The sad story of Shoeless Joe Jackson, regarded by many fans as baseball’s most tragic hero, was back with us last week when Hall-of-Famers Ted Williams and Bob Feller announced they had petitioned the commissioner’s office to “clear” Jackson so he can be voted into the Cooperstown shrine.
“I want baseball to right an injustice,” Williams declared. “He was wronged . . . and baseball shouldn’t tolerate an injustice.”
Why and how Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis, baseball’s first commissioner, banned Jackson for life because of his involvement in the crooked 1919 World Series, better known as the Black Sox scandal, has been told many times before.
But I have some material–previously unpublished, as far as I know–on Jackson’s testimony during a 1924 trial when Jackson, later joined by two other alleged fixers, Oscar “Happy” Felsch and Swede Risberg, sued White Sox owner Charles A. Comiskey for back pay.
This is not to be confused with Jackson’s “original” confession, which had been taken three years earlier, when the alleged fix had been discovered. Jackson’s confession was “lost,” and he and the other fixers were acquitted. Nevertheless, Landis suspended Jackson and seven other players who participated or had knowledge of the fix.
The 1924 trial was held in Milwaukee, in the courtroom of Circuit Judge John J. Gregory. The following is from a transcript–which runs 1,696 typewritten pages–of that trial.
Question–Did you have a talk with (White Sox pitcher) Lefty Williams one or two days after the World Series was over?
Answer–I had a talk with Mr. Williams the night after the World Series was over, that day. Williams came to my room and held out a couple of envelopes and said, “Here, do you want one of these?”
I said, “No, what is it?” He pushed it over to me again. I said, “What is it you’ve got?” He told me “It’s the money.” And I said, “I don’t want your money.” He said it was part of what we got in a frameup with some Eastern gamblers, and they had used my name.
Q–Who had used your name?
A–(Eddie) Cicotte and (Chick) Gandil. (Cicotte, Gandil and Williams had been the primary fixers.)
Q–Did you give them permission to use your name?
A–No, sir.
Q–What did you say to Williams when he came to your room?
A–I told them they had a lot of nerve–I don’t know just the word I used, “big bums” or something–to be pulling that kind of stuff on me, knowing it was the only way I had of making a livelihood. We had a few hot words. He was drinking, and I walked out of the room. As I was going out, I told him I was going to see Comiskey about this in the morning. So the next morning, I went down to Comiskey’s office to tell him all about it.
Q–What did you do when you got (there)?
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A–The front office door was always locked, and they got a solid window there. When a ballplayer wants to talk to (General Manager) Harry Grabiner or Comiskey, you have to knock on the window.
Q–And they raised it for you?
A–Yes, sir.
Q–Who came to the window?
A–Harry Grabiner. I told Grabiner I wanted to see Comiskey. He said Comiskey was busy and I couldn’t see him, and I said, “It is important that I see him. I have some information I got out of Williams in regard to the World Series.”
And he slammed the window down in my face and said, “Go on home, we know what you want.”
– – –
Jackson had asked the court for $400,000 for injury to his reputation and for $4,670 in back pay. The jury found for Jackson by an 11-1 vote, recommending $18,000 in damages, but it was overturned by Judge Gregory. Settlement was reached during an appeal. Jackson was awarded $8,000, one year’s salary. Felsch settled for $1,166 and Risberg for $400.
As is well known, Jackson had an outstanding World Series and led all hitters with a .375 Series average. Still, Jackson didn’t tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth during the Milwaukee trial. He was in on the fix before the World Series and had expressed disappointment when his take was only $5,000 instead of the $20,000 promised.