Only Signed Shoeless Joe Pic Hits $1.47M Record Mark

ESPN reminds us how nostalgic (& innocent) people can still be in their Field of Dreams as it reported how a signed “Shoeless Joe” Jackson pic sold for a record $1.47 MILLION. Does anyone today still believe the illiterate man banned from MLB for life was really guilty of throwing the 1919 World Series he led in BA?

According to ESPN, the photo by Frank W. Smith is the “most ever offered” after hitting that sales home run at a recent Christie’s Auction in New York. And it happens to be the only one ever signed by Shoeless Joe who was self-conscious about his lack of education, ability to write & perhaps dyslexia. The same photo sold 6 years ago for just $179,250 at a Heritage Auction.

Maybe the 720% increase in market value – experts say a mere autograph of Shoeless Joe “on a slip of paper” is now worth” up to $100K -- shows how inflated Jackson’s reputation & doubts about his guilt has become thanks to the ongoing popularity of sympathetic movies like “Eight Men Out” and “Field of Dreams”, not to mention scores of books & articles drawing attention to Mr. Jackson’s “Love of the Game”, extraordinary performance during that 1919 Series, & acquittal at a conspiracy trial, as well as his suffering through a creepy White Sox owner & vindictive MLB leadership.

Davd Soul