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

Joseph Jefferson Jackson

Shoeless Joe Jackson

— 1888 - 1951 —

Joseph Jefferson Jackson Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Brian Scott, August 24, 2008

1. Joseph Jefferson Jackson Marker

Inscription. Philadelphia Athletics 1908-1909
Cleveland Naps 1910-1915
Chicago White Socks 1915-1920
Position: Left Field
Threw: Right
Batted: Left
1919 World Series Batting Average .375
Lifetime Batting Average .356
Third Highest in Baseball History
------------------------
1911 - Batted .408, Highest Batting Average Ever by a Rookie
1912 - Led American League in Triples
1913 - Led American League in Hits. Slugging Percentage .551
1917 - Led Chicago White Sox to World Series Victory Against New York Giants

Joe Jackson grew up playing textile league baseball in West Greenville, SC. By 1908, he was playing with the Greenville Spinners of the Class D Carolina League. During the first game of a doubleheader, Jackson played in new spikes that caused his feet to blister. In the 2nd game, with the Spinners at bat in the seventh inning, Jackson took off his spikes and walked to the batter's box. No one noticed he had discarded his shoes until he cracked a hit. As Jackson rounded the bases in his stocking feet, a fan of the opposing team shouted, "You shoeless son-of-a-gun!" A local sportswriter heard the remark and tagged Jackson with the nickname "Shoeless Joe".

At the peak of his career with the Chicago White Sox, Jackson and seven of his teammates were

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implicated in a conspiracy to lose the 1919 World series. During the Series, Jackson played flawless baseball. He had twelve hits (a World Series record); no errors; the highest batting average (.375); accounted for eleven of twenty runs by the Sox; and hit the only home run in the Series. Though tried and found innocent, all eight players were banned from baseball for life. Until Jackson's death in 1951, he steadfastly maintained his innocence. He continues to be one of the most publicized and beloved baseball players in the history of the game.

Erected 2002.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Sports. A significant historical year for this entry is 1919.

Location. Marker has been reported permanently removed. It was located near 34° 50.658′ N, 82° 24.248′ W. Marker was in Greenville, South Carolina, in Greenville County. Marker was at the intersection of Augusta Street and South Main Street on Augusta Street. Marker is located in the Shoeless Joe Jackson Park at the intersection of Augusta Street and South Main. Touch for map. Marker was in this post office area: Greenville SC 29601, United States of America.

We have been informed that this sign or monument is no longer there and will not be replaced. This page is an archival view of what was.

Other nearby markers.

Shoeless Joe Jackson Statue image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Brian Scott, August 24, 2008

2. Shoeless Joe Jackson Statue

At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this location. Mills & McBayer Cotton Warehouse (a few steps from this marker); Alliance Cotton Warehouse (within shouting distance of this marker); Wilson Cooke (about 400 feet away, measured in a direct line); Greenville Arboretum (about 500 feet away); The Touchstone House "Falls Cottage" (about 600 feet away); The Touchstone House (about 600 feet away); Chicora College (about 600 feet away); Falls Cottage (about 700 feet away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Greenville.

Regarding Joseph Jefferson Jackson. Sculpture by artist Douglas R. Young.

Also see . . .
1. 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 August 30, 2008, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina.)

2. Attorneys go to bat for 'Shoeless' Joe Jackson. Two Chicago attorneys have joined the ranks of those trying to clear "Shoeless" Joe Jackson's name. (Submitted on March 4, 2010, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina.)

3. Shoeless Joe Jackson. Joseph Jefferson Jackson (July 16, 1888 – December 5, 1951), nicknamed

Photographed By Brian Scott, August 24, 2008

3. Shoeless Joe Jackson Statue

"Shoeless Joe", was an American baseball player who played Major League Baseball in the early part of the 20th century. (Submitted on August 30, 2008, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina.)

4. It ain't so about Shoeless Joe, 2 lawyers say. The kid pleading with Shoeless Joe Jackson to "say it ain't so" is one of the most fabled stories in baseball, right up there with Lou Gehrig telling a packed Yankee Stadium he was "the luckiest man on the face of the earth." (Submitted on March 4, 2010, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina.)

5. Shoeless Joe Jackson Museum. Four-minute video tour of the Shoeless Joe Jackson Museum and Library. (Submitted on March 4, 2010, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina.)

6. Find a Grave: Joseph "Shoeless Joe" Jackson. Professional Baseball Player, he was banned forever from the game for his role in the 1919 Black Sox Scandal. (Submitted on March 4, 2010, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina.)

7. Joe Jackson -- Shoeless Joe Jackson from South Carolina. From "Eight Men Out" to "Field of Dreams," the story of South Carolina's Joe Jackson and his heroics on the field have been brought to millions of people. (Submitted on March 4, 2010, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina.)

8. Museum Campaigns for Shoeless Joe Jackson. Shoeless Joe Jackson died 57 years ago in the tiny, red-brick

Joseph Jefferson Jackson Statue image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Brian Scott, February 20, 2010

4. Joseph Jefferson Jackson Statue

house on the edge of this city that he shared with his wife, Kate. (Submitted on March 4, 2010, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina.)

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

Shoeless Joe Jackson Statue and Plaza image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Brian Scott, August 24, 2008

5. Shoeless Joe Jackson Statue and Plaza

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, 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

Joseph Jefferson "Shoeless Joe" Jackson<br>(1888–1951) image. Click for full size.

William B. Coxe Collection, Greenville County Historical Society, April 15, 2009

6. Joseph Jefferson "Shoeless Joe" Jackson
(1888–1951)

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, 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 March 10, 2010, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina.

Additional keywords. Major League Baseball

Joseph Jefferson Jackson Statue and Plaza Marker<br>Dedicated July 13, 2002 image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Brian Scott, March 8, 2010

7. Joseph Jefferson Jackson Statue and Plaza Marker
Dedicated July 13, 2002

Coordinator Arlene Marcley
Sculptor Douglas R. Young
Architect Johnston Design Group LLC

With Appreciation To
The Sargent Foundation, John E. Smith Charities, John Burgess, Richard K. Heusel, Joe Jackson Family, Friends & Fans, Mayor Knox White & City Council
Special Thanks
City of Greenville Parks & Grounds, Building Services, Special Events and Engineering Departments

The base of the statue was constructed with original bricks from Comiskey Park, Chicago, Illinois, where Jackson played baseball for the Chicago White Sox. The old ball park was built in 1910 and demolished in 1990.

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

Photographed By Brian Scott, February 20, 2010

8. 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.

Credits. This page was last revised on August 18, 2022. It was originally submitted on August 29, 2008, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina. This page has been viewed 3,242 times since then and 47 times this year. Last updated on September 18, 2021, by Anonynous of Easley, South Carolina. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on August 29, 2008, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina. 4. submitted on March 10, 2010, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina. 5. submitted on August 29, 2008, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina. 6. submitted on April 15, 2009, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina. 7. submitted on March 10, 2010, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina. 8. submitted on March 4, 2010, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina. • J. Makali Bruton was the editor who published this page.