Shoeless Joe Jackson - Black Sox Scandal

Black Sox Scandal

After the White Sox lost the 1919 World Series to the Cincinnati Reds, Jackson and seven other White Sox players were accused of accepting $5,000 each to throw the Series. In September 1920 a grand jury was convened to investigate the allegations.

During the series Jackson had 12 hits (a Series record) and a .375 batting average—leading individual statistics for both teams. He committed no errors and threw out a runner at the plate.

It has been claimed that the Cincinnati Reds hit an unusually high number of triples to left field where Jackson played during the series, but this is not supported by the contemporary newspaper accounts. According to first hand accounts, none of the triples were hit to left field. In fact, more triples were muffed by Shano Collins than were hit to Jackson. (Collins was ironically listed as the wronged party in the indictments of the conspirators. The indictments claimed he was defrauded of $1,784 ($23,915 today) by the actions of those charged.)

In testimony before the grand jury on September 28, 1920, news accounts from the era claim that Jackson admitted under oath that he agreed to participate in the fix:

However, no such direct quote or testimony to this effect appears in the actual stenographic record of Jackson's grand jury appearance, casting doubt on their veracity. Legend has it that as Jackson was leaving the courthouse during the trial, a young boy begged of him, "Say it ain't so, Joe," and that Jackson did not respond. In an interview in SPORT nearly three decades later, Jackson contended that this story was a myth. A contemporary press account does refer to an exchange of Jackson with young fans outside of the Chicago grand jury hearing on September 28:

When Jackson left criminal court building in custody of a sheriff after telling his story to the grand jury, he found several hundred youngsters, aged from 6 to 16, awaiting for a glimpse of their idol. One urchin stepped up to the outfielder, and, grabbing his coat sleeve, said:
"It ain't true, is it, Joe?"
"Yes, kid, I'm afraid it is," Jackson replied. The boys opened a path for the ball player and stood in silence until he passed out of sight.
"Well, I'd never have thought it," sighed the lad.

Even though Jackson's exchange with the shocked young fan was most likely not a true historical event, but rather a fabrication by a sensationalist journalist, the "Say It Ain't So" story remains an oft-repeated and well-known part of baseball lore.

In 1921 a Chicago jury acquitted Jackson and his seven teammates of wrongdoing. Nevertheless, Kenesaw Mountain Landis, the newly appointed Commissioner of Baseball, declared all eight accused players ineligible for future MLB play, citing baseball's need to maintain a clean image as his top priority. Jackson never played in organized baseball after the 1920 season.