They say time heals all wounds, right? After all, if Muhammad Ali could reconcile with Joe Frazier, if the Red Sox could invite Bill Buckner back to Fenway to throw out the first pitch, and if Kobe and Shaq could bury the hatchet, anything could happen, right? Well apparently not the reinstatement of Shoeless Joe Jackson by Major League Baseball.
Responding to a July letter sent by the Shoeless Joe Jackson Museum in South Carolina requesting the removal of Jackson’s name from the MLB’s ineligible list, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred refused to re-open the matter. Manfred mentioned that he asked his staff to research the historical record and found that “it is not possible now, over 95 years since those events took place and were considered by [then] Commissioner [Kenesaw Mountain] Landis, to be certain of the truth to overrule Commissioner Landis’ determinations.”
Manfred’s full letter, which was posted on the museum’s Facebook page late Monday, reads below:
Jackson was, of course, banned from the MLB for life for his alleged role the infamous Black Sox Scandal, perhaps the greatest disgrace in the history of baseball. In it, eight players from the Chicago White Sox, including Jackson, were accused of purposefully throwing games in the 1919 World Series in exchange for money. A court found the eight men innocent, but nevertheless, Commissioner Landis still banned all of them from baseball for life.
Jackson was one of baseball’s marquee talents of the Deadball Era. His career .356 batting average ranks third all-time in MLB history. Jackson’s role in the scandal was always disputed, as in the series, he batted .375 with 12 hits, a home run, and six RBIs, all team-leading totals. He died at age 64 in 1951 and a reinstatement by Manfred would have made him eligible for the MLB Hall of Fame. But now Jackson’s now well-beyond lifetime ban looks like it will continue to live on indefinitely.
That sound you just heard was Pete Rose loudly cursing.
H/T CBS Sports
Image Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports
*Stats courtesy of Baseball Reference*
