Say It's So, Joe: Will 'Shoeless' Joe Jackson

His new pair of spikes wore blisters on his feet, so, in one inning of a game between his hometown Greenville Spinners and an Anderson team, he removed them. When it was his turn at bat, he hit a triple, and, as he circled the bases, a fan from the opposing team yelled, "You shoeless son of a gun, you!"  Although that day would be the only time Joe Jackson played in his stocking feet, this legend of baseball would forever be affectionately known as 'Shoeless Joe.'
       

 Joseph Jefferson Wofford Jackson was born in Pickens County, South Carolina, near the Greenville County line, on July 16, 1888. When Joe was five, he and his family moved to a textile mill village, Brandon Mill, on the west side of Greenville.
       

 Around the age of seven, Joe began working in the mill to help support his family. At the age of thirteen, his athletic ability earned him a spot on the men's Brandon Mill team. He soon became a star in textile league baseball and advanced to the Major Leagues.

Infamy came to the South Carolina native after he and seven of his Chicago White Sox teammates were accused of throwing the 1919 World Series. 

While it is true that the favored White Sox lost to the underdog Cincinnati Reds, and that other White Sox players conspired with gamblers to fix the Series, Joe Jackson's performance during the Series serves as evidence of his innocence of wrongdoing. He had the highest batting average (.375) of any player in the Series. He had more hits than any player -- his 12 hits would set a World Series record. He hit the only home run in the Series. He made no fielding errors. One can only conclude that 'Shoeless Joe' Jackson had played to win. 

 A jury found Jackson and the other seven White Sox players innocent of throwing the Series. Although they were acquitted of criminal charges, baseball's first commissioner, Judge 'Kennesaw Mountain' Landis, banned all eight from the game of professional baseball for life, declaring that anyone who had known about the fix would be banned.
       

 Jackson never denied knowing about the fix. In his testimony before the grand jury, Jackson stated that his teammate 'Lefty' Williams had brought $5,000 from the gamblers to Jackson's hotel room and threw it down, but that Jackson grew angry, said that he would not be involved in the fix, and stormed out of his own room.

 'Lefty' Williams swore under oath to the same story, and the gamblers testified that Jackson had never been present at any of the meetings between the players and the gamblers, but that 'Lefty' Williams had said he spoke on behalf of Jackson.
       

 The following morning, Jackson said, he took the money to White Sox owner Charles Comiskey to try to explain the situation, but he would not be heard. He asked to be benched from the game, but was refused. So, his only recourse was to play his best.
       

 In 1924, Jackson filed a civil suit against Comiskey for back pay. The jury in that trial also found Joe innocent of involvement in the Series fix, but he remained banished from baseball.

For many years, there has been strong momentum behind national efforts to have 'Shoeless Joe' Jackson reinstated into Major League Baseball, as a prerequisite for having him inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. The case has been reviewed at the request of Hall of Fame members the late Ted Williams and Bob Feller, as well as baseball historians, numerous politicians, and thousands of baseball fans nationwide who have signed petitions. (For information on the cause to reinstate Jackson, visit 'Shoeless' Joe Jackson's Virtual Hall of Fame)

Each July, Greenville, South Carolina Mayor Knox White proclaims July, the month of Joe’s birth, as ‘Shoeless Joe’ Jackson Month in the city of Greenville. In the first proclamation, Mayor White stated: "Greenville fans will always remember the great 'Shoeless Joe' Jackson, a humble man from humble origins who continues to be one of the most publicized baseball players in the history of the game."
     

 Jackson is certainly beloved by hometown fans. The 'Shoeless Joe' Jackson Memorial Park has been dedicated in his honor on the original field where he played baseball for the Brandon Mill team. That baseball field must have been a young Joe Jackson's 'field of dreams'. The park, on West Avenue off Highway 123, is open to visitors from daylight to dusk. The portion of Highway 123 that runs near the baseball field has been named The 'Shoeless Joe' Jackson Memorial Highway.
        

Jackson's home, formerly located at 119 East Wilburn Street in Greenville, has been moved to Field Street and turned into the 'Shoeless Joe' Jackson Museum. The address for the museum is 356 Field Street, the number having been chosen for Jackson's career batting average.
      

 The late Joe and Kate Anders, longtime supporters of Joe Jackson’s reinstatement into Major League Baseball, were good friends to 'Shoeless Joe' and his wife, Katie. Joe Anders was just a teenager when he met the baseball legend, who had returned to live in Greenville after his professional baseball career had ended.

"We played on the same baseball field at Brandon, which is now 'Shoeless Joe' Jackson Memorial Park," Anders told this writer. "We lived on the same street. We worked in the same plant. We were members of the same church (Brandon Baptist), and we both married Kates."
       

 Joe Anders reminisced to this writer about first meeting 'Shoeless Joe.' "Joe's store in West Greenville was next door to Bolt's Drug Store, the hangout for teenagers. I was at the drug store about every day. When Joe wasn't busy, he would be standing in the doorway of his store.
       

 "One day, I decided to introduce myself to him. I told him that I played ball at Brandon, and he took me under his wing. He told me how he loved the game of baseball, and he taught me the finer points of hitting and fielding. He showed me some of his trophies and his famous bat, 'Black Betsy'.
       

 "It was an exciting time for me. Every day, I'd walk down there to have a talk with Joe. We became close friends, and he tried to help me every way he could.
      

 "He and his wife, Katie, followed me throughout my baseball career until Joe died. It was a great relationship with Joe and Katie, and I feel very fortunate to have had someone like him to give me instructions on how to hit and field. It was a wonderful experience."
        

Kate Anders, an artist who designed shirts and caps with Jackson's likeness, once told this writer, "Joe was a good man. He helped a lot of people and the church." 

Her husband agreed. "Joe was one of the most generous people you'd ever meet. He was everybody's friend. He didn't have children. He loved children. When the kids wanted an ice cream cone, they knew where to come, because Joe would buy them an ice cream."
 

Anders recalled meeting another baseball legend. "One day, Joe called to me and said, 'Come here. I want you to meet somebody.' He said, 'I want you to meet the greatest hitter who ever played the game of baseball.'
       

 "I was wide-eyed and wondered who it could be. He said, 'This is Ty Cobb.' Then, Ty Cobb said, 'No, no way. Here's the greatest hitter who ever played the game, Joe Jackson. He could hit the dead ball farther than Babe Ruth could hit the live ball.'
       

 "That was quite a thrill, meeting Ty Cobb. I would have loved to have had my picture taken with him."
       

 Anders said that the case to reinstate Jackson has been 'under review' for a long time.
       

 "They're just 'dragging their feet', and I think hoping that some of us will pass away or forget it or go away, but we're not. We're in this for the long haul. I've been in it since about 1970, and I plan to continue to stay in it for as long as I'm around."

'Shoeless Joe' Jackson died the night of December 5, 1951 of a heart attack at the age of 63. Joe Anders served as a pallbearer for Jackson, as well as a pallbearer for Jackson’s wife, Katie, who died in 1959 of cancer. The Jacksons’ beneficiaries were the American Heart Association and the American Cancer Society.
       

 Joe and Katie Jackson are buried at Woodlawn Memorial Park in Greenville, South Carolina. Many visitors to the gravesite leave baseballs as mementos.
       

 'Shoeless Joe' was one of baseball's greatest hitters of all time. His .356 career batting average is the third highest in baseball history. Babe Ruth even copied his swing. An outstanding fielder, his glove was called 'the place where triples go to die.' Today, his autograph is the third most valued in the world.
       

 Speaking of 'Shoeless Joe' Jackson's exile from Major League Baseball, Kate Anders once said, "It's a sad story. Joe lived a life he didn't deserve, but maybe they'll make it right."
       

 'Shoeless Joe' Jackson maintained his innocence until his dying breath. On his deathbed, he said, "I'm going to meet the greatest umpire of all -- and He knows I'm innocent."