Top SC Athlete of All-Time: Shoeless Joe Jackson
The former Upstate mill-hand takes top honors in our Pride of Palmetto voting.
After hundreds of votes were cast in the past 10 days, Patch readers can be assured of one thing:
South Carolinians love our athletes.
It doesn't matter whether it's athletic tennis pros like Althea Gibson, quiet race car drivers like David Pearson, big burley football players like William Perry or uneducated and disgraced baseball players like "Shoeless Joe" Jackson.
We love our athletes.
And thanks to you, we know which ones you love the most.
Jackson, the former mill-hand from Pickens County, received the most votes in our Best SC Athlete of All-Time polling, beating out basketball star Kevin Garnett of Mauldin by a healthy margin.
Despite being disgraced and banned from baseball for his role in the 1919 Black Sox Scandal, Palmetto State residents remember Jackson's contributions fondly.
Thanks to everyone who voted. We will be sending out notifications to winners of our $25 gift cards in the next day.
John C. Rodriguez
8:18 am on Monday, June 4, 2012
Great choice...now if we could only get him to Cooperstown...where he rightfully belongs.
Chris Winston
8:43 am on Monday, June 4, 2012
John, there used to be groups working really hard on that effort. But I haven't heard anything out of them in years. I wonder if they're still active.
Arlene Marcley
9:59 am on Monday, June 4, 2012
Thanks Patch readers for voting for Joe. Our efforts to get Joe into the Hall have not diminished! We invite everyone to visit the home where Joe lived and died, the Shoeless Joe Jackson Museum & Baseball Library, 356 Field St., across from Fluor Field in downtown Greenville. Hours: Saturdays, 10am-2pm, or email for private tour info@shoelessjoejackson.org.
Chris Winston
10:38 am on Monday, June 4, 2012
Thank you Arlene, for updating us. I should have pointed out that, after I lived in Spartanburg for nine years, I moved to Virginia for six. That could be why I lost track of the effort. This cloudy Monday has my mind jumbled, clearly.