Fall from Grace

The Truth and Tragedy of "Shoeless Joe" Jackson

By: Tim Hornbaker

Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner

Length: 10 hrs

Publisher's Summary

Considered by Ty Cobb as the "finest natural hitter in the history of the game," "Shoeless Joe" Jackson is ranked with the greatest players to ever step onto a baseball diamond. With a career .356 batting average - which is still ranked third all-time - the man from Pickens County, South Carolina, was on his way to becoming one of the greatest players in the sport's history. That is until the "Black Sox" scandal of 1919, which shook baseball to its core.

While many have sympathized with Jackson's ban from baseball (even though he hit .375 during the 1919 World Series), not much is truly known about this quiet slugger. Whether he participated in the throwing of the World Series or not, he is still considered one of the game's best, and many have fought for his induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

From the author of Turning the Black Sox White (on Charles Comiskey) and War on the Basepaths (on Ty Cobb), Shoeless Joe tells the story of the incredible life of Joseph Jefferson Jackson. From a mill boy to a baseball icon, author Tim Hornbaker breaks down the rise and fall of "Shoeless Joe," giving an inside look during baseball's Deadball Era, including Jackson's personal point of view of the "Black Sox" scandal, which has never been covered before.

©2016 Tim Hornbaker (P)2017 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Entertaining and Educational

This book tells the complicated story of one of Baseball's super villains. The author does a great job of painting a picture of Joe that reveals the good with the bad. The book doesn't just bash a bad guy nor does it white wash and draw him as a hero. The author lays it out for you in all it's complicated and sometimes uncomfortable glory. But wait, there's more! First the book introduces you to baseball of the era by telling you the story of a poor young man pulling himself up by the bootstraps, battling personal imperfections, and living the dream.

Good story about a good man and the strong woman behind him.

A good story about a simple man who got caught up in something way over his head and paid the price. A story that shows behind every man there is a strong woman.

Shoeless Joe

I loved this book! Growing up in SC and living in Greenville for 15 years the legend of Shoeless Joe is still talked about! I hope one day Shoeless Joe gets reinstated into baseball and gets into the HOF where he deserves!

Nice quick unbiased look @ Joe Jackson

The book does a good job at showing the many sides of Joe Jackson besides the naive, illiterate overly talented ball player who played the game solely for the love of it that we've been told to believe. The book illustrates that while he may have illiterate and naive, he was also a flawed individual, motivated by money the way many people are when they've been raised in poverty. The book reads quick with a lot of good quotes from Jackson, Walter Johnson, and Ty Cobb so I recommend it for the baseball fan. But the narrator's attempt at a southern accent is annoying and at times a bit insulting to those who know what it is.

I loved it.

I learned a lot about the scandal. I also like Joe even more than ever.

Truth about Joe Jackson

Even those this book was sad and fill with disappointment in his banishment from baseball. He deserve what he got and that the same to Pete Rose and all the other crooked ball player. Like I said no ball players should be allow to gamble on himself or his team. We should already keep sports at all level clean free of corruption.