“Shoeless Joe” Jackson Photo Gallery
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“Shoeless Joe Jackson’s Incredible Three-Year Span, 1911-13!”
Yesterday, December 5, was the 65th anniversary of Joe Jackson’s passing at age 64. Let’s use the occasion to reflect on the career of one of the greatest players ever. Here’s some excerpts from an article I wrote last year, calling attention to his fabulous rookie year of 1911.
Shoeless Joe Jackson is usually remembered for his great years with the White Sox from 1915 to 1920 and for his remarkable .356 career batting average, which is still the third-highest all-time. And, of course, his role in the Black Sox scandal is still hotly debated 96 years later. Plus it’s well known that Babe Ruth modeled his hitting technique after Jackson’s.
But few realize that Joe Jackson had some truly remarkable years earlier in his career with the Cleveland Naps. His rookie year of 1911 is “off the charts” for a rookie; and his three-season totals from 1911-1913 is arguably one of the best three-year spans in baseball history. Let’s take a look at just what Jackson accomplished:
Joe Jackson’s stats from 1911 would be amazing even if he wasn’t a rookie. He compiled 233 hits, with 126 runs, 45 doubles, 19 triples, 83 RBIs, and 41 stolen bases. His phenomenal .408 batting average set a record for rookies that still stands and we can safely say will never be broken. Incredibly, It was only good enough for second in the league behind Ty Cobb’s .420. It’s still the sixth-highest single-season total since 1901. His .468 on-base percentage led the league, and he posted a .590 slugging average. Truly a remarkable season.
It’s hard to imagine how one could improve on a season like that, but he came close in 1912. That year Jackson’s batting average “slumped” to.395, but he led the American League in hits (226), triples (26), and total bases (331). He also collected 44 doubles, 90 RBIs, 35 stolen bases, a .458 on-base percentage, and a .579 slugging percentage,
Jackson’s phenomenal run was not finished. The next year, 1913, may have been the best of the three. His 197 hits, 39 doubles, and .551 slugging percentage all led the American League. He hit .373 for the year, with 71 RBIs, 17 triples, 26 stolen bases, 291 total bases, and a .460 on-base percentage. Jackson struck out only 26 times in 623 at-bats.
Over this three-year span, from 1911 to 1913, Joe Jackson’s batting average was .392, with an average per year of 218 hits, 118 runs scored, 42 doubles, 21 triples, 81 RBI, and 34 stolen bases. It would be hard to come up with a better three-year span. In 1999, he ranked number 35 on The Sporting News list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players and was a finalist for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team. The fans voted him as the 12th-best outfielder of all-time. He also currently ranks 33rd on the all-time list for non-pitchers according to the win shares formula developed by Bill James.
Jackson once told his own version of how he acquired his famous nickname. It happened during a “mill game” while he was playing with the Spinners. One day he was wearing a pair of ill-fitting new baseball spikes. The fit was so bad, they caused a bad case of blisters. The next day he was still in discomfort. He couldn’t even put on his old spikes. Since the team was short on players, his manager wanted Jackson in the lineup despite the blisters. He consented to play, but his feet still hurt so much that he had to take his shoes off before taking his turn at bat. He went to the plate in his stocking feet. As fate would have it, Jackson hit a triple. The bleachers were close to the field, and as he ran for third, a fan noticed his socking feet and yelled, “You shoeless sonofagun you!”
Joe Jackson never played in socks again, but the nickname – one of the most famous in all of baseball history – stuck with him for the rest of his life.
-Gary Livacari
Photo Credits: Classic Baseball Photography, by Donald Hoenig; The Photographs of Charles Conlon; and public domain.
Information: Excerpts edited from The Chicago History Files website: http://www.chicagohs.org/history/blacksox/joe1.html; and from the Joe Jackson Wikipedia page
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