This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 11/12/2021
The popular opinion among baseball enthusiasts is that he was innocent, a victim of circumstance, an unwitting pawn used by both prosecutors and conspirators that exploited his trusting nature. "Shoeless" Joe Jackson received a lifetime ban from baseball after being implicated with 7 other teammates in the infamous 1919 "Black Sox" World Series scandal. If Jackson was a willing participant, his statistics hid it well by batting .375 with a home run, 6 runs batted in, and no errors committed in the field. On the other hand, some say his hits came mostly when the game was already out of reach and he was uncharacteristically listless in the field, allowing singles to be stretched to doubles and doubles to triples, which wouldn't show up on a score sheet. It's a mystery that will never be resolved. With his career abruptly cut short at just 32 years old, the number of quality photos of one of baseball's all-time greatest hitters is very few, but the approximately 9 1/2" x 7" original type I photo presented here is one of the best! Taking his cuts and watching the result of his handiwork, Jackson is in the forefront of the ground-level stands that appear to be fairly full with onlookers. The N. E. A. stamp on the reverse is dated October 29, 1919, about three weeks after the conclusion of the series, suggesting that perhaps the photo was being published in connection with the alleged scandal as whispers of game-fixing had circulated even before Eddie Cicotte plunked the first batter of Game 1, signaling the gamblers that the fix was in. Other than a diagonal crease in the upper left corner and some usual but very light wear on the surface, this incredible photo has held up surprisingly well for over a century. A tremendous piece of baseball history, wonderfully displaying the most controversial player, and unarguably one of the greatest, in the history of baseball!