Shoeless Joe Jackson Museum and Baseball Library

The Shoeless Joe Jackson Museum and Baseball Library opened on June 21, 2008 on Field Street in the historic West End of Greenville, SC. Located across from Fluor Field, home of the Greenville Drive, the museum is a downtown attraction housed in the residence where Joe Jackson lived and died. The Jackson residence was dismantled and moved from the textile mill community of Dunean to its present location in 2006. In this video, Dan Roberts plays the role of Shoeless Joe to tell the story of how he got his nickname and the story of his famous bat, Black Betsy. Viewers also see some of the records, artifacts, photographs, and other items of interest on the historic life and baseball career of Joseph Jefferson Jackson. A Greenville, SC native who became a member of the Chicago White Sox, Joe and his teammates were heavy favorites to beat Cincinnati in the 1919 World Series, but the Reds ultimately took the title. In response to suspicions that the White Sox were under the influence of sports bookies, Joe Jackson and seven other White Sox players were accused of conspiring to throw the Series. At the trial in 1921, it took only two hours for a Chicago jury to find the players not guilty on all counts. Despite the acquittal and without conducting an investigation, Baseball Commissioner Kennesaw Mountain Landis banned Jackson and the seven other White Sox from playing professional baseball, sending a no-tolerance message regarding gambling in baseball. The Shoeless Joe Jackson Museum and Baseball Library is open on Saturdays from 10a until 2pm through September 5, and during evening home games of the Greenville Drive. Private tours are available with a reservation.