Say it ain’t so, Rob Manfred.
Shoeless Joe Jackson reinstatement denied by MLB
Shoeless Joe Jackson won’t be making the Hall of Fame anytime soon after his case for reinstatement into MLB was denied by commissioner Rob Manfred.
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Shoeless Joe Jackson was banned from baseball in 1921, along with a group of Chicago White Sox players, for conspiring to throw the 1919 World Series. When news broke earlier on Monday that new MLB commissioner Manfred responded to an inquiry to get Jackson reinstated, there was some hope that Jackson might eventually have a shot at the Hall of Fame.
But that won’t happen.
Arlene Marcley, the president and curator of the Joe Jackson Museum in Greenville, S.C., said she received a response from Manfred and would announce the results on the museum’s Facebook page on Tuesday, per USA Today.
But any rumors of Jackson getting reinstated, which would make him eligible for the Hall of Fame, were quickly shot down by Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times.
For what it's worth, Shoeless Joe Jackson is not getting reinstated by MLB tomorrow
— Bill Shaikin (@BillShaikin) August 31, 2015
On Thursday night, Shawn Anderson at the Hall of Very Good obtained a copy of the letter to Marcley from Manfred, which delivered the bad news, at least in the eyes of the recipient. An excerpt:
“I have reviewed our records concerning the responses of both Commissioner (Bart) Giamatti and Commissioner (Fay) Vincent, who declined to reconsider Mr. Jackson’s case,” Manfred stated in a letter to Marcley. “I agree with that determination and conclude that it would not be appropriate for me to re-open the matter.”
Jackson was one of the best players in baseball in the first two decades of the 20th century, hitting .356/.423/.517 in a 13-year career that ended with his lifetime ban after the 1920 season.
But he won’t be entering the Hall of Fame anytime soon. Not on Manfred’s watch, at least.
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Update 10:55 am: Rob Manfred’s official letter to the Joe Jackson museum has been posted on their Facebook page as well in an effort to draw attention to it and the response contained within.
That letter was dated July 20, and the museum attempted to get another response from Manfred with a follow-up sent on July 30. According to their Facebook page, no return answer has come, and this matter is likely closed in Manfred’s mind.
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