For those baseball fans who love its storied history, probably the sport’s strangest and darkest chapter has to be the Chicago White Sox scandal of 1919.
This month, the Hall of Champions in Balboa Park features an exhibit from the central character in the event, Shoeless Joe Jackson. The main artifact is Jackson’s bat, which he named the Black Betsy.
Todd Tobias, the Hall of Champions curator, said Jackson used the bat throughout his 13-year major league career and the years after he was banned from baseball. Jackson and seven other teammates allegedly accepted money to throw the series to the Cincinnati Reds, prompting the commissioner to ban the players from Major League Baseball.
Jackson’s involvement in what came to be known as the Black Sox Scandal is still a point of contention among many who argue that one of the sport’s greatest players should be inducted into the Hall of Fame.
“He said he never accepted any money, or threw any games,” Tobias said. “He had a phenomenal series, hit .375 and played flawlessly in the field.”
The Jackson memorabilia will be on exhibit at the Hall of Champions through July 23, before the items are put up for auction on eBay by Vista-based company, Real Legends.
“After they leave here, the items will be exhibited at Mickey Mantle’s restaurant in New York before they are auctioned off,” Tobias said. “This is really a unique opportunity to see some priceless items that haven’t surfaced until this point, and probably won’t surface ever again once they are sold,” he said.
Not exactly priceless. The bat, made of hickory wood and warped, is supposedly worth $1 million.
The bat has stayed in the Jackson family and has never been put up for sale before, Tobias said.
Entrance to the Hall is $4 for adults. Hours are 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily.
