenville, South Carolina, where George got a job at the Brandon Textile mill making $1.25 a day. Joe began working in the Pelzer Mill in Pickens at the age of 6 and then at age 8 began work in the Brandon Textile Mill with his brothers and sisters as a “lint head,” sweeping the mill floors 12 hours a day to help support his family. Because he worked most of the day and his family couldn’t financially provide him with an education, Joe remained illiterate for the rest of his life. Joe and some of the other younger mill workers broke up the long boring work days at the mill, by playing a few innings of baseball during their breaks. When Joe was 10 years old, he contracted a case of the measles that almost killed him. He was paralyzed and in bed for two months being looked after by his mother.
Joe officially started his textile mill baseball career when he was 13, when he convinced his mother to allow him to play for the Brandon Mills men’s baseball team. He was the youngest player on the team and made $2.50 a week to play on Saturdays. Joe was a baseball Phenom, even in the beginning. He could throw harder, run faster and hit with more power than anyone on the team. His home runs were called “Saturday Specials” and his line drives were called “Blue Darters.” Joe’s brothers used to pass a hat around after he hit a home run, providing Joe with spending money. Later in life Joe noted, that $25 was not an uncommon haul after a game. When Jackson was still only 15 years old, Charlie Ferguson, a local fan and lumberman created “Black Betsy” from the northern side of a hickory tree. This 36-inch-long, 48-ounce bat was lacquered in numerous coats of tobacco juice, would serve Joe well throughout his baseball career and would be sold for $577,610 in 2001.
Joe would be known for playing left and center field for most of his career. He did try his hand at pitching, but threw so hard that he broke a batter’s arm with a wild pitch. As an outfielder Jackson’s throwing ability was unmatched because he could easily throw base runners out at home without a cutoff man. He would truly prove this ability later in his professional career (1917) when he defeated top outfielders Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Tris Speaker and Duffy Lewis in a throwing contest. Jackson won by throwing a ball 396 feet in the air. Jackson’s fielding prowess was perfectly matched by his abilities in the batter’s box. On May 28, 1904, 17-year-old Joe led his teammates in a 21- 0 rout of the Anderson Mill. Then, on April 11, 1908, he tripled, doubled and homered when his team defeated the Sampson Mill 9 to 3.
Joe moved from the Brandon Mill Team to the Victor Mill in Greer, South Carolina, where he played for a while. Joe would later be scouted by members of the Greenville Spinners semi-professional franchise in the newly created, class D, Carolina Association. Joe was hired by manager Tommy Stouch in 1908, for 75 dollars a month, which was a step up from the 45 dollars he had been making working at the mill and playing baseball. At 20 years old, Joe led the league with a .346 average, making amazing throws and catches in center field and playing clean-up pitcher.
On June 6, 1908, Joe would gain his well-known moniker: “Shoeless Joe Jackson.” The nickname is often credited to sports reporter, Carter “Scoop” Latimer. During his time as a Greenville Spinner, Jackson was breaking in a new pair of cleats in a game against the Anderson Electricians Textile Team and the blisters on his feet were so bad that he asked his manager if he could sit out the game, but his coach refused because Joe was his best player. Anderson fans didn’t realize Joe was playing in his stocking feet until he hit a home run. When Joe was rounding third, Latimer overheard a discouraged fan yell out: “Oh Joe, you shoeless son of a ‘gun’ Carter adjusted the nickname to “Shoeless Joe,” and it stuck and remains well known to this day. Joe hated the name because it created the image of a backwoods barefoot illiterate.
Two big events happened in the summer of 1908. Joe marries 15-year-old Katie Wynn on July 19, 1908. She could read and helped Joe write his letters and managed his money while also reading his contracts throughout their 30 years of marriage. The other big event that happens is in August of 1908 when, Connie Mack, the manager of the Philadelphia Athletics bought Joe’s contract for 900 dollars. But Joe was hesitant to go north, so Tommy Stouch, accompanied Joe on the train ride to Philadelphia. Joe singled in his first professional at bat on August 25 of 1908, but became home sick due to his recent marriage and jumped on a train back to Greenville. Joe only played 5 games that season in the Major Leagues, but it set the foundation for more games to play in the majors. In 1909, Joe is sent back to the South Athletic League and plays for the Savannah Indians for 118 games. He leads his team in hits, doubles, triples, home runs and the entire South Athletic League with a .358 batting average.
In 1910, he was traded to the Cleveland baseball organization and played with New Orleans Pelicans in the Southern Association League. He led the Pelicans in batting and helped them win the pennant. He was then, called back up to the majors to finish out the season with the Cleveland Naps. In the 20 games he played with the Naps, he had an amazing batting average of .387. In his full rookie season (1911) with the Naps, Joe records 233 hits, 45 doubles, 19 triples 83 RBIs and 41 stolen bases. However, none of these stats was more impressive than his remarkable .408 batting average for a veteran player, let alone a rookie. The .408 average still stands as a record for a rookie in the major leagues. Amazingly, his .408 average did not lead the league, Ty Cobb’s .420 average led the league. These two batting averages were among the best ever recorded in the major leagues.
For the next two seasons (1912 and 1913), Joe led the majors with hits, 226 and 197 respectively. In 1913, Joe placed second in the Most Valuable Player (MVP) voting, as he was edged out by Hall of Fame Pitcher, Walter Johnson, of the Washington Senators. Unfortunately, in the 1914 season, Joe broke his leg and it hindered his stats. He missed 35 games that year and the Cleveland Naps finished the season in last place with a dismal record of 51-102, 48 games behind the league’s leaders, the Philadelphia Athletics.
Towards the end of the 1915 regular season, Joe was traded from Cleveland to the Chicago White Sox. Charles Comiskey, owner of the Chicago White Sox, told his secretary, Harry Grabiner, “Go to Cleveland, watch the bidding for Jackson, [and] raise the highest one made by any club until they drop out.” Joe’s contract was worth more than $31,000 (equivalent to $925,000 today) and Chicago also sent 3 players to Cleveland to complete the deal. After being traded, Joe played 45 games with the White Sox and batted .378. The following year, he led the league in triples and total bases and finished third in batting percentage (.341) behind Hall of Famers, Ty Cobb and Tris Speaker.
Ironically, in 1917, Joe did not lead the majors in any baseball statistic. However, the Chicago White Sox go on to win the World Series. The White Sox finished the season with a 100-54 record and a 9 game lead over the 2nd place finisher, the Boston Red Sox. Their opponent from the National League was New York Giants, managed by Hall of Famer, John McGraw. In Game 2 of the series, Joe batted 4 times and recorded 3 hits and 1 walk leading his team to a 7-2 win. The White Sox go on to win the series 4 games to 2 with Jackson ending up with a 7 hits, 4 runs, 1 stolen base and a batting average .304.
Due to World War I, Jackson only played 17 games during the 1918 season. He did not go overseas to fight in the war, instead he worked at Harlan and Hollingsworth Shipbuilding Company in Wilmington, Delaware. He helped the company build 70 battleships during the war. Joe and a few other players received a lot of criticism from the press and the White Sox owner for opting to work at the shipyard instead of enlisting in the military. Comiskey stated that he would not re-sign any players that went to work for the shipyard. Comiskey had a change of heart when the White Sox finished with a losing record and realized the next season may be worse.
Which brings us to the one of the most famous or infamous years in baseball history. In 1919, the White Sox edged out the Cleveland Indians for the American League pennant, while the Cincinnati Reds represented the National League. During the year, Joe batted a respectable .351 with 181 hits which included 31 doubles, 14 triples and 7 home runs. The White Sox were heavily favored over the Reds and expected to win easily. The stage was set and on October 1st at 3p.m., at Redland Field, in Cincinnati, Ohio, the first game of the 1919 World Series was played in front of more than 30,000 fans. Cincinnati hammered the White Sox 9-1 with Jackson scoring the lone run for the White Sox. This game seemed suspicious when pitcher, Eddie Cicotte, who won 29 games during the season, struck a batter in the left arm on his second pitch of the game. Fans thought maybe it was nerves, insiders knew this was a signal that a potential “fix” was happening. Game 2 was a bit closer with the Reds winning again while Jackson records 3 hits for his team. There is chatter in the stadium that something does not seem right with the White Sox. The White Sox shut out the Reds 3-0 in Game 3 with Joe scoring a run and 2 hits. Cincinnati win games 4 and 5 shutting out the White Sox in both games with Joe getting only 1 hit in 8 at bats. Chicago wins the next 2 games with Joe going 4-8 at the plate and scoring 3 RBIs. Cincinnati finishes off Chicago in Game 8, 10-5, with Joe blasting a home and double bringing in 3 runs for his team.
Joe bats an incredible .375 and records no errors during the 8 game series. However, there had been a lot of talk and reports of a White Sox baseball scandal in the Chicago media and throughout the national media but nothing was officially investigated until late in the 1920 season. A grand jury met on September 20, 1920 to investigate and decided to proceed with testimonies. A week later on September 28, several players, including Joe, testified with the grand jury. During Joe’s testimony, he stated that a teammate met with a professional gambler about intentionally throwing the series in exchange for $80,000 ($1,402,834.68 in today’s money) to distribute to those players that were in on the fix. Joe also stated that he knew that meetings between certain players and gamblers occurred but he never attended any of them, and this statement was corroborated from other players. He goes on to say that he wanted to go to the White Sox owner, and more or less was threatened by a player not to do that. Joe was asked if he was given any money after the series and he confirmed that he was given $5,000 after Game 4 by a teammate.
After their testimonies, 7 White Sox players were suspended for the rest of the season, among them was Joe Jackson. On October 22, 1920, the grand jury decided to indict the players involved in the scandal and a trial was set for the summer of 1921. The trial began June 27, 1921 with delays and jury selection. On July 18, after 12 jurors were selected; testimonies commenced. Ten days later, the defense left the case to the 12 jurors to decide. The jury took less than 3 hours to decide a not guilty verdict for all players on all charges. A few days later, the baseball commissioner at the time, Kenesaw Mountain Landis, made the decision to ban all the connected players to the scandal for life from Major League Baseball, even though Joe’s involvement had been disputed during testimony.
After the ban, Joe and his wife moved to Savannah, Georgia. They started a laundry business while Joe also played some semi-pro ball. He played for a variety of teams for the next 20 years including Waycross Coast Liners, Greenville Spinners, and Winnsboro Royal Cords. Interestingly enough, he managed and played for Fairfield County’s Winnsboro Royal Cords, beginning in 1934 through 1936. Joe manages for another few years after finally quitting baseball in the late ‘30s. In 1941, Joe, age 53, smacks 2 home runs during a hitting exhibition.
During the ‘30s, he and wife opened up a liquor store on Pendleton Street in Greenville, South Carolina. It was named, Joe Jackson’s Liquor Store, and was in operation for more than 15 years. A fascinating tale comes to us from the late ‘40s where two of the best baseball players of their era reunite at Joe’s liquor store. Ty Cobb and famous newspaper writer, Grantland Rice, were traveling through Greenville to attend the Masters golf tournament. Cobb knew Jackson had a liquor store in Greenville and asked a police officer where it was. Upon entering the store, Jackson looks up and glances at Cobb but says nothing. Cobb states, “Don’t you know who I am?” Joe responds, “Of course, I do, Ty, but I wasn’t sure you wanted to know me, a lot of them don’t.” They chatted for a while about their ‘playing days’ and when leaving the store Cobb asked for an autographed baseball. Joe stated that he will have come back another time. In April 1947, Joe sends Cobb a typed letter about the encounter along with his ‘best bat’ that he used to ‘club the Tigers with.’ Cobb played for the Detroit Tigers for 22 years.
Joe always had claimed innocence of his participation in ‘throwing the World Series’ by stating, “God knows I gave my best in baseball at all times and no man on earth can truthfully judge me otherwise.” Out of the two World Series (1917/1919) that Joe played in, he recorded a better batting average (.375), more hits and runs in the 1919 World Series while also having a perfect fielding average, recording no dropped balls or errors against him. Throughout his 13 year career with Cleveland and Chicago and short period with the Philadelphia Athletics, he an averaged .356 batting percentage, with 1,772 hits, 307 doubles, 168 triples, 54 home runs, and 792 RBIs. In nearly 5,000 at bats, he recorded only 233 strikeouts, one of the best ratios of at bats to strikeouts in Major League Baseball history. The assertion that Joe was one of the finest hitters in baseball might come from a statement by Hall of Famer, Babe Ruth, who states, "I copied (Shoeless Joe) Jackson's style because I thought he was the greatest hitter I had ever seen, the greatest natural hitter I ever saw. He's the guy who made me a hitter."
Joe and his wife remained in Greenville, South Carolina until his death on December 5th, 1951. His funeral was held on December 9th and despite the drenching rain and brisk winds, Columbia’s very own State Newspaper reports, “hundreds of folk bared their heads in the elements as funeral services were conducted for “Shoeless Joe” Jackson whose body rests at Woodlawn Memorial park under a mound of flowers.” Joe’s wife Katie, died in 1959, both he and his wife are buried at Woodlawn Memorial Park in Greenville, South Carolina.
Shoeless Joe References –
Textile League Baseball: South Carolina’s Mill Teams 1880-1955, Thomas K Perry, 1993.
The Scandal - http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/blacksox/blacksoxaccount.html
Ty Cobb Meets Joe - https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-07-11-sp-3622-story.html
All About Joe Jackson - https://www.blackbetsy.com/shoeless.html
Joe Jackson Baseball Statistics - https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/j/jacksjo01.shtml
The Shoeless Joe Jackson Museum - https://www.shoelessjoejackson.org/