Joseph Jefferson Jackson - Black Sox scandal, Quotations, Books

Baseball player, born in Brandon Mills, South Carolina, USA. During his 13-year career as an outfielder (1908–20), mostly with the Cleveland Indians and Chicago White Sox, he posted a lifetime batting average of ·356, third highest in major league history, before being banned from baseball (1921) for his involvement in the 1919 ‘Black Sox’ scandal. Along with seven other White Sox players, he was accused of conspiring to lose the 1919 World Series to the Cincinnati Reds (even though he hit ·375 in the series). According to folklore, a youngster pleaded to him, ‘Say it ain't so, Joe’ after his testimony at the ‘Black Sox’ trial. Regarded as baseball's greatest ‘natural’ hitter, he remains ineligible for election to the Hall of Fame due to his permanent banishment from baseball.

Joseph Jefferson Jackson
Outfield
Batted: Left	Threw: Right
MLB Debut
August 25, 1908 for the Philadelphia Athletics
Final game
September 27, 1920 for the Chicago White Sox
Career Statistics
Batting Average	.356
Home Runs	54
Runs Batted In	785
Teams
Philadelphia Athletics (1908 - 1909) Cleveland Naps (1910 - 1915) Chicago White Sox (1915 - 1920)
Career Highlights and Awards
3rd Highest Career Batting Average Hit .408 in 1911

Joseph Jefferson "Shoeless Joe" Jackson (July 16, 1888 – December 5, 1951) was a left fielder in Major League Baseball who played for the Philadelphia Athletics, Cleveland Indians and Chicago White Sox. No player banned from baseball, including Jackson, has been inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, and once Pete Rose was placed on the permanently-ineligible list, the Hall of Fame changed its bylaws to prohibit induction of banned players.

Black Sox scandal

After the White Sox unexpectedly lost the 1919 World Series to the Cincinnati Reds, eight players, including Jackson, were accused of "throwing" games. Arguably, this could be seen as Jackson attempting the fix the games through inaction, although another possible explanation could be simple game to game ups and downs in performance, typical of even the most elite baseball players.

Aftermath

After being banned from the majors, Jackson played extensively in semipro leagues in Georgia and South Carolina.

G	AB	H	2B	3B	HR	R	RBI	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG
1,332	4,981	1,772	307	168	54	873	785	519	158	.356	.423	.517

His .356 batting average is the third-highest career batting average behind only Ty Cobb and Rogers Hornsby.

Despite being banned from baseball at what should have been roughly the two-thirds mark of his career, and being excluded from election to the Hall of Fame, in 1999, he ranked Number 35 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, and was nominated as a finalist for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team.

Quotations

He is the greatest natural hitter I ever saw. —Ty Cobb, Hall of Fame outfielder I decided to pick out the greatest hitter to watch and study, and (Joe) Jackson was good enough for me. —Babe Ruth, Hall of Fame outfielder and slugger I am going to meet the greatest umpire of all – and He knows I am innocent. —Joe Jackson

Books

"Shoeless: The Life And Times of Joe Jackson", by David L. Kinsella Eight Men Out, by Eliot Asinof, an account of the 1919 World Series fix Joe Jackson: A Biography, by Kelly Boyer Sagert Say It Ain't So, Joe!: The True Story of Shoeless Joe Jackson, by Donald Gropman, also includes the Ted Williams and Bob Feller Petition to admit Jackson into the Baseball Hall of Fame A Man Called Shoeless, by Howard Burman "Burying the Black Sox" (Potomac, Spring 2006) by Gene Carney.