Shoeless Joe

There was a baseball player in the early part of the 20th century named Joe Jackson. He got the nickname "Shoeless", because a sportswriter noticed that Joe batted one time without shoes, because he had blisters. It was the only time that Joe batted without shoes, but the nickname stuck. He was a fabulous hitter. Unfortunately, he got involved in a scandal involving fixing the World Series of 1919 and got thrown out of major league baseball. Although nothing was ever proven, he was guilty by association. He has deserved to be in the Baseball Hall of Fame, but he won't as long as he remains to have this guilt over his head. Kind of like Pete Rose. Joe Jackson was from Greenville SC. The city seems to ignore the controversy, as it is a city of forgiveness. Yesterday, they unveiled a new museum honoring Shoeless Joe Jackson. It is in his old house, which was moved near the city's baseball stadium. I went to the opening yesterday. It could have been a hot summer day, but the overcast sky kept things cooler. There were about 200 people there. We had to wait about an hour to get into the museum, because it was small, and they were only letting 6 people at a time into the place. It looks like it would be a good place to visit, if you are interested in baseball. There were a few famous baseball players there yesterday, primarily Bobby Richardson. I had met him, when I was a little kid. As I stood waiting to get in the museum, I was reminded that we must never forget from where we came from. History teaches us many things. And, if we did anything in the past, God forgives. Maybe we should too.