It is better to be an outcast, a stranger in one’s own country, than an outcast from one’s self. It is better to see what is about to befall us and to resist than to retreat into the fantasies embraced by a nation of the blind.
Chris Hedges

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Shoeless

Shoeless Joe Jackson was one of the greatest hitters in baseball history. As fate would have it, he was a member of the 1919 Chicago Whitesox team that were later to become known as the 'Black Sox'. To those who don't know the story, this team was accused of fixing the World Series. Although they were acqitted in a Grand Jury investigation, the first ever commissioner of baseball was someone called, "Judge Kennisaw Landis", and he super-subjected the law of the land to censure and ban the starting nine of the Chicago team from ever playing again.
Joe Jackson hit over 300 and caught everything that came his way during the series.
Later, until his death, Joe and his wife ran a liquor store in Georgia. One day, Ty Cobb came into Joe's store and made a purchase. "Don't you know me Joe?" he asked.
"Sure I know you Ty... I just wasn't sure you wanted to know me."

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