- Babe Ruth said that he modeled his hitting technique after Jackson's.
- Outfielder for Philadelphia Athletics (1908-1909), Cleveland Indians (1910-1915) and Chicago White Sox (1915-1920).
- Cleveland Indians All-Time On-Base Percentage Leader (.434).
- Cleveland Indians All-Time Batting Average Leader (.375).
- Chicago White Sox All-Time Batting Average Leader (.340).
- Finished in top 10 in voting for American League MVP from 1911-1914.
- Notable career statistics: .356 Batting Average (3rd All Time), .423 On-base percentage (18th All Time), .517 Slugging Percentage (62nd All Time) and 168 Triples (26th All Time).
- Member of 1917 World Series Champion Chicago White Sox team. Member of 1919 American League Champion Chicago White Sox team.
- Worked in a mill at the age of seven and often took on twelve hour shifts to support his family.
- Never attended school due to his family's poor financial state.
- Earned his nickname after he had to take off a new pair of shoes that had given him some very painful blisters in the middle of a game.
- Was illiterate and often had his wife sign his signature. Consequently, anything actually autographed by Jackson himself brings a premium when sold, including one autograph which was sold for $23,500 in 1990.
- In restaurants, rather than ask someone to read the menu to him, he would wait until his teammates ordered and then order one of the items that he heard.
- Was banned for life from Major League baseball after his alleged participation in the World Series scandal of 1920 was uncovered. To this day, people dispute if he was guilty of the charges.
- Has the third-highest career batting average in major league history.
- Operated a dry cleaning business, a barbecue restaurant and a liquor store after his Baseball career ended. One of the better known stories of Jackson's post-major league life took place at his liquor store. Ty Cobb and sportswriter Grantland Rice entered the store, with Jackson showing no sign of recognition towards Cobb. After making his purchase, the incredulous Cobb finally asked Jackson, "Don't you know me, Joe?" Jackson replied, "Sure, I know you, Ty, but I wasn't sure you wanted to know me. A lot of them don't.
- He began as a pitcher as a teenager but stopped after accidentally breaking another player's arm.
- He nearly died from an attack of the measles when he was ten years old.
- "Say it ain't so, Joe" was a popular saying among fans around the time of the bribery scandal.
- There remains considerable debate as to how culpable Jackson was in the White Sox scandal and how much knowledge, if any, he had of the scheme. After refusing a bribe from teammate Lefty Williams, Jackson reportedly tried to tell White Sox owner Charles Comiskey about the fix, but Comiskey refused to meet with him. Unable to afford legal counsel, Jackson was represented by team attorney Alfred Austrian which was a clear conflict of interest. Before Jackson's grand jury testimony, Austrian allegedly elicited Jackson's admission of his supposed role in the fix by plying him with whiskey. Austrian was also able to persuade the illiterate Jackson to sign a waiver of immunity from prosecution. Years later, the other seven players implicated in the scandal confirmed that Jackson was never at any of the meetings. Williams said that they only mentioned Jackson's name to give their plot more credibility.
- He had no children but he and his wife raised two of his nephews.
- Baseball fans and historians have continuously pushed for the lifetime ban imposed on Jackson to be overturned and allow him a spot in the Baseball hall of fame.
- Despite the White Sox scandal disrupting his career, he is still considered to be one of the greatest Baseball players in history.
- The phrase "say it ain't so, Joe!" emerged from a famous urban legend that originated during the White Sox scandal about a child fan asking Joe if the allegations about bribery were true. Jackson later said the exchange never happened.
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