“Shoeless” Joe Jackson, the star ballplayer of the hit baseball film Field of Dreams, might be more than just an alleged runs-shaver or a banned-from-the-Hall-of-Fame man.
The illiterate Chicago White Sox legendary hitter signed a photo when he used to drill line drives and shatter on-base percentage records for the Cleveland Indians, which at the time that baseball was signed, Jackson’s team was called the Cleveland Naps.
And according to the experts, this is the only photo known to be in existence that authenticates “Say It Ain’t So” Joe.
Sharon Bowen’s husband bought a photo scrapbook before he died, but little did Bill Bowen know that Joe Jackson was so illiterate, he usually only signed paychecks and legal documents during his playing career.
The photo is worth more than $100,000, and according to Joe Orlando from Professional Sports Authenticator, if he were a betting man, “The chances of another Joe Jackson signed photo surfacing is highly unlikely.”
Bowen and Heritage Auctions, a Dallas-based auction house, corroborated on selling the photo in a huge baseball fan on the open market three years ago.
Joe Jackson’s hitting numbers from the “Dead Ball” era are so prestigious that even a scrap of paper with his “John Hancock” signature on it sold for $23,100.
Jackson is the only rookie in MLB history to hit over .400, and he also hit the only home run of the 1919 “Black Sox” World Series.
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