History Fix for “Shoeless” Joe?
ABA Journal
12/01/09
Maybe it ain’t so, Joe.
For 90 years the reputation of Chicago White Sox outfielder “Shoeless” Joe Jackson has been tarnished by the belief that he and seven of his teammates threw the 1919 World Series to the Cincinnati Reds. The Black Sox scandal was seemingly validated by Eliot Asinof’s historical account, Eight Men Out.
But two Chicago lawyers who have been investigating historical records of the case say what they’ve found may not only clear Jackson but also raise questions about Asinof’s research.
Dan Voelker and Paul Duffy are not the first to try to exonerate Shoeless Joe and his fellow teammates, but they just may be the only ones to scrutinize Asinof. His Eight Men Out has long been considered the definitive account of the 1919 World Series scandal.
“The only fact that’s been proven is that Shoeless Joe took $5,000 after the Series was over,” Voelker says. “For 90 years, newspaper reports have said he confessed. He never did. He always maintained his innocence.”
