Baseball Legend Joe Jackson On Innocence and Beating Walter Johnson Like a Rag Doll
The iconic MLB outfielder had plenty to say whenever writers asked him questions
Few baseball players have captured the hearts of fans as much as outfielder Shoeless Joe Jackson. His connection with the 1919 plot for eight members of the Chicago White Sox (Black Sox) to throw that year’s World Series for gamblers led to the premature and permanent end of his professional baseball career, despite his insistence he did nothing wrong. However, he always maintained his innocence and loved discussing his career, including his reported dominance of legendary pitcher Walter Johnson.
A native of Greenville, South Carolina, the left-handed Jackson was shy and believed to be functionally illiterate. Despite suffering teasing, particularly as a younger player, he let his baseball do the talking for him. In a 13-year big-league career (1908–1920) spent primarily with the White Sox and Cleveland, he hit a combined .356 (third all-time) with 357 doubles, 168 triples, 54 home runs and 792 RBIs.
Although the eight Black Sox players were acquitted at trial, they were all permanently banned from the game by Commissioner Kennesaw Mountain Landis for their various roles or knowledge of the plot. This included Jackson…
