Jackson, Shoeless Joe

Jackson, Shoeless Joe (Joseph Jefferson Jackson), 1887–1951, American baseball player, b. Brandon Mills, S.C. Holder of the third highest (.356) career batting average in major league history, Jackson was banned from baseball in 1921 for his part in the 1919 Black Sox scandal. He is said to have been too unsophisticated to have fully appreciated the circumstances, and in fact batted .375 during the World Series he was said to have conspired to lose. A tearful young fan is said to have exhorted him to “Say it ain't so, Joe!”

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