0102 - Mike Miller
Mike Miller is a Shoeless Joe Jackson historian and expert, and has volunteered at the Shoeless Joe Jackson Museum as a tour guide for more than 10 years. During our conversation, he referenced a handful of things and people upon which you may want to do more research. Consider this page to be your “liner notes” for the episode so you can follow along.
Me and Mike Miller after recording our interview in the Shoeless Joe Jackson Museum
Woodside Mill
At one point, the largest cotton mill in the world. This vintage postcard shows the trolley system which ran in front of the mill.
Plea For Factory People
This poem was very popular from about 1899 to 1910.
Tom Perry’s Book
Click THIS LINK to go to Amazon and see if any copies are currently available
1903 Brandon Mill Team
Joe is standing in the back row. Can you pick him out of the lineup?
1907 Victor Mill Team
Joe is standing in the back row, second from the left
Champ Osteen
Giving Some Pointers
Joe attending a game at Brandon in the 1940s. Joe Anders listens intently as his hometown hero, Joe Jackson, shares some valuable insight.
1908 Greenville Spinners
Joe is standing, fifth from the left.
Hyder Barr
This photo is zoomed in from the full 1908 Greenville Spinners team photo. Hyder Barr is on the left, Shoeless Joe is on the right.
Joe and Katie Jackson’s Gravesite
The Jacksons are buried at Woodlawn Memorial Park in Greenville, SC
WWI Draft Card
This draft card, filled out in 1918, lists Joe’s birth year as 1887.
Joe and Katie’s Wedding on July 19, 1908
“The popular center fielder of the local team made the greatest home run of his career on Sunday. The home run was made on Cupid’s diamond and the victory was a fair young lady. On Sunday afternoon at 4:30 o'clock Joe was married to Miss Kate Wynn.”
In his 1949 interview with Furman Bisher for Sport Magazine, Joe said he was 19 when he got married, which would make his birth year 1889.
Hugh Fullerton
“Shoeless” No More
Joe loved dressing nicely and driving nice cars, which he kept in immaculate condition, to combat the connotation of his nickname, which he never really loved.
Babe Ruth and Joe
“I copied my swing after Joe Jackson’s,” Babe Ruth told sports writer Grantland Rice in 1919. “His is the perfectest.”
Babe Copied Joe’s Swing
And to be able to properly do that, he had to copy his stance, too. Here’s a visual representation of where Joe stood in the box, and how he would use his front foot to stride during his swing.
A Young Telephone Pole
From a newspaper article published March 7, 1911
Mike Miller’s Book
Click THIS LINK to view the free digital version, hosted on the Greenville Public Library website
Kenesaw Mountain Landis
Joe Hits A Cow
From The Missoulian on March 28, 1914
Joe and Ty Cobb’s Vaudeville Act
“Just before the curtain was hoisted on the first night,” Sporting Life reported, “Joe got to thinking of old Greenville, South Carolina, where everybody knows him, and he decided to go there instead of upon the stage.”
Read the full story HERE
Joe Jackson’s Baseball Girls
Joe took his Vaudeville show on the road to make some extra money during the winter.
Katie Jackson
Joe’s wife, Katie Wynn Jackson, was instrumental in the success of their many businesses. Here she is behind the counter at the liquor store.
Joe’s Big Hit
From The Courier-Journal in Louisville on March 30, 1909
July 2, 1922
This broadside is promoting the Westwood Baseball Club of Hackensack, New Jersey facing off against the Virginia Colored Giants. It is the only known piece connecting Shoeless Joe Jackson to Negro League Baseball.
See what it sold for HERE
Circa 1922 Handout
Passed out by Joe’s agent at the time, Ed “Square Deal” Phelan.
See what it sold for HERE
Joe in 1932
This picture shows Joe, playing for the Greenville Spinners at the time, hitting one out of the park against the Gaffney, SC team during the fifth inning of one game that summer.
