Shoeless Joe Jackson’s rise from the cotton mills of the American South to the big cities of the North is a classic American tale of rags to riches. Born of sharecropping parents in South Carolina, Jackson’s perfect swing and legendary fielding ability would make him a star in the Major Leagues. Unfortunately, Jackson’s legend was interrupted by his alleged involvement in baseball’s darkest chapter, the Black Sox Scandal of 1919, which ultimately banished him to participation in outlaw baseball leagues. Kelly Boyer Sagert recounts all phases in this legendary hitter’s life-from mill worker to major league outfielder, to a central figure in a national scandal, and later, to his ventures as an entrepreneur and sometime ballplayer. In analyzing the life and surrounding cultural contexts of Jackson’s time, the author examines how Shoeless Joe became the controversial but enduring legend that he is today. A timeline, bibliography, statistical appendix, and narrative chapter on the making of Jackson legend enhance this biography.

It has been said that hitting a baseball is the hardest thing to do in professional sports. Baseball’s All-Time Greatest Hitters presents biographies on Greenwood’s selection for the twelve best hitters in Major League history, written by some of today’s best baseball authors. These books present straightforward stories in accessible language for the high school researcher and the general reader alike.