Rec and Sports

Shoeless Joe Jackson, Hall of Fame Worthy?

A long standing controversy in major league baseball has been that surrounding Shoeless Joe Jackson and his alleged throwing of the World Series for the Chicago White Sox of’19. Jackson has long been gone from baseball and long deceased, but many have still pushed to carve out his place in Cooperstown. Does he belong?

Whether he actively threw the series or not, we’re going to first analyze his numbers to determine whether he’s Hall of Fame worthy but for the scandal. Jackson’s career spanned- years, and while he’s remembered as having played for the White Sox, Jackson also played for the Naps, Athletics, and Indians.

Some of these numbers include a .356 career batting average, 785 RBIs, and 168 career triples. The power was low, but this came in an era where lower home run totals were more commonplace.

This may not scream out obvious hall of fame, however, the .356 batting average would easily clear those standards in today’s game. Here are some more impressive stats we can deduce by taking a closer look at his numbers.

If we take a further look at some of his stats, we’ll see that Jackson had an extremely low strikeout ratio, going down on strikes only once every 24 at bats. Additionally, his on base percentage was .423 and his OPS was .540. All great statistics.

So the stats look good, but how about the scandal? Did Jackson blatantly lower his level of play, throwing the series for Chicago? A look at the stats would say no. Jackson batted .375 that World Series, with a record breaking 12 hits. Unlike many of his teammates, Jackson’s fielding percentage was a perfect 1.000.

Many have accused Jackson of allowing multiple Reds triples in left field, where he played for the White Sox. However, further research of mine has shown that no triples were hit to Jackson’s part of the field in the ‘19 series. Jackson, however, did receive a $5,000 payment according to records.

This begs the question: does Shoeless Joe belong in the hall?

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