Hall of Fame Trial - "Shoeless Joe" Jackson...does he belong in the Hall?

[splitterpfj]

Hi Robert, I'll stand by what I wrote.

 

As detailed in the article, Jackson claimed $5,000 had been left in his hotel room by his teammate Lefty Williams, and that he had attempted to discuss the issue with Mr Comiskey. Whether or not that actually happened, Jackson admitted to having had $5,000 in his possession. Jackson testified to this under oath, which I also stated in the article.

 

This whole thing was as dirty as it comes...for instance, Jackson and Eddie Ciccote testified before the Grand Jury that they had been participants in the scheme, but those signed confessions disappeared from the Cook County Courthouse, only to be "discovered" years later in the possession of Comiskey's attorney. This, according to the book, "Eight Men Out."

 

Was $5,000 a LOT of money in 1919? Yes, absolutely. Were these ballplayers very well paid by the standards of their time? Yes, absolutely. Even so, do I think a dislike for Mr Comiskey, and a belief by these players that they were underpaid was the driving force behind the players' decision to participate in the fix...yes, absolutely.

 

I'm not sure whether Jackson was a guilty man who told a good story while trying to cover his butt, or whether he was an innocent man who stumbled his way into a mess he couldn't handle, but I don't doubt that he had 5K of the gamblers' money in his possession, and that he was well aware of the fix before and during the World Series.

 

A guilty man who may very well have been coerced, or not fully aware of the magnitude of things until it was "too late"...yes, that's possible. A fully "innocent man"...not by my own definition.

 

All of this is why it's a good story to begin with....