Shoeless Joe Jackson in Baseball

            For anyone who knows anything about baseball, the 1919 World Series brings to mind many things. "The Black Sox Scandal of 1919 started out as a few gamblers trying to get rich, and turned into one of the biggest, and easily the darkest, event in baseball history" (Everstine 4). This great sports scandal involved many, but the most memorable and most known for it was Joe Jackson. The aftermath of the great World Series Scandal left many people questioning the character of Joe Jackson and whether or not he should have relations thereafter with baseball. There is still question today whether or not to let Joe into the Hall of Fame. .

             Many people still question whether or not, Joe Jackson was involved in "The Black Sox Scandal of 1919." "The scandal even left its own legacy that is still inciting arguments among fans today: the fate of "Shoeless" Joe Jackson" (Everstine 3). As the word was being spread to "bet on the Reds", (Everstine 3), an astronomical amount of money was needed to make the payoff to all involved, including the baseball players of the White Sox who were participating in the scandal. Before the beginning of the game on that 'scandalous" day, Joe Jackson begged the owner of the White Sox; Charles Comiskey to listen to him in regards to the fix of the game that was about to happen. The evidence was proven that Jackson had even asked to be benched for the series to avoid any suspicion of his involvement in the fix. Unfortunately, Comiskey did not listen to Jackson. "Heavy betting was taking place" (Everstine 3). The game was played, after being fixed; the White Sox lost, even though there were seventeen other players on the team that attempted to do their best. Despite their best efforts, the "fix was successful" (Everstine 3). "As many fans sat in the stands and watched the game, they were not able to tell that the game had been fixed and thrown for the benefit of the Reds and the gamblers" (Everstine 3).

Related Essays: