MLB Should Pardon Shoeless Joe Jackson After Profiting on His Story With Field of Dreams Game
By Parker White
Sadly, the only thing "Shoeless" Joe Jackson is known for today is being part of the Black Sox Scandal where members of the 1919 White Sox threw the World Series to the Cincinnati Reds.
It's hard to figure that Jackson did everything he could to lose games, as he hit .375 with the only home run from either team in the series. Instead of winding up in the Hall of Fame, where he was likely headed, Jackson was banned from baseball.
A century has passed and it seems that enough time has come and gone where Jackson should be pardoned.
Personally I think if @MLB is going to celebrate “Field of Dreams” they should pardon “Shoeless” Joe Jackson and a committee should make sure he is elected to the @baseballhall https://t.co/GComIpqod3
— Aaron Morse (@MorseCode206) August 8, 2019
You know when would be the best time for commissioner Rob Manfred to lift the ban? Next summer after the game between the New York Yankees and Chicago White Sox that will be held near the set of "Field of Dreams," which depicts Joe Jackson and the rest of the 1919 White Sox.
Not only did Jackson proclaim his innocence of not being involved in fixing games, his play on the field didn't look like someone trying to lose. Jackson had plead guilty to accepting $5,000 of a $20,000 bribe, however he claimed to have been manipulated into signing considering he could neither read nor write.
How can @MLB celebrate this movie without removing the ban from one of the central characters? Shoeless Joe Jackson needs to take his rightful place in the Hall of Fame and the @Whitesox and/or Indians need to retire his jersey (didn’t really have numbers back then) https://t.co/1ATxYOF2Ob
— Herb Lawrence (@Ecnerwal23) August 8, 2019
Jackson is obviously not alive to be part of what would be an incredible moment, but that doesn't mean it shouldn't happen. Do the right thing here, Commissioner Manfred.