U.S. House Resolution Honoring Joe Jackson
Whereas Joseph Jefferson `Shoeless Joe' Jackson, a native of Greenville, South Carolina, and a local legend, began his professional career and received his nickname while playing baseball... (Engrossed in House )HRES 269 EH
H. Res. 269
In the House of Representatives, U.S.,
November 8, 1999.
Whereas Joseph Jefferson `Shoeless Joe' Jackson, a native of Greenville, South Carolina, and a local legend, began his professional career and received his nickname while playing baseball for the Greenville Spinners in 1908;
Whereas `Shoeless Joe' Jackson moved to the Philadelphia Athletics for his major league debut in 1908, to Cleveland in 1910, and to the Chicago White Sox in 1915;
Whereas `Shoeless Joe' Jackson's accomplishments throughout his 13-year career in professional baseball were outstanding--he was one of only seven Major League Baseball players to ever top the coveted mark of a .400 batting average for a season, and he earned a lifetime batting average of .356, the third highest of all time;
Whereas `Shoeless Joe' Jackson's career record makes him one of our Nation's top baseball players of all time;
Whereas in 1919, the infamous `Black Sox' scandal erupted when an employee of a New York gambler allegedly bribed eight players of the Chicago White Sox, including Joseph Jefferson `Shoeless Joe' Jackson, to throw the first and second games of the 1919 World Series to the Cincinnati Reds;
Whereas in September 1920, a criminal court acquitted `Shoeless Joe' Jackson of the charge that he conspired to throw the 1919 World Series;
Whereas despite the acquittal, Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis, baseball's first commissioner, banned `Shoeless Joe' Jackson from playing Major League Baseball for life without conducting any investigation of Jackson's alleged activities, issuing a summary punishment that fell far short of due process standards;
Whereas the evidence shows that Jackson did not deliberately misplay during the 1919 World Series in an attempt to make his team lose the World Series;
Whereas during the 1919 World Series, Jackson's play was outstanding--his batting average was .375 (the highest of any player from either team), he set a World Series record with 12 hits, he committed no errors, and he hit the only home run of the series;
Whereas because of his lifetime ban from Major League Baseball, `Shoeless Joe' Jackson has been excluded from consideration for admission to the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame;
Whereas `Shoeless Joe' Jackson died in 1951, and 80 years have elapsed since the 1919 World Series scandal erupted;
Whereas recently, Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig took an important first step toward restoring the reputation of `Shoeless Joe' Jackson by agreeing to investigate whether he was involved in a conspiracy to alter the outcome of the 1919 World Series and whether he should be eligible for inclusion in the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame; and
Whereas it is appropriate for Major League Baseball to remove the taint upon the memory of `Shoeless Joe' Jackson and honor his outstanding baseball accomplishments: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Representatives that Joseph Jefferson `Shoeless Joe' Jackson should be appropriately honored for his outstanding baseball accomplishments.
Attest:
Clerk.