Cleveland Guardians Hall of Fame member “Shoeless” Joe Jackson can now become a Baseball Hall of Fame member.
Headshot of American baseball player ‘Shoeless’ Joe Jackson (1889 – 1951) in his Chicago White Sox uniform, 1919. (Photo by APA/Getty Images)
Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred announced on Tuesday, May 13 that Jackson, Pete Rose and other deceased players would be removed from the leagues permanently ineligible list.
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ESPN first reported the news of the decision.
“Obviously, a person no longer with us cannot represent a threat to the integrity of the game,” Manfred wrote in a letter to attorney Jeffrey M. Lenkov, who petitioned for Rose’s removal from the list Jan. 8. “Moreover, it is hard to conceive of a penalty that has more deterrent effect than one that lasts a lifetime with no reprieve.
Jackson played for the Cleveland Naps (now known as the Guardians) from 1910 to 1915. Cleveland traded him to the Chicago White Sox in August of 1915.
In Cleveland, Jackson hit .408 in his first full Major League season in 1911, scoring 126 runs and driving in 83 with seven home runs. He hit .395 the next year with 121 runs and 90 RBIs. He never hit lower than .338 during a full season with Cleveland.
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Jackson played 5 1/2 seasons for Cleveland before being traded to Chicago. In 2,502 at bats with Cleveland, he his .374 with 24 home runs, 353 RBIs, 474 runs and 138 stolen bases.
He still holds the club record for career batting average. While with Cleveland, he was in the top 10 in MVP voting four times. He was second in 1913 to Washington Senators pitcher Walter Johnson.
Jackson was an inaugural member of the team’s Hall of Fame class in 1951. His overall lifetime batting average in MLB was .356, to go with a .423 on-base percentage and a .517 slugging percentage.
Jackson was traded by Cleveland to Chicago for Braggo Roth, Ed Klepfer, $31500 and a player to be named later who ended up being Larry Chappell.
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Chick Gandil, who played for Cleveland in 1916, also was removed from the ineligible list.
Jackson and Gandil were part of the Chicago Black Sox team that threw the 1919 World Series. Jackson hit .375 in that World Series.
The earliest Jackson or Rose could be inducted into the Hall of Fame is 2028.
Rose was banned from baseball in 1989 for betting on baseball. He died at 83 on Sept. 30. Lenkov filed a new petition to have him reinstated on Jan. 8.
The Reds are hosting Pete Rose Night on Wednesday, May 14.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: ‘Shoeless’ Joe Jackson removed from ineligible list