It’s controversial because few experts can agree on authentic examples.
It’s precious because it’s so rare.
And it’s tragic because of the tale it tells: an illiterate boy, born into poverty, who lost his livelihood and reputation over a cheating scandal that he was probably blameless in.
Shoeless Joe Jackson is a legend.
Origin of the phrase, “Say it ain’t so, Joe.” Further immortalised in the classic baseball movies, Field of Dreams and Eight Men Out.
Ray Liotta as Shoeless Joe, seeking posthumous redemption from Kevin Costner in Field of Dreams.
Who was Shoeless Joe Jackson?
Shoeless Joe was Joseph Jefferson Jackson, born July 16, 1887, in South Carolina.
He was probably destined for a life of poverty working in a textile mill and a near-fatal, childhood encounter with measles was fairly typical of the life he was born into.
And he didn’t go to school.
He never learned to read and write.
It haunted him through his life. And is key to this story.
The extra cash he could pick up by playing for mill teams was vital for his family.
Joe cashed in, and his extraordinary talent, was spotted.
Jackson was a great prospect, but scandal means we'll never know what he might have achieved.
Poverty defined his early life.
“You shoeless son of a gun, you!” an opposing fan yelled when Joe discarded an uncomfortable pair of cleats to play in his socks.
His skill was undeniable though. And, from 1908, he moved into the professional game, at the Greenville Spinners, quickly moving to the Philadelphia Athletics, his first Major League team. He never settled, and spent much of his time on loan at minor league teams and was quickly moved on to Cleveland Naps.
Finally, at the top level of the sport he excelled, setting records, one of which still stands.
He moved on up to the Chicago White Sox, and in 1917 helped them win the World Series.
Then he had to go work in a shipyard to help the war effort.
In 1919, he batted his team into the World Series, where they shocked informed observers by losing to the Cincinnati Reds.
This ruined Jackson’s career.
Why?
They probably threw the series.
A scandal that still rankles
Jackson and his team mates weren’t paid anything like the huge numbers baseball players get today.
A $5,000 bribe was too much to turn down for some players.
The White Sox (nicknamed the Black Sox for this stain on their reputation) owner Charles Comiskey was not a generous man, and his players resented the low wages and long contracts he forced on them.
Jackson’s apparent confession in grand jury testimony is highly contentious.
Infamy, but if Joe was guilty he was a reluctant conspirator who did nothing wrong in real terms.
The White Sox players were cleared in court, but banned by the baseball authorities.
During the legal process, “Say it ain’t so, Joe” appeared as a headline in the Chicago Daily News, but it was never spoken to Jackson by a disillusioned young fan outside the court as one newspaper reported.
The consensus now is that he probably took the cash, but that it was all-but forced upon him by the players who did throw the games, and Jackson himself played honestly - and well - during the series.
In 2025 Jackson was removed from the banned list by the Major League Baseball organisation.
But, in his actual life, Jackson was effectively ruined. What playing and coaching he did after the scandal he did under assumed names. He died aged 64 in 1951, after years of running a liquor store back in South Carolina.
Joe Jackson’s elusive autograph
Joe never went to school and he never really recovered from that early disadvantage.
Throughout his life he was functionally illiterate and he was reportedly ashamed of the fact.
Joe married Katie in 1908, she signed the majority of his autographs.
He could write his name. But not confidently.
He had a long, happy marriage with Katie. And one of the things Katie did for her husband was sign his autograph.
Jackson autographs are rare. And extremely valuable.
The most valuable sports photograph ever sold was a signed picture of Jackson that made $1.47 million in 2021.
In 2014, a Jackson signature made over $40,000 at auction.
And its story nicely illustrates the problem with Shoeless Joe autographs.
The signature was found on an envelope inside which a Mrs Jackson autograph had been sent to a fan.
The auction house who sold it had the full story.
Joe had received a letter from a fan asking for his name.
Hoping to complete the task he practised signing on the envelope.
In the end, he didn’t go through and his wife signed the paper sent to the fan.
Because Jackson was ashamed of his illiteracy he signed as little as possible. Some of the surviving autographs are on documents Joe had to sign. If he had a choice, he would not sign in public.
Writing is a skill, and Joe never learned it, so he didn’t ever get very good at it.
This photograph made around $180,000 in 2015. Jackson was probably persuaded to sign this official team photograph. Image courtesy of Heritage Auctions.
Most of us develop signatures that are consistent enough to be used as a proxy for ID.
Joe never did that.
While his signature was in huge demand.
And still is.
That makes forging “Shoeless Joe” signatures a good business proposition.
Only around a dozen signatures from Shoeless Joe have been generally accepted as genuine.
That’s why they can be worth up to $100,000 a pop.
There may be many more, but authenticators are essentially judging against a standard that doesn’t exist.
Joe’s personal struggles defeat the model on which authentication in autographs is built.
His story is perhaps unique in sports autograph collecting.
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