“If You Build It, He Will Come”
In Defense of Shoeless Joe Jackson
We all know the famous Shoeless Joe Jackson quote, “If you build it, he will come.” from the movie Field of Dreams. But travel back in time with me and let me explain why Shoeless Joe Jackson should be in the Hall of Fame.
Shoeless Joe Jackson was an outfielder, who was born in Pickens County, South Carolina, July 16, 1887 with the birth name Joseph Jefferson Jackson. His dad, George Jackson, was a share cropper and they moved around quite a bit when he was a kid. In Joe Jackson’s early life, education was not important, as well as, it was a luxury the family couldn’t afford and because of this Joe Jackson could not read or write. This was an issue all through his life. Between the ages of 6 and 7, he went to work at a textile mill in a town outside of Greenville, South Carolina, where he was a millhand. When Joe Jackson was 13 years old, a man who was the owner of a team called Brandon Mills approached Joe Jackson’s mom and asked if Joe could play on the team. That began the baseball career of Joe Jackson.
Many fans throughout history have wondered how he got his nickname of Shoeless Joe Jackson. While he was playing in a game, his feet were hurting because he had new cleats on and they gave him blisters. Naturally he took them off before coming up to bat and a fan was heckling him, called him shoeless Joe and thus the name was born.
In 1908 at the age of 19, Jackson began his professional career with Greenville of the Carolina Association. Also, during his time playing with this team, he got married to a woman named Katie Wynn. Eventually Joe Jackson signed with a guy named Connie Mack to play with the Philadelphia Athletics. While in the Minor Leagues with the Athletics, Joe Jackson had some trouble adjusting to the big city. He also didn't like his teammates pulling pranks on him, so much so, that in 1908 in the Minors for the Athletics, Joe Jackson only played in 10 games. In the 1909 Minor League season, Jackson played in 118 games for the South Atlantic League's Savannah Indians, and during this season Jackson was hitting .358. The next year the Philadelphia Athletics decided to give up on Joe Jackson and traded him to the Cleveland Naps. While in the Naps Minor League, Joe Jackson batted .387.
When Jackson was called up to the Majors in 1911, he set a bunch of rookie records, including hitting .408 with a .468 on base percentage which led the League. Continuing on from the success in 1911, in 1912, Joe Jackson led the League in hits including triples and batted .395. Now we are going to skip ahead a little bit. In 1915 Jackson was traded from the Cleveland Naps to the White Sox and he continued his dominance until he got into some trouble in the 1919 season, or did he?
Skipping ahead to the 1919 season where Jackson was hitting .351 with a .375 fielding percentage, this season was the beginning of the end for Jackson. In 1919 we know that the White Sox threw the World Series to get more money from gamblers and the notorious mob boss Arie Rothstein. Here is the question though, was Joe Jackson involved? We know that Joe Jackson could not read or write. We know that Jackson took money from a teammate, but we don't know if he actually knew what it was for. In the 1919 World Series, Joe Jackson had 12 hits including 3 doubles, 1 home run and batting .345 with a .365 OBP and a .485 slugging. Defensively he did not commit an error. With the numbers listed and not committing any errors, does it seem like Joe Jackson was throwing the World Series? I personally don't think so. However, in 1920, Jackson and his 7 teammates that were accused of throwing the World Series, went through a trial, and were ultimately acquitted by a jury. But ultimately the baseball commissioner at the time banned Joe and his teammates from playing in MLB for life, as well as blackballing them from the Hall of Fame.
Should Shoeless Joe Jackson be in the Hall of Fame? Personally, I think he should. With his impressive stats of .356 batting average, 1,772 hits, 54 home runs and 785 RBI's, he is well above many hitters of the time. In past interviews, legendary player Babe Ruth claimed to have modeled his swing after Jackson. Hell, even baseball great Ty Cobb commented, Joe was one of the best hitters in the game. When you have the admiration of two of the best Hall of Fame members in history, maybe it is time to vote Shoeless Joe into the Hall of Fame.
Article contributed by Harmony Davis