Shoeless Joe Jackson

@Baseball Players, Birthday and Family

Shoeless Joe Jackson was an American baseball player

Jul 16, 1887

Cancer CelebritiesSouth CarolinaAmericanSportspersonsBaseball Players
Biography

Personal Details

  • Birthday: July 16, 1887
  • Died on: December 5, 1951
  • Nationality: American
  • Famous: Sportspersons, Baseball Players
  • City/State: South Carolina
  • Spouses: Katherine Wynn (m. 1908–1951)
  • Siblings: Gertrude Trammell

Shoeless Joe Jackson born at

Pickens County, South Carolina

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Birth Place

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.

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Personal Life

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.

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Personal Life

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.

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Personal Life

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.

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Childhood & Early 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.

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Childhood & Early Life

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.

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Childhood & Early Life

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.

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Childhood & Early Life

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”.

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Childhood & Early Life

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.

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Career

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.

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Career

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.

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Career

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.

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Career

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

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Career

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.

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Awards & Achievements

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.

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Awards & Achievements