Last week MLB commissioner Rob Manfred made a monumental decision and removed Pete Rose and 16 other deceased people from the league’s permanently ineligible list. The most recognizable name aside from Rose was Shoeless Joe Jackson. While most of the coverage has been about Rose, and the debate about whether or not he should be inducted into the hall, there is just as much of a case to be made for Jackson.
I have been screaming on the airwaves for decades now that Jackson should be inducted before we even begin a conversation about Rose, or anyone else who has been left out. Many now Jackson from his fictional representations in popular films like 'Field of Dream' and "Eight Men Out', as well as mentions in other popular TV shows and movies, but from a pure baseball standpoint he is a sure-fire Hall of Famer.
Jackson was caught up in the "Blacksox' scandal, in which the White Sox threw the 1919 World Series. But that doesn't tell the whole story. There was no evidence that Jackson altered his play in any way to help lose that World Series and from a sport that admires numbers as much as baseball it's clear according to the stats that he did everything he could to win.
During that 1919 World Series Jackson hit .375 and his 12 hits were a World Series record. He drove in 6 runs and scored another 5. He accounted for 11 of the White Sox 20 total runs during those 8 games. (they used to play the best of 9 series). In the field he also was perfect and didn't commit an error.
Jackson has been called by many as the greatest ever, including one of the greatest ever Ty Cobb. Cobbs said of him "Whenever I got the idea, I was a good hitter, I'd stop and take a look at you. Then I knew I could stand some improvement." His career numbers are video game like stats. Shoeles Joe hit .356 with 792 RBIs, 873 runs scored and had a .940 OPS. He amassed these numbers despite being thrown out of baseball at just 32 years old.
The name of Pete Rose is on everyone's lips these days after this decision, but this should be the Shoeless Joe decision as much as the Hit King's. The ban removal doesn't mean that they will get into the Hall, but it opens up the possibility. Jackson has been left out long enough and we might finally see a just resolution to one of baseball's biggest errors.