Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, August 21, 1993 TAG: 9308210018
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B2 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: SAN FRANCISCO LENGTH: Medium
The politicians already have struck out, and now the mock court is going to bat for a South Carolina native: "Shoeless" Joe Jackson, the sensational player who was forced out of baseball after the 1919 "Black Sox Scandal."
Judge George Choppelas has decided that Jackson, a native of Greenville, S.C., should be reinstated by baseball.
He made his ruling after hearing arguments Thursday from attorneys and even Jackson himself, portrayed by Jim Myers, a former sportscaster. Myers' costume included a Chicago White Sox hat - and no shoes.
The attorneys were real enough, and Choppelas is a municipal court judge. But just how much power his ruling packs remains to be seen.
The recommendation will be sent to baseball officials, who must decide if Jackson should be reinstated, a move that would make him eligible to be voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
In 1989, Commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti turned down a similar request from the South Carolina lawmakers, saying he didn't want to "play God with history."
Jackson then was inducted into another baseball hall of fame - the one in Greenville, S.C.
The Court of Historical Review meets periodically to rule on such weighty questions as who invented spaghetti - the Chinese or Italians. (The Italians)
Baseball is familiar territory for the court.
In 1985, it decided that Alexander Cartwright, not Abner Doubleday, should be called the founder of baseball.
Choppelas recalled during Thursday's session that a year later the issue was whether Babe Ruth actually pointed to where he would hit a home run and followed it with just such a blast.
That was his first case on the court, he said. About all he was sure of was that one-third of the people in the stands thought Ruth did "spot" the homer, another third didn't see it and one third thought he made an obscene gesture.
There was one sure thing at the latest hearing: All sides agreed that Jackson was a great player.
Jackson, who had the third-highest batting average (.356) in history, was banished along with seven other Chicago White Sox players when Commissioner Kennesaw Mountain Landis concluded they plotted with gamblers to lose the World Series. The story of Jackson, who died in 1951, was revived in the motion pictures "Eight Men Out" and "Field of Dreams."
More than ability and sentimentality should be involved in selecting members for the prestigious hall, prosecutor Joseph Russoniello argued before Choppelas.
Russoniello, a former U.S. Attorney, said the court should be concerned about setting an example for "the little children, tomorrow's players and fans."
Myers/Jackson, said he "ain't no role model."
"Parents should be role models," said Jackson, who became linked in history with a waif who tearfully asked his hero, "Say it ain't so, Joe," after news of the scandal broke.
"People didn't pay to see me be a role model but to see me hit, throw and catch between the white lines," said Jackson, who earned his nickname when he played shoeless during a game because his new spikes were tight.
Russoniello, clad in a double-breasted suit, called Sacramento Bee columnist Dan McGrath as an expert witness.
The prosecutor's outfit contrasted with that of Frank Winston, Jackson's attorney, who was clad in a baseball hat and a T-shirt with Jackson's picture on it.
Art Rosenbaum, former sports editor for the San Francisco Chronicle, testified for Jackson.
There was "no question" Jackson took $5,000, McGrath said. Jackson contended he never spent the money, claiming it came from other players who got it from the gamblers.
Rosenbaum said the money shouldn't matter; performance on the field is what counts.
Jackson pointed to his outstanding play during the Series, which his team lost to Cincinnati. He batted .375, played errorless ball and hit the only home run of the Series.
"I played the game because I loved the game," he said in denying allegations that he didn't play his hardest.
As for not living up to baseball's guidelines, Winston said there weren't any rules governing player conduct in 1919 and a court of law exonerated the players.
Memo: shorter version ran in the Metro edition.