This Week in Baseball History: 1/17 – 1/23

This week in baseball history featured the response of Commissioner Landis to one of many pleas by ‘Shoeless’ Joe Jackson for reinstatement.

January 19, 1932

On this date in baseball history, Major League Baseball Commissioner Kennesaw Mountain Landis denied an appeal for reinstatement made by former outfielder ‘Shoeless’ Joe Jackson.

Joe Jackson was a member of the 1919 Chicago White Sox, also dubbed the Chicago ‘Black Sox’ because of their conspiracy to throw the 1919 World Series against the Cincinnati Reds in defiance of their owners. It was well-known around the league that White Sox owner Charles Comiskey was a tough man to like, and as a result when first baseman C. Arnold Gandil was approached by gambler Joseph Sullivan about the possibility of throwing the series for a substantial amount of money, he jumped on the idea and quickly recruited many of his fellow teammates. One of these men was Joe Jackson.

It is known that Joe Jackson took the money from the gambler to throw the World Series, what is not known is what his effort level was like during the series. Did he truly play his best, which he maintained that he did since the incident, or did he throw the series like his fellow teammates. Jackson argued that he never at any point wanted to throw the series. He pointed to his statistics for the series to show it.

In the eight games of the series (the World Series was best-of-nine at that time), Joe Jackson batted .375 with 18 total bases. On top of his stellar average, he had three doubles and five runs scored. His numbers aside, Commissioner Landis found all eight men guilty of violating the rules of the league and suspended them for life.

Through his life, Jackson was adamant about his role in the affair and he insisted that he played no part in the throwing of the series. On a number of occasions he would speak publically on the issue. One of these such dates was on July 21, 1922. Joe was in New York responding to a petition that was passed around in his honor for his reinstatement.

He exclaimed his innocence: “I ain’t guilty of nothing.” When he came to talking about questions of his efforts in the series, Jackson insisted, “I tried my hardest in the 1919 World Series.” Despite this petition and the wishes of fans, Kennesaw Landis refused to move from his position and did not allow Joe Jackson back into Major League Baseball.

Despite numerous appeals from him and his family, Joe Jackson was never able to convince the commissioner to allow him back into the league. More recently, when the question was posed to new baseball commissioner Rob Manfred, he came to a similar decision as that of Landis. He cited the fact that no new evidence could have come to the surface and he did not believe that he could overrule the decisions of three commissioners before him.

Next: Interview with Mike Moustakas

The stain that the ‘Black Sox’ left on the game is still noticeable on the game of today. It is unlikely that it will ever truly fade; arguments on both sides of the aisle will continue to pop up and challenge the other. Pete Rose has only ensured that the idea of gambling in baseball will continue to be a hot-button issue for years to come. The fate of Joe Jackson is ultimately unknown. His fans can only hope that eventually a commissioner can become sympathetic to his cause and lift his ban and allow him into the Hall of Fame posthumously.