Greenville in Greenville County, South Carolina — The American South (South Atlantic)

"Shoeless Joe" Jackson

By Brian Scott, March 4, 2010

1. "Shoeless Joe" Jackson Marker

Inscription. Click to hear the inscription.

• Favorite baseball bat: "Black Betsy"
• 1911 - highest rookie batting average - .408
• All time batting average - .356
• Played for:
Philadelphia (1908-1909)
Cleveland (1910-1915)
Chicago White Sox (1915-1920)

Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Sports.

Location. 34° 50.633′ N, 82° 24.233′ W. Marker is in Greenville, South Carolina, in Greenville County. Marker can be reached from Augusta Street (State Highway 20). Marker is located on the sidewalk south of the Jackson statue. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Greenville SC 29601, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Alliance Cotton Warehouse (within shouting distance of this marker); Mills & McBayer Cotton Warehouse (within shouting distance of this marker); Joseph Jefferson Jackson (within shouting distance of this marker); Reedy River Falls Historic Park (within shouting distance of this marker); Wilson Cooke (about 400 feet away, measured in a direct line); Greenville Arboretum

By Brian Scott, March 4, 2010

2. "Shoeless Joe" Jackson Marker

(about 400 feet away); The Touchstone House "Falls Cottage" (about 500 feet away); The Touchstone House (about 600 feet away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Greenville.

More about this marker. The Philadelphia team was the Athletics.

Also see . . .
1. "Shoeless Joe" Jackson. Official website for Shoeless Joe Jackson. (Submitted on October 19, 2010, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina.)

2. Shoeless Joe Jackson Virtual Hall of Fame. This site is devoted to the memory of Shoeless Joe Jackson and the movement to persuade Major League Baseball to remove Joe Jackson from their ineligible list, thereby making him eligible for election to the National Baseball Hall of Fame. (Submitted on October 19, 2010, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina.)

3. Shoeless Joe Jackson. Joseph Jefferson Jackson (July 16, 1888 – December 5, 1951), nicknamed "Shoeless Joe", was an American baseball player who played Major League Baseball in the early part of the 20th century. (Submitted on October 19, 2010, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina.)

Additional comments.
1. "Shoeless Joe" Jackson
Joseph Jefferson Jackson, like many thousands in the South

Joseph Jefferson "Shoeless Joe" Jackson<br>July 16, 1888 – December 5, 1951 image. Click for full size.

William B. Coxe Collection, Greenville County Historical Society

3. Joseph Jefferson "Shoeless Joe" Jackson
July 16, 1888 – December 5, 1951

Carolina Piedmont, was the son of a tenant farmer who found his way into the textile mill. Born in 1888 in Pickens County, Jackson moved with his parents and their nine children to Brandon Mill, where Joe went to work at age thirteen. Unable to read or write, he showed promise as a baseball player and joined the Brandon team-first as catcher, then pitcher, and eventually as an outfielder. In 1907 Jackson was spotted by Tom Stauch, who soon became manager of the Greenville Spinners. Stauch hired Jackson for the handsome salary of seventy-five dollars a month, almost double his pay at Brandon.

Playing for the Spinners, Jackson made his reputation as a hitter and gained a nickname. Wearing a new pair of spiked shoes that hurt his feet, he decided to play in his stocking feet. No one noticed until the seventh inning when Jackson hit a triple. Someone called him "Shoeless Joe," and the name stuck. Near the end of the season Connie Mack gave Jackson a major league contract for $325, and his reputation as a hitter soared. Washington pitcher Walter Johnson once said that he considered Jackson the greatest natural ballplayer he had ever seen. In 1915 Charles Comiskey secured him for the Chicago White Sox for sixty-five thousand dollars.

Jackson became part of a fast, new culture accustomed to money and flashy clothes. He purchased a pool hall and a farm in Greenville,

Shoeless Joe Jackson Museum and Library image. Click for more information.

By Brian Scott, February 20, 2010

4. Shoeless Joe Jackson Museum and Library

Originally located at 119 East Wilburn Street, Greenville, the brick house was moved in 2006 to its present location on Field Street, across from the south side of Flour Stadium.
Click for more information.

as well as a house for his parents in Brandon. But his salary was never more than six thousand dollars. During the 1919 World Series, Jackson and seven of his teammates agreed to throw the series as their only defense against Comiskey. On September 28, 1920, Jackson appeared before the grand jury in Chicago and testified that he had received only five thousand dollars for his part in the conspiracy. According to the Chicago Herald and Examiner, "as Jackson departed from the Grand Jury room, a small boy clutched at his sleeve and tagged along after him. 'Say it ain't so, Joe,' he pleaded. 'Say it ain't so.'" Jackson was reported to have replied: "Yes, kid, I'm afraid it is."

The Black Sox case did not come to trial until 1921. On August 2 the jury found Jackson and the others not guilty. But the baseball commissioner, Judge Kennesaw Mountain Landis, ended the celebration. "Regardless of the verdict of juries," he said, "no player who throws a ballgame ... will ever play professional baseball.

"Shoeless Joe" Jackson returned to Savannah where he and his wife Katie lived in the off-seasons, and played semiprofessional baseball. In 1929 the Jacksons moved to Greenville, and Joe opened a dry-cleaning business and continued to play semiprofessional baseball in the summers. In 1933 the Greenville club rejoined organized baseball and offered Jackson the position of player-manager,

Paid Advertisement

Click on the ad for more information.
Please report objectionable advertising to the Editor.

but Judge Landis refused to alter his ruling. In his last years, Jackson operated a liquor store and played baseball with the neighborhood children. He died on December 5, 1951, at the age of sixty three. His funeral was held in the Baptist church in Brandon where he had lived as a young man. (Source: Greenville: The History of the City and County in the South Carolina Piedmont by Archie Vernon Huff, Jr. (1995), pgs 299-300.)

— Submitted October 19, 2010, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina.

Additional keywords. Major League Baseball

Credits. This page was last revised on February 23, 2021. It was originally submitted on April 18, 2010, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina. This page has been viewed 1,256 times since then and 36 times this year. Last updated on February 22, 2021, by Carl Gordon Moore Jr. of North East, Maryland. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on April 18, 2010, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina. 3. submitted on April 15, 2009, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina. 4. submitted on March 4, 2010, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina. • J. Makali Bruton was the editor who published this page.