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“Shoeless” Joe Gets the Boot


In the fall of 1919, the Chicago White Sox played the Cincinnati Reds in the World Series. Eight players on the White Sox, including the great "Shoeless" Joe Jackson accepted bribe money to 'throw' the Series, which they did. In 1921, all eight were thrown out of baseball for life by Commissioner Kenesaw "Mountain" Landis. Joe Jackson—one the game's all-time great hitters (he has the third highest batting average in the history of the game at .356)—wrote a letter to Judge Landis asking to be reinstated.

This is Commissioner Landis's reply to Jackson.

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The two most prominent players not allowed admittance to the Baseball Hall of Fame, both for gambling indiscretions, are “Shoeless" Joe Jackson and Pete Rose. See the questionnaire Rose filled out before his career started, showing his confidence in himself.