JOE JACKSON

“Shoeless Joe” Jackson was one of the purest hitters of his era. In 1911, his full rookie season with the Cleveland Naps, Jackson hit .408, an average that still stands as a record for a rookie in the major leagues. Throughout his 13 year career, he hit .356 with 1,772 hits, 307 doubles, 168 triples, and struck out only an astonishing 233 times in nearly 5,000 at bats. “I copied Jackson’s style because I thought he was the greatest hitter I had ever seen. He’s the guy who made me a hitter,” Babe Ruth would later declare. After the 1920 season, Jackson was banned from baseball for life by Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis, a result of his involvement in throwing the 1919 World Series against the Cincinnati Reds. Jackson claimed innocence, pointing to his series batting average of .375 without committing an error in the outfield. “God knows I gave my best in baseball at all times and no man on earth can truthfully judge me otherwise,” he said.

G1332 AB4981 R873 H1772 2B307 3B168 HR54 RBI792 AVE.356

Images courtesy of Dick Perez’s The Immortals - An Art Collection of Baseball’s Best