Joe Jackson doesn't have a legacy. The life of Shoeless copa mundial blanche Joe Jackson actually has two legacies. The first is what great baseball player, indisputably one of the best hitters to ever play the game. Babe Ruth made no bones about this, admitting he copied Joe's swing because Jackson was the best hitter he'd seen. The second Jackson legacy is less concrete, however, also it involves controversy and the infamous 1919 Black Sox scandal that resulted in Joe's permanent banishment magista pas cher from major league baseball. Add several facts, a little bit of trivia, and two missing shoes, and you've got one heckuva legacy. Or two.
FACT: Well, maybe not. Two websites which I am not permitted to list here show Joe's birthday as July 16, 1888. Two more websites which I also cannot list inform us that Jackson's birthday is July 16, 1887. You will find a fifth website which reports Joe's birthday as July 16, 1899, making Jackson about nine years old as he broke in to the major leagues. It's not surprising, then, that controversy still surrounds this guy, 124 or 125 years after his birth.
TRIVIA: Jackson had a favorite bat he called 'Black Betsy'. The length of the bat was 36 inches also it weighed three pounds (48 ounces). The bat was fashioned from a hickory tree (the northern side, to become exact) by local fan Charlie Ferguson when Joe played for any minor league mill team in Greenville, South Carolina. Joe used the bat his entire career but still owned it as he died in 1951. Eventually, Black Betsy sold on eBay in 2001 for $577, 610. That's a little more than $12,033 an oz, or $16,045 per inch.
FACTS: Shoeless Joe batted over .300 in each of his 11 full major league seasons. His .356 lifetime batting average is third-highest in main league baseball history. In 1911 he hit a fantastic .408 with what was essentially his rookie season, setting a rookie record that still stands more than A century later. Ironically, Ty Cobb hit .420 that season, denying Joe the league batting title. Despite his .356 lifetime average, Jackson never won a league batting crown. On April 20, 1912, Joe scored the very first run in Tiger Stadium history. Jackson won his only World Series championship using the White Sox in 1917.
TRIVIA: By the age of six, Jackson had been your Sc textile mill as a clean-up boy. Twelve-hour days were not uncommon like a young teenager, and Joe received little when it comes to formal education. Sadly, he never learned to read or write, and in later years would watch for teammates to order off the menu after which order for himself by repeating something he'd heard.
FACT: After the favored White Sox lost the 1919 World Series to the Cincinnati Reds, rumors started to swirl that Shoeless Joe Jackson and 7 other Chicago teammates had conspired to simply accept bribes from organized crime elements in return for intentionally losing the Series. The allegations were brought before a great jury in September, 1920, at which time the eight Chicago ballplayers were suspended. In the spring of 1921, the grand jury acquitted all involved of any wrongdoing in the infamous 'Black Sox' scandal, but that mattered not to newly-appointed baseball commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis. Wanting to set a good example making the point that gambling and organized crime wouldn't be tolerated in major league baseball, Landis banned Shoeless Joe and also the other seven players for life. Despite hitting .375 for the series, committing no errors, and belting the Series' only homer, Shoeless Joe never played another mlb game.
MISSING SHOES: After a new set of spikes caused severe blistering on Joe's feet during a minor league game, Joe literally following day in his socks. The nickname 'Shoeless Joe' was created also it tied to Jackson for the rest of his life.
TRIVIA: In 2006, the home in which Joe Jackson lived and died was taken apart and moved ten or twenty yards to Field Street in Greenville, Sc. 2 yrs later, the Shoeless Joe Jackson Museum was opened for the reason that same house. Even the house number was changed to 356 to reflect Joe's lifetime batting average. There is no charge to visit the museum, and even the parking is free of charge.
TRIVIA: Joe did have a near life-long love affair with Black Betsy, but he did, on occasion, use lighter bats from Hillerich and Bradsby, makers of the famous Louisville Slugger. Proclaiming that "bats can't stand freezing no more than me," Jackson would take them the place to find South Carolina throughout the winter months. There he'd wrap the bats in clean cotton after rubbing them thoroughly with sweet oil.
FACT: On December 5, 1951, a heart attack ended the life span of Shoeless Joe Jackson making them the very first of the Black Sox to die. He's buried, together with his wife Kate, in Greenville's Woodlawn Memorial Park.
GHOSTLY TRIVIA: The release of the blockbuster movie Field of Dreams in 1989 allowed another generation of baseball fans to recognize and appreciate Shoeless mercurial pas cher Joe Jackson. The film's popular culture following and enduring appeal guarantees the rightful Joe Jackson legacy the adoration and permanent recognition it so richly deserves.

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