We knew MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred was tasked with innumerable issues and initiatives in his first year, but did anyone think one of those would include the reinstatement of Shoeless Joe Jackson?
If the MLB were Batman, then Jackson would be Bane, the Joker, Scarecrow, all of the above. And believe it or not, the Shoeless Joe Jackson Museum in Greenville, South Carolina, is still petitioning for the infamous figure to be reinstated.
Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis banned Jackson from baseball for life after the 1920 season for his alleged role in throwing the 1919 World Series (along with other Chicago White Sox players) in exchange for cash from gamblers. Although a Chicago grand jury acquitted Jackson and his teammates of any wrongdoing, Landis stood his ground and Jackson remained out of professional baseball until his death in 1951.
Manfred was at least kind enough to respond to Ms. Arlene Marcley, the president of the Shoeless Joe Jackson Museum, in her attempt to get Jackson back into baseball.
Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred took office last January. In one of his first interviews he stated that he believes...
Posted by Shoeless Joe Jackson Museum on Monday, August 31, 2015
Jackson and the 1919 White Sox are the primary reason the MLB is so sensitive to the issue of gambling. The league's rules specifically state MLB players, umpires and club officials or employees who "shall bet any sum whatsoever upon any baseball game in connection with which the bettor has a duty to perform shall be declared permanently ineligible."
Manfred is already dealing with the reinstatement issue surrounding Pete Rose, who was found to have gambled both as a player and manager. Even though no evidence was uncovered suggesting Rose bet against his own team (something that may have suggested he was fixing games), the MLB is still vehemently against gambling because of the potential catastrophic effect it could have on the game (considering an overwhelming majority of sports gambling is conducted illegally).
And Jackson, who has been banned for nearly 100 years, will continue serving his sentence.
