Subject(s): Joe Jackson Sport: Baseball Location: Greenville Drive, Fluor Field, Greenville, SC (Originally sited at West End Plaza. Moved to Fluor Field in 2017) Unveiled: 13/7/2002 Sculptor: Doug Young Material: Bronze Status: In Situ Inscription(s): Embossed on back wall: SHOELESS JOE JACKSON Plaque 1: JOSEPH JEFFERSON JACKSON. SHOELESS JOE JACKSON. 1888 1951. Joe Jackson grew up playing textile league baseball in West Greenville, SC. By 1908, he was playing with the Greenville Spinners of the Class D Carolina League. During the first game of a doubleheader, Jackson played in new spikes that caused his feet to blister. In the 2nd, game, with the Spinners at bat in the seventh inning, Jackson took off his spikes and walked to the batter's box. No one noticed he had discarded his shoes until he cracked a hit. As Jackson rounded the bases in his stocking feet, a fan of the opposing team shouted, "You shoeless son-of-a-gun!" A local sportswriter heard the remark and tagged Jackson with the nickname "Shoeless Joe". At the peak of his career with the Chicago White Sox, Jackson and seven of his teammates were implicated in a conspiracy to lose the 1919 World Series. During the Series, Jackson played flawless baseball. He had twelve hits (a World Series record); no errors; the highest batting average (.375); accounted for eleven of twenty runs by the Sox; and hit the only home run in the Series. Though tried and found innocent, all eight players were banned from baseball for life. Until Jackson's death in 1951, he steadfastly maintained his innocence. He continues to be one of the most publicized and beloved baseball players in the history of the game. Plaque 2: SHOELESS JOE JACKSON STATUE AND PLAZA. DEDICATED JULY 13, 2002. COORDINATOR. ARLENE MARCLEY. SCULPTOR. DOUGLAS R. YOUNG. ARCHITECT. JOHNSTON DESIGN GROUP LLC. WITH APPRECIATION TO. THE SARGENT FOUNDATION. JOHN I. SMITH CHARITIES. JOHN BURGESS. RICHARD K. HEUSEL. JOE JACKSON FAMILY, FRIENDS & FANS. MAYOR KNOX WHITE & CITY COUNCIL. SPECIAL THANKS. CITY OF GREENVILLE PARKS & GROUNDS, BUILDING SERVICES, SPECIAL EVENTS AND ENGINEERING DEPARTMENTS. THE BASE OF THE STATUE WAS CONSTRUCTED WITH ORIGINAL BRICKS FROM COMISKEY PARK, CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, WHERE JACKSON PLAYED BASEBALL FOR THE CHICAGO WHITE SOX. THE OLD BALL PARK WAS BUILT IN 1910 AND DEMOLISHED IN 1990. Links: Sculptor Project