Shoeless Joe Jackson

Jackson wed Katherine “Katie” Wynn in 1908 and was married to her until his death in 1951. The couple did not have any children but brought up two of his nephews together.

In 1933, Jackson and his wife moved to Greenville, South Carolina, where they had a barbecue restaurant. As he got older, he developed several heart issues.

On December 5, 1951, he passed away due to a heart attack at his home in Greenville. He was 64. Jackson was subsequently buried at Woodlawn Memorial Park in Greenville.

Born on July 16, 1887, in Pickens County, South Carolina, Joseph Jefferson Jackson was the oldest son of Martha and George Jackson, who was a sharecropper. He relocated to Pelzer, South Carolina with his family early in his life.

A few years later, the family had to move once more, this time to a company town called Brandon Mill, which is located on the outskirts of Greenville, South Carolina. When he was ten years old, he suffered a serious bout of measles. It confined him to his bed for two months, paralyzed, while his mother took care of him.

He took a job as a “linthead” in the town’s textile mills at the age of six or seven. He had a brother named Gertrude Trammell. His family was not financially able to provide him with an education, so Jackson remained illiterate for the rest of his life. To support his impoverished family, he worked a 12-hour shift every day.

He was interested in baseball from an early age and his mother agreed to let him play for the Brandon Mill’s baseball team. Thus, Jackson’s life as a baseball player formally took off.

Being the youngest player in the team, he earned $2.50 to play on Saturdays. He initially participated in the games as a pitcher but after accidentally breaking another player’s arm with a fastball, the team manager put him in the outfield. Subsequently, his hitting ability made him popular in his hometown. During this period, he was gifted with a baseball bat, which he later named “Black Betsy”.

In 1908, Shoeless Joe Jackson joined Greenville Spinners, beginning his career as a professional baseball player. In the same year, he signed a contract with Connie Mack to be a member of the Philadelphia Athletics’ squad for MLB.

Initially, he encountered some troubles adapting to the life of a professional sportsman in a major city like Philadelphia. He was also reportedly being hazed by his teammates on a regular basis. He played only ten professional games in the 1908-09 season.

In 1910, the Athletics traded him to the Cleveland Naps. After spending the majority of his first season with the Naps in the minor league, Jackson recorded a .408 batting average in his first ever full season in 1911 as well as led the league with a .468 on-base percentage.

The following season, his average was .395 and he was the leader in the American League in hits, triples, and total bases. On April 20, 1912, Jackson had the honor of scoring the first run at the Tiger Stadium. In 1913, he was again leading the league with 197 hits and a .551 slugging percentage.

Jackson was traded once more in 1915. During his tenure with the Chicago White Sox, he was instrumental in White Sox’s American League pennant and the World Series wins. He batted .307 against the New York Giants during White Sox’s successful campaign in the World Series

In 1951, Shoeless Joe Jackson was inducted into the Cleveland Sports Hall of Fame. That year, he was also honored by the Baseball Writers Association of America.

In 2002, a statue was erected in his honor in Greenville, South Carolina. He was inducted into the Baseball Reliquary's Shrine of the Eternals, also in 2002.