Shoeless Joe Jackson Museum

{{Short description|Museum in South Carolina, USA}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2019}}

{{Infobox museum

| name = The Shoeless Joe Jackson Museum and Baseball Library

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| logo = Shoeless Joe Jackson Museum Logo.png

| image = Shoeless Joe Jackson Museum, June 2019.jpg

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| coordinates = {{coord|34.8415|-82.4073|region:US-SC|display=inline,title}}

| established = {{Start date|2008|06|21}}

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| location = 356 Field Street, Greenville, South Carolina

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| website = {{URL|http://www.shoelessjoejackson.org/}}

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The "Shoeless" Joe Jackson Museum and Library was first opened to the public on June 21, 2008.{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/18/sports/baseball/18shoeless.html?_r=0|first1=Richard |last1=Sandomir |date=June 15, 2008 |title=Museum Campaigns for Shoeless Joe Jackson|accessdate=December 19, 2013}} Located across from Fluor Field in Greenville, South Carolina, the five-room brick house where Shoeless Joe Jackson lived and died contains a few{{Cite web|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/travel/at-the-shoeless-joe-jackson-museum-in-greenville-sc-it-aint-so/2012/01/23/gIQA6TZumQ_story.html|title=At the Shoeless Joe Jackson Museum in Greenville, S.C., it ain’t so|last=Fisher|first=Marc|date=February 3, 2012|website=Washington Post|access-date=2017-11-29}} of his personal belongings and over 2,000 baseball-related books.{{cite web|url=http://www.fodors.com/world/north-america/usa/south-carolina/the-midlands-and-upstate/review-458078.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131220052338/http://www.fodors.com/world/north-america/usa/south-carolina/the-midlands-and-upstate/review-458078.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 20, 2013|title=The Midlands and Upstate Sights|accessdate=December 19, 2013}}

In 2015, the Shoeless Joe Jackson Museum formally petitioned Commissioner of Baseball Rob Manfred for Jackson's reinstatement to baseball, because Jackson had "more than served his sentence" in the 95 years since his banishment by Kenesaw Landis. Manfred denied the request after an official review. "The results of this work demonstrate to me that it is not possible now, over 95 years since those events took place and were considered by Commissioner Landis, to be certain enough of the truth to overrule Commissioner Landis' determinations," he wrote.{{cite web |title=MLB won't reinstate Shoeless Joe Jackson|url= https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/13555698/mlb-commissioner-rob-manfred-reinstate-shoeless-joe-jackson|work= ESPN |date= September 1, 2015 |access-date=August 20, 2019}}

The museum allows members of the public to visit on Saturdays and conducts private tours during the week. While in Greenville, many visitors to the museum also visit "Shoeless" Joe Jackson's grave located in Woodlawn Memorial Park near the Bob Jones University campus. When visiting the grave, members of the public leave baseball-related equipment such as baseballs, gloves, and cleats.

References