Shoeless Joe

“What’s a Lifetime?”

July 16, 2018

Mr. “Shoeless” Joe Jackson

Dear  Shoeless:

With the MLB All-Star game tomorrow and for some crazy reason you came to mind and I thought I would pop you a line. The game as you knew it has changed quite a bit since the Black Sox scandal and your “lifetime ban” went into effect. Today we have the designated hitter in the American League, which means that the pitcher doesn’t bat. Today we have analytics which include a thing called a pitch count, so God forbid should a pitcher throw more than 100 pitches a game! If he should pitch a complete game it is considered a huge accomplishment. Batters now come to home plate looking more like Medieval Knights with helmets, elbow pads, shin guards and batting gloves. All you had was a bat in your hands.  And here is something you would probably like, with instant replay umpires are becoming less relevant to the game.

Back to the point of this letter. In May of this year the Supreme Court ruled that the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) is unconstitutional which opened the door for betting on team sports and more states to pursue legalization. New Jersey quickly passed a law allowing sports betting and others are expected to soon follow. So, the very thing that you received your lifetime ban for is now in a way moot and maybe the powers that be should reconsider this ban. As my friend Joe Ruggiero might say “Not for nothin’ but whose lifetime are we talking about,” and he is right. Your lifetime ended in 1951 and it has been more than my lifetime since then. Maybe it should be called an eternal or forever ban.

When you consider the fact that in the 1919 World Series your 12 base hits set a Series record that was not broken until 1964. You led both teams with a .375 batting average, committed no errors and threw out a runner at the plate. With those stats how can anyone think that you were throwing a World Series?  Your .356 career batting average would have you in the Hall of Fame no matter what era you played in.

In November 1999, the U.S House of Representatives passed a resolution praising your baseball achievements and encouraged MLB to rescind your ineligibility. If the Supreme Court can change the laws of our land and now allow gambling with all the changes that MLB has made to their game, it is certainly about time that they take a serious look at your ban and maybe even that of Pete Rose. After all, things do change many times in a lifetime.

Let’s see what the fans out there have to say, so let Joe know what you think.  I hope you make it Joe.

Sincerely,

Andrew DeMarco

P.S. Joe, I know you are aware of the All-Star Game since they were playing it in your lifetime, so to many this game has become meaningless other than giving those who don’t make the team a break and just another game for people to bet on.