1923-25 "Shoeless Joe" Jackson Professional Model Game Used Barnstorming Bat, PSA/DNA GU 7....

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Post-banishment lumber from the Black Sox legend!

1923-25 "Shoeless Joe" Jackson Professional Model Game Used Barnstorming Bat, PSA/DNA GU 7. It took the loss of Lou Gehrig to offer to the baseball world a story more tragic than that of Shoeless Joe, an illiterate laborer from Pickens County, South Carolina who left the dirt farms of his youth to become one of the game's greatest stars, and then lost it all in an instant. We may never know exactly how much Jackson understood, and how much he actually participated in the Black Sox scandal that resulted in the loss of the 1919 World Series and his banishment forever from Major League Baseball, but we can be certain that he was one of the most gifted athletes ever to find his way onto a Big League ballfield.

Ty Cobb himself called Shoeless Joe "the finest natural hitter in the history of the game," and the great Babe Ruth echoed this sentiment, stating that "he's the guy that made me a hitter." Despite this highest of praise, the harsh ruling of Judge Landis was a weight that Jackson carried for the rest of his days, and he still does, perhaps forever locked out of the gates of Cooperstown.

Of course Joe Jackson's baseball career didn't end entirely as a result of the scandal, though the venues showcasing his remarkable talents changed from 40,000 seat stadiums to weed-choked sandlots in towns with forgotten names. The fame and the money now gone, Jackson would continue appearing on the barnstorming circuit for twenty years, until the age of fifty, which would suggest that he really did play for the love of the game, and that the lure of easy money did not overshadow his competitive spirit that dark October. "God knows I gave my best in baseball at all times," Jackson is quoted as saying, "and no man on earth can truthfully judge me otherwise."

Presented here is a remarkable artifact dating from the early years of Jackson's excommunication from organized ball, his trusted J13 signature model Hillerich & Bradsby. In a sad development, the famous bat manufacturer dropped the "Joe" from his bat endorsement in 1920, adding a final bit of insult to injury as they deprived Jackson even of his Christian name. The "Jackson" that does appear on the barrel, however, is unmistakable, identical in every regard to those that appeared on Joe's bats during happier days. The use is outstanding, though this is no surprise--even in the Majors, Jackson did not spread his affection widely among his lumber, using a bat until it basically turned to sawdust in his hands.

The thirty-six inches (36") of length and thirty-nine ounces (39 oz.) of weight are within an acceptable range for Jackson's preferences. Handle has been cracked and repaired, with ball marks coating the barrel. Circular divots on the barrel are not baseball-related. We must also note a carved letter "P" in the knob which PSA/DNA believes to indicate use by a player other than Jackson, although they emphasize that use by Jackson himself cannot be fully dismissed. One of just thirteen Joe Jackson bats in the PSA bat population report, with only three bats grading higher. If Jackson makes the Hall, this will be one of the toughest bats to acquire for HOF collectors. LOA from PSA/DNA, GU 7.