by Casey Mensing

Created on: March 06, 2011

The films Field of Dreams and Eight Men Out brought the life of "Shoeless" Joe Jackson back into public consciousness, but did little to assist in getting him pardoned and allowing him his rightful induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Joe Jackson was one of the best pure hitters to ever play the game. He was born in Pickens County, South Carolina in 1887. His childhood was marked by poverty and a lack of education, he would be unable to read or write for the rest of his life. From the ages of 6 to 13 he worked twelve hour days as 'linthead' in a textile mill. Then at the age of 13 he started playing baseball for the Brandon Mill team.

After a few years of bouncing around from mill team to mill team, Jackson signed with the Philadelphia Athletics in 1908. After he struggled through the 1908 and 1909 seasons, Jackson was traded by the Athletics to the Cleveland Naps. 1911 was Joe's first full season at the Major League level, and he went on to set several rookie records. His .408 BA for the season still stands as the rookie record to this day.

After several successful seasons in Cleveland, Jackson was traded to the Chicago White Sox in 1915. The Jackson lead White Sox would go on to win the American League Pennant and the World Series in 1917. In 1919, Jackson hit .351 and lead the Sox back to the World Series where they were heavily favored to beat the Cincinnati Reds. To everyone's surprise the Reds won the series with ease, despite Jackson putting up a .375 BA and commiting no errors.

Jackson started out the 1920 season hitting .382 before he and seven of his teammates were suspended for their supposed role in throwing the 1919 World Series. During the grand jury hearing, it was revealed that Jackson received a$5,000 bribe from one of his teammates. Jackson would later admit under oath that he was involved in the fix, though his twelve hits in the series (a World Series record at the time), lead one to believe that even though he took the money, Joe may not have been in on the fix.

In 1921, a Chicago jury acquitted Jackson and his teammates of any wrong doing. But the damage had been done and baseball commissioner Kenesaw 'Mountain' Landis banned all eight players from the game for life.

Joe Jackson would go on playing for and manage several semi-professional teams in Georgia and South Carolina. In 1933 Jackson moved back to Greenville, South Carolina where he opened Joe Jackson's Liquor Store. In 1951, and the age of 64, Joe died of a heart attack.

Over the last several decades various organizations and individuals have petitioned Major League Baseball to review Jackson's case for reinstatement, much like others have done for Pete Rose. And despite mounting evidence that shows Jackson didn't attend any of the meetings or have anything to do with the conspiracy to throw the 1919 World Series, the fact that he took the $5,000 has been enough to keep him on the list and out of the Hall of Fame.

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