1. Joe got his nickname "Shoeless", which by the way he did not care
for, when he was playing for the Greenville club in 1908. Joe had
bought a new pair of spikes and they wore blisters on his feet.
The next game the blisters hurt Joe's feet so bad that he took the
spikes off and played in his stocking feet. Along about the seventh
inning Joe hit a triple and was coming into third when some big guy
in the stands stood up and hollered: "You shoeless sonofagun, you!"
Although Joe played only one game without his spikes, he would
forever be known as "Shoeless Joe".
2. Joe believed bats had only so many hits in them and when he
went into a slump, Joe would discard the bat and get a new
one. The only bat Joe did not discard was his original Black Betsy.
3. Joe said hairpins brought him good luck and he would pick them
up where ever he saw them........the rustier the better. Like
the bats, when Joe was going through a slump he would discard
his collection of hairpins and start over. Joe would keep the
hairpins in the back pocket of his baseball uniform, it's a
wonder he didn't get hurt sliding with all those pins in his back
pocket.
4. Joe had a name for all his bats; his most famous was Black Betsy,
Although he had a Blond Betsy, Caroliny, Ol' Genril and Big Jim,
Betsy was his favorite bat and unlike modern day players, who seem
to break a bat every time they step up to the plate, Betsy lasted
Joe's entire major league career. It has been said that Joe gave Black Betsy
to the former mayor of Greenville, SC as a gift, but a recently discovered
unpublished interview with Joe revealed he still had the bat and had not
given it away as reported. If this account is true, then the original
Black Betsy is still in the Jackson family
(VHOF Note: The original Black Betsy
bat sold at auction in August of 2001 for over a half a million dollars).
In the interview Joe states that a local woodworker by the name of Charlie Ferguson
made his first bat for him and that a few years after he made it to the big leagues
he sent the bat to the Spalding Sporting Goods Co. and they finished the bat out for
him and stamped their brand on it. Some of our design team has actually seen and held
this bat of which he speaks.
5. Joe's swing was so pure and natural that the great Babe Ruth copied his
swing and stance. Babe said in later years that when he was coming up
he looked around the league for a swing and stance that he could copy
and Joe Jackson was good enough for him.
6. The famous incident about the kid outside the courthouse saying to
Joe "Say it ain't so Joe", NEVER happened; it was made up by Charley
Owens of the Chicago Daily News. It made for a good story, but it
quite simply never happened.
7. Joe's original "Black Betsy" bat was thought to have been made for
him by a local bat maker by the name of Charlie Ferguson. It is believed
that Ferguson made the bat for Joe and gave it to Wesley Martin (Captain
Martin as he was known), Martin drove the trolley car that Joe rode to and
from his mill league games. Captain Martin gave Joe the bat on behalf of
Charlie Furgeson.......this from the words of Joe Jackson himself. In the
early 1990's an old interview Joe gave to the Greenville News was
re-discovered by Joe Thompson while doing research for his book
"Growing Up With 'Shoeless Joe'". In the article Joe says that Captain
Martin, who drove the trolley car that Joe often rode.......gave the bat
to him. This original bat became known as "Black Betsy".
Even though there was only one "Betsy", to Joe's fans all his bats
became known as "Black Betsy". This bat is believed to have been
36 inches long and weighed about 48 ounces.
8. Most of Joe's major league bats were made by Hillerich and Bradsby
(Louisville Slugger) and these bats were not as heavy as his original
"Black Betsy". His game bats were 35 ½ inches long and weighed in
at around 39 ounces. Joe loved his bats so much that he would take his
bats home with him to South Carolina in the winter, because he said
"bats don't like to freeze no more than me".
9. When Joe was not using his bats he would rub them down with sweet oil and
wrap them in a clean cotton cloth.
10. Joe started out as a pitcher on the mill league team, but he threw the
ball so hard that he broke the catchers arm, so they put him in the
outfield.
11. Joe Jackson began his professional career with the Greenville Spinners in
1908, his salary was $75.00 a month. Later that year his contract was
purchased by the Philadelphia Athletics for $325.00.
12. Although Joe was nicknamed "Shoeless" he was hardly shoeless, in fact his
closet was filled with dozens upon dozens of pairs of shoes.
13. In 1990 a scrap of paper bearing the shaking signature of Joe Jackson sold
at auction for $23,100, the top sum paid for any nineteenth or twentieth
century autograph. The record of $56,000 was paid for the rare signature of
Button Gwinnett, a signer of the Declaration of Independence.
14. There are photographs of Joe Jackson on the walls of the Baseball Hall of
Fame at Cooperstown; a pair of his spikes rest in a glass case. However,
Joe Jackson (the man) has not taken his rightful place among the immortals
of baseball YET.
15. Joe is in the Cleveland Sports Hall of Fame and was elected there on the initial
ballot as a write in candidate. Joe's name did not appear on the charter ballot,
however the fans in Cleveland thought so much of Joe that they wrote him in on
the ballot and he was elected as a charter member back in 1951, shortly before
his death.
16. Ted Williams thought enough of Joe Jackson to elect him to his Hitters Hall of
Fame in Hernando, Florida. There is a very nice tribute/display to Joe here,
as well as, one of his game used bats on display.
17. When Joe first moved to Savannah, Georgia he lived in an apartment at 143 Abercorn
Street. Katie and Joe finally moved into a bungalow at 1411 East 39th Street, where
they lived until 1929 when they moved back to Greenville, South Carolina to tend to
Joe's ill mother Martha.
18. Joe's wife Katie was deathly afraid of snakes and Joe would tear out any pages from
magazines or books that portrayed snakes.
19. When Joe played ball in Savannah, he played at Bolton Park on Henry Street.
20. It is said that Joe once threw a baseball from the backstop behind home plate over the
center-field fence at a baseball field in Brunswick, Georgia.
21. Joe owned a bulldog which he named "Beauty". But according to friends and relatives it
was the ugliest little thing you ever saw.
22. Before Joe was sold to Chicago in 1915 he expressed a desire to play for the Washington
Senators. The Senators could not come up with the money needed to buy Joe's services from
Cleveland. If that deal had of happened, this site would not have been necessary and no
doubt Joe would have been in the Hall on the first ballot.
23. Just prior to his sale to the Chicago White Sox, Joe signed a 3 year iron clad contract with
the Indians for the seasons 1917, 1918, and 1919.......it's just ashame that never came to
pass for Joe.
24. The Federal League offered Joe $10,000.00 to jump from the American League to their league,
Joe declined the offer stating that he was very happy with the treatment he was receiving
from Indians owner Charlie Somers and the fans of Cleveland.
25. Prior to his trade to Chicago, Joe was injured in an automobile accident. On an afternoon
off from playing ball, Joe and his wife Katie were out riding East of Cleveland when their
car began acting up. Joe surrended the wheel of the car to his wife Katie and he climbed out
on the running board to listen to the engine. A passing wagon sideswiped the car and knocked
Joe off and onto the ground and he was dragged some 75 feet before the car could be stopped.
It is believed that this incident scared Indians owner Charlie Somers into unloading Joe for
fear Joe would not be able to perform up to his former status.
26. While in Cleveland Joe lived at 7209 Lexington Avenue, which was close to League Park.
27. Joe might have used ole "Black Betsy" on opponents while in Cleveland and "Betsy" was
his favorite bat, but Joe used a bat he named "Dixie" more on opposing teams than he did
"Betsy". The Cleveland fans even knew it by named and told ole Joe to "give'em Dixie,
Joe give'em Dixie", to which the mighty Jackson usually replied with a Blue Darter through
the infield.
29. During a Spring Training game Joe caught a snake in right field and then threaten Naps
pitcher Nick Cullop with it. It seems Cullop was having a bad day on the mound prior to
Joe's threat, Joe told him if he didn't start pitching better he was going to put the snake
down his shirt. It is said that for the remainder of the game Cullop kept one eye on the
batter and one eye on Joe and that snake in right.
30. We have been told by Jackson family members that Joe only ate one meal a day, but it was a
big meal.
31. On July 16, 1923, Joe was signed by Americus, GA of the independent South Georgia League for
$75.00 a week. Joe managed and played right field for the team.
32. In the Georgia Little World Series in 1923 Joe, playing for the Americus, Georgia team went
11 for 22 (.500), he hit two home runs in the second game. Behind Joe's spectacular hitting
and fielding Americus went on to win the series in six games.
33. Joe signed on in 1932 to play for the Greenville Spinns for the sum of $100.00 per game,
which was pretty good money during the depression.
34. Charles Comiskey testified under oath (not once, not twice, but three times) that he did not
believe Joe Jackson had anything to do with the throwing of the 1919 World Series. He
thought Joe was treated unfairly, however he did not try to convince Landis otherwise.
35. The only man to ever say that Joe Jackson was present at any meetings between the gamblers
and the players was Abe Attell. Abe told this story to Eliot Asinof when Asinof was doing
research for his book "Eight Men Out". The meeting between Attell and Asinof took place
at Jack Dempsey's restaurant in New York City. Dempsey was present that day in the
restaurant and came over after Attell left and asked Asinof what he was doing talking
to that scum. Dempsey said something to the effect that he would rather go 12 rounds with
Joe Louis than be caught talking to that scum....... in otherwords....Attell was known to
tell a lie to benefit himself.
36. When Eliot Asinof wrote his book "Eight Men Out" in the early 1960's, the confession of Joe
Jackson was not available (in turned up in the 1970's at the Chicago Historial Society).
Based on what was available then, Asinof made some statements about Joe that are not
factual. Since the confession and other evidence have come to light in the last 20 years
Asinof has changed some of his stance taken in the book, he now believes that
Joe got a raw deal......we at the Virtual Hall of Fame have often wondered why Eliot has
not come out with a revision to his great book to make this point known.
37. Joe owned and operated a barbecue restaurant prior to opening the liquor store. It was
located at 1605 Augusta Road in Greenville......it was simply known as Joe Jackson's
Restaurant.
38. On June 25, 1922 Joe played for a Westwood, NJ team under the name Joe Josephs. Joe played
centerfield and in the first game he went 4 for 5, including a homerun and a double. In the
field he made a great running catch to take away an extra base hit and threw out a runner
at the plate. Fans went crazy and wanted to know who the new phenom was and when they found
out he was the great Shoeless Joe Jackson....the cat was out of the bag....Joe only played
2 more games for Westwood before moving on.
39. On September 20, 1913, while playing right field for Cleveland, Joe threw out Roger
Peckinpaugh of New York A.L. at first base on what appeared to be a safe hit.
40. On June 30, 1912, Joe Jackson of the Cleveland Naps versus the St. Louis Browns
hit three triples in one game.
41. On September 30, 1916, Eddie Collins, Joe Jackson and Happy Felsch pulled off a
triple steal against Cleveland.
42. In the morning game of a double header on the Fourth of July, 1911, Joe batting against
Red Nelson of the St. Louis Browns hit a shot to the outfield that the fielder tried to
make a shoestring catch on......he missed.....and Joe recorded his first and only inside-
the-park homerun.
43. While in Cleveland, Joe's wife Katie was a devoted fan, missing very few games throughout
the year. She sat in the last row of the grandstand behind home plate....sitting in the
same seat game after game...she thought brought her husband Joe good luck on the playing
field. When the seventh inning rolled around....no matter how the game was going, Katie
would leave and go home to prepare Joe a good home cooked meal.
44. When Joe arrived in Cleveland in mid-September 1910....the newspapers called him "The
Champion Batter of Dixie", the "Southern Star" and some even called him the "Carolina
Crashsmith".
45. One of Joe's favorite activities while on the road, was getting into bed at night and
eating animal crackers and washing them down with corn liquor......Joe did love animal
crackers.........
46. More to come soon !!!!!
