Joe Jackson was not "acquitted by a judge of any wrong doing." Where did you get that idea? In a jury trial, understood by all at the time to be a complete farce rigged in favor of the players, a jury of White Sox baseball fans found them "Not guilty."
That of course does not mean that they were not guilty, only that the jury refused to convict them. Three of the players, Jackson included, confessed to the plot before a grand jury. Someone arranged to have the confessions stolen from the DA's office, thus they could not be admitted at the trial. That of course in no manner altered the fact that the confessions were made.
Further, a number of the Black Sox players, Jackson included, sued Charles Commiskey a few years later for backpay. Commiskey of course had stopped paying the players their salaries after they were suspended, and the players felt that the absense of a jury conviction meant that they were owed their salaries for the 1921 season in which they were not allowed to play. At this trial, the transcripts from which still exist, Jackson admitted to accepting 5000 dollars for his part in the scheme. He claimed that despite this, he still played to win.
But....he did know that the Series was rigged, he did accept money to defraud the public and his employer, he did participate in games with the knowledge that they were not on the level, but kept his mouth shut and kept the $5000.00.
Jackson was gulity....clearly guilty...guilty by his own admission.
The jury at the back wages trial was unimpressed by his claims of having played to win, the players did not receive a dime.
So, let's drop, for all time, this pretense of Joe Jackson being some innocent who was used and duped without knowledge. He took money to throw games, he kept the money, he did not rat out his co conspirators and he participated in games he knew for a fact were not on the level.
Hall of Fame....ha. No one who defrauds the public like that should be allowed to visit the Hall of Fame much less be honored by it.
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