From Library Journal
Whether you see him as a knowing co-conspirator with his "Black Sox" teammates or as an innocent rube tragically swept along in the plot to throw the 1919 World Series, "Shoeless Joe" Jackson was undeniably one of America's most remarkable hitters. The 80-year controversy over the scandal and Joe's fiercely loyal fans should provide interest in this new life of Jackson by first-time author Fleitz.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Booklist
Shoeless Joe Jackson was banned from major-league baseball for life as a result of his alleged involvement in the 1919 World Series gambling scandal. Because of the ban, Jackson, like Pete Rose, is ineligible for membership in baseball's Hall of Fame. In the scholarly yet readable style of the best baseball biographies (Charles Alexander on Ty Cobb or Robert Creamer on Babe Ruth), Fleitz carefully examines Jackson's life in order to distinguish reality from myth. Many view Jackson as a tragic figure, an illiterate phenom who was hustled by city slickers and left a broken man. Fleitz points out that Jackson was a shrewd character whose love of baseball was outstripped only by his love of money. After he was banned, he went home to South Carolina, where he became a successful businessman and, by most accounts, led a satisfying life bereft of bitterness. To paraphrase Fleitz, Jackson left home to play some ball, got into a little scrape up north, and came back home. This is a fine biography that clears up many of the misconceptions regarding one of baseball's most enduring controversies. Wes Lukowsky
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
