Dear Editor:
The recent firings of Major League Managers involved in “sign stealing scandals” makes us reflect on baseball players who Major League Baseball (MLB) deemed unfit to represent professional baseball. In our opinion, Joseph Jefferson Jackson – “Shoeless Joe” represents the epitome of ball players who have been unjustly banished from professional baseball.
Without doubt, the rigging of the 1919 World Series – the infamous “Black Sox Scandal” – is one of baseball’s darkest moments. However, the resultant debarment of Joe Jackson remains controversial.
It has now been established that Shoeless Joe refused the $5,000 ($125K in today’s money) bribe on two separate occasions. Additionally, Joe Jackson tried to tell White Sox owner, Charles Comiskey, about the fix; but, Comiskey refused to meet with Jackson. Years later, players who were implicated in the scandal admitted that Jackson did not actively participate in the fix.
Jackson’s performance in the 1919 World Series lends further credence to his innocence. Joe Jackson had a fantastic series! He was 12-for-32 (.375 batting average); 5-for-12 with runners in scoring position (6 runs batted in). He his the series’ lone home run.
Joe Jackson remains on MLB’s ineligible list, which precludes his election to the Hall of Fame. In 1989, MLB Commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti declined to reinstate Joe Jackson. In 2015, Commissioner Rob Manfred concluded that “…it is not possible now, over 95 years since these events took place and were considered by Commissioner Landis, to be certain enough of the truth to overrule Commissioner Landis’ determination.”
The reprehensible actions of those Major League managers involved in sign stealing incidents are far worse than the paltry evidence that currently exist to keep Joe Jackson on the ineligible list.
It has been a century since Joe Jackson played left field. After 100 years of being barred based on meager evidence and faulty testimony, it is time for MLB to reverse – to correct – that egregious error. It is time to reinstate Joe Jackson and to elect him into the Hall of Fame – where he belongs.
John Di Genio
and
Albert J. Cupo
