[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 18]
[Senate]
[Pages 24124-24125]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

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 SENATE RESOLUTION 289--EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE SENATE THAT JOSEPH 
JEFFERSON ``SHOELESS JOE'' JACKSON SHOULD BE APPROPRIATELY HONORED FOR 
                HIS OUTSTANDING BASEBALL ACCOMPLISHMENTS

  Mr. DeMINT (for himself, Mr. Harkin, Mr. Graham, and Mr. Feingold)

[[Page 24125]]

submitted the following resolution; which was considered and agreed to:

                              S. Res. 289

       Whereas Joseph Jefferson ``Shoeless Joe'' Jackson, a native 
     of Greenville, South Carolina, and a local legend, began his 
     professional career and received his nickname while playing 
     baseball for the Greenville Spinners in 1908;
       Whereas ``Shoeless Joe'' Jackson moved to the Philadelphia 
     Athletics for his major league debut in 1908, to the 
     Cleveland Naps in 1910, and to the Chicago White Sox in 1915;
       Whereas ``Shoeless Joe'' Jackson's accomplishments 
     throughout his 13-year career in professional baseball were 
     outstanding--he was 1 of only 7 Major League Baseball players 
     to ever top the coveted mark of a .400 batting average for a 
     season, and he earned a lifetime batting average of .356, the 
     third highest of all time;
       Whereas ``Shoeless Joe'' Jackson's career record makes him 
     one of our Nation's top baseball players of all time;
       Whereas in 1919, the infamous ``Black Sox'' scandal erupted 
     when an employee of a New York gambler allegedly bribed 8 
     players of the Chicago White Sox, including Joseph Jefferson 
     ``Shoeless Joe'' Jackson, to lose the first and second games 
     of the 1919 World Series to the Cincinnati Reds;
       Whereas in September 1920, a criminal court acquitted 
     ``Shoeless Joe'' Jackson of the charge that he conspired to 
     lose the 1919 World Series;
       Whereas despite the acquittal, Judge Kenesaw Mountain 
     Landis, baseball's first commissioner, banned ``Shoeless 
     Joe'' Jackson from playing Major League Baseball for life 
     without conducting any investigation of Jackson's alleged 
     activities, issuing a summary punishment that fell far short 
     of due process standards;
       Whereas the evidence shows that Jackson did not 
     deliberately misplay during the 1919 World Series in an 
     attempt to make his team lose the World Series;
       Whereas during the 1919 World Series, Jackson's play was 
     outstanding--his batting average was .375 (the highest of any 
     player from either team), he set a World Series record with 
     12 hits, he committed no errors, and he hit the only home run 
     of the series;
       Whereas because of his lifetime ban from Major League 
     Baseball, ``Shoeless Joe'' Jackson has been excluded from 
     consideration for admission to the Major League Baseball Hall 
     of Fame;
       Whereas ``Shoeless Joe'' Jackson died in 1951, after fully 
     serving his lifetime ban from baseball, and 85 years have 
     elapsed since the 1919 World Series scandal erupted;
       Whereas Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig took 
     an important first step toward restoring the reputation of 
     ``Shoeless Joe'' Jackson by agreeing to investigate whether 
     he was involved in a conspiracy to alter the outcome of the 
     1919 World Series and whether he should be eligible for 
     inclusion in the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame;
       Whereas it has been 6 years since Commissioner Selig 
     initiated his investigation of ``Shoeless Joe'', but there 
     has been no resolution;
       Whereas the Chicago White Sox are the 2005 American League 
     Champions, and will compete in the World Series for the first 
     time since 1959;
       Whereas ``Shoeless Joe'' Jackson helped lead the Chicago 
     White Sox to their last World Series Championship in 1917; 
     and
       Whereas it is appropriate for Major League Baseball to 
     remove the taint upon the memory of ``Shoeless Joe'' Jackson 
     and honor his outstanding baseball accomplishments: Now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that Joseph 
     Jefferson ``Shoeless Joe'' Jackson should be appropriately 
     honored for his outstanding baseball accomplishments.

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