Shoeless Joe baseball bat sells for $583,500

A regulation baseball bat Shoeless Joe Jackson (1887-1951) used sometime between 1917 and 1921 has sold for $583,500 at Christie's.

It was among the star lots from a sale of baseball memorabilia from the National Pastime Museum on October 19.

The second half of the auction will conclude later today.

Shoeless Black Betsy
Shoeless Joe Jackson was a legendary outfielder

The lot sold for more than Jackson's legendary "Black Betsy" bat, which realised $537,750 at Heritage Auctions in 2011.

This indicates significant growth in the value of his memorabilia.

Jackson was playing for the Chicago White Sox during this time and would have been at the height of his abilities.

He was a superb outfielder and maintained a strong batting average throughout his time in the major leagues.  

However, he was banned for life in 1920 after he was accused of being embroiled with a match fixing scandal.

Jackson always denied the charge and there was clear evidence to suggest he had nothing to do with it.

His counsel, White Sox attorney Alfred Austrian, is alleged to have elicited a confession from Jackson by getting him drunk and convincing him to sign a document waiving his immunity to prosecution.

Jackson was famously illiterate.

A 1909 Jackson rookie card sold for massively over its estimate in August.  

We have a range of sports memorabilia for sale, click here to take a look.

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