Two Black Sox

In The Politics of Glory, Bill James described those who advocate Shoeless Joe Jackson’s Hall of Fame case as “baseball’s answer to those women who show up at murder trials wanting to marry the cute murderer.” This was not the first time that James has made a fool of himself, but that is a different matter. In reality, Jackson should never have been banned from baseball, and in a perfect world he would be in Cooperstown today. 

Joseph Walker Jackson was born on July 16, 1887 in Pickens County, South Carolina. Originally a pitcher, he switched to the outfield after he broke a batter’s arm with a fastball. His hitting was outstanding, and he made the Major Leagues in 1908. 

Jackson was illiterate, meaning that he couldn’t read or write. Although this was not uncommon in the early 20th century, Jackson felt humiliated and tried his best to hide it. After he became a big star in the Majors, he knew he needed to learn how to sign autographs, so his wife Katie taught him to write, “BEST REGARDS JOE JACKSON” in all caps. In fact, since Katie signed most of his autographs for him, any real Jackson autographs have become very valuable. In fact, in 2021, a Shoeless Joe autographed photo sold for $1.47 million at an auction. 

Jackson was thought to be kind of a weird fellow. He named all of his bats, most notably Black Betsy, a 36 inch, 48 ounce monster that he used throughout his career. Additionally, his nickname, “Shoeless Joe”, was bestowed upon him after he played one game in the minors in his socks. Why did he play in his socks? Because his shoes were too tight, of course. 

Jackson made his MLB debut in 1908, but didn’t reach rookie status until 1911. His .408 batting average that season not only set an all time high for AL rookies, but is also the last .400 average to fall short of a league Batting Crown. He batted .356 for his career while also building a reputation as a power hitter. He was such a good hitter that Babe Ruth said he modeled his swing after Jackson’s. By all contemporary and modern standards he was a good enough player to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. The only reason why he is excluded is because he was banned from baseball, along with seven others, after the Black Sox scandal. 

In 1919, Jackson’s Chicago White Sox won the American League and were heavy favorites to beat the Cincinnati Reds in the World Series. However, gamblers convinced many of the White Sox players to throw the World Series, promising them fat checks if they complied and violence if they refused. The Sox lost the Series, 5-3. All throughout the 1920 season, rumors of an alleged fix were told and retold. In September, a grand jury was convened to investigate the scandal, and eventually implicated eight players (Jackson, Eddie Cicotte, Chick Gandil, Swede Risberg, Buck Weaver, Lefty Williams, Happy Felsch, and Fred McMullen) and five gamblers. After Cicotte confessed to throwing the Series to the grand jury, Chicago owner Charles Comiskey suspended each player (except Gandil, who was no longer with the team). The trials all took place in 1921, and in the end all eight players were found not guilty. However, Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis banned them anyway. All eight of them were never to have anything to do with professional baseball again. 

Since Landis banned the “Black Sox”, none of them has been seriously considered by the Hall of Fame. Jackson and Cicotte were on their way to Cooperstown at the time, and a couple others may also have had a chance to make it. When Jackson was banned, he was coming off a .382-12-121 season in 1920, and the live ball era was just kicking into effect. If he were allowed to keep playing, his career could have looked a lot like Ty Cobb’s. However, I am adamant that a player must play it straight if he is to be considered by the Hall of Fame. I emphatically rejected Bonds and Clemens on the last two Hall of Fame ballots, and am also opposed to Pete Rose’s election. On the other hand, Jackson had a great World Series in 1919. He batted .375/.394/.563 with the only home run of the World Series. In the field, he made 16 putouts without a single error. In my mind, there is no doubt that Jackson played his best. He didn’t attend meetings with the gamblers, and he tried to return the money to Comiskey. Comiskey evidently wouldn’t listen to Jackson’s warnings, and he was advised to keep the money. On top of all that, he even asked to be benched before Game 1 so as not to have any part in the tainted Series. (Of course, manager Kid Gleason, who knew nothing of the fix, refused.) AND HE WAS FOUND NOT GUILTY ON TRIAL. There is no real reason to keep him out of the Hall of Fame. 

While everyone argues over Jackson’s case because he is a credible Hall of Fame candidate, one other player was banned for life without sufficient cause: Buck Weaver. Weaver had a nice little career, hitting .272 from 1912 through 1920, including .311 over his final three seasons. A fine fielder who played both shortstop and third base, Weaver set numerous fielding records. Weaver was banned because he attended meetings with the gamblers but didn’t report them. He pleaded with his teammates not to enter the fix, but to no avail. The least he could do was play hard, and he hit .324 in the 1919 World Series with a .500 slugging percentage. He should also be reinstated and possibly enshrined in Cooperstown as well.