Shoeless Joe Jackson Research Paper

Shoeless Joe Jackson has the third best batting average of all time. “ Shoeless Joe Jackson was a superb hitter whose career average of .356 is the third highest attainted in the history of baseball’’ (“Shoeless Joe Jackson”). “ Joseph Jefferson Jackson was born in poverty on July 16, 1887, in the small South Carolina town of Brandon Mills. His father was a mill worker and never received a decent salary. Joe Jackson's education ended before his twelfth birthday, and he was illiterate when he began his major league career with the Philadelphia Athletics in 1908.His was a harsh childhood. He had to start working in the same mill with his father at the age of twelve in order to help his family financially. When he was not working, Joe played baseball. It has been said that he often played baseball without shoes. He owed his nickname, "Shoeless Joe," to this curious practice” (“Shoeless Joe Jackson”). Even though he was caught up in the …show more content…
Not only does Jackson have one of the best get on base swings, but he also has one of the best home runs swings proven by Babe Ruth copied his swing. Jackson was one of the best hitters during his time which is proven by he ranked top ten every year for his career in batting average and triples, which is the hardest hit to get. Even though he was caught up in the 1919 World Series scandal, Shoeless Joe Jackson’s hitting style is great to imitate because he has the third best batting average of all time, an imitated swing, and had top ranking stats when he played. Jackson could be considered to be one of the best hitters to ever play the game of baseball and to imitate his swing will only help in the long run, especially since that swing produced the third best batting average of all time, was used by Babe Ruth, and consistently kept Jackson ranked top in his division of