Hello and welcome to Issue 010 of Shoeless Notes, the email newsletter for the Shoeless Joe Jackson Museum and Baseball Library in Greenville, South Carolina.
Unfortunately, we start this newsletter off with the sad news that longtime Los Angeles Dodgers’ manager and baseball lifer Tommy Lasorda passed away last night. As the official press release from the team so perfectly sums it up, “Tommy spent seven decades in the Dodger organization and became one of the most memorable personalities in baseball history.”
It has been said for years that if you cut him, Tommy would “bleed Dodger Blue,” and after 71 years with the team in some capacity, no one ever doubted that. He had been married to his wife, Jo, who is a Greenville native, for the past 70 years. Jo was known in town as Joan Miller when she went to Greenville High.
Young left-handed pitcher Tommy Lasorda, photo compliments of Carolina Baseball History.
The two met when Tommy was playing minor league ball in Greenville. In a 2014 interview with the Greenville News, Tommy explained why the city held such a special place in his heart:
"I stole a young lady out of that city 64 years ago," he said. "I played there in 1949, and I married a young lady in 1950." Lasorda spent one season in Greenville, his second season in professional ball. He was a 21-year-old southpaw pitcher for the Greenville Spinners. He went 7-7 that season with an ERA of 2.93 over 178 innings.
A Bleacher Report quote from Tommy noted: “My wife tells me, ‘I think you love baseball more than me.’ I say, ‘Well, I guess that’s true, but hey, I love you more than football and hockey.’”
But Jo could give it right back to Tommy. A Los Angeles Times article mentioned that years ago, someone asked Jo if she’d ever considered divorce in the many years she and Tommy had been married.
“Divorce, no,” she repeated. “Murder, yes.”
Shoeless Joe Jackson historian Mike Nola with Jo Lasorda in 2002.
That was their sense of humor, but they obviously loved each other a tremendous amount. And they loved Greenville, too.
"I really enjoyed playing there," Lasorda said. "The fans really liked the baseball players. It was a nice city." And, ever since, the Lasordas have kept their Greenville connection. They still have many relatives here in town, and tried to come back every couple years to visit. They helped raise money to build the baseball field and basketball gym at St. Joseph's Catholic School, and Tommy was inducted into the Greater Greenville Baseball Hall of Fame in 2013.
Another visit to Greenville by the Lasordas took place in the summer of 2002, when they came back to be there for the unveiling of the Shoeless Joe Jackson statue at the intersection of Main Street and River Street. Tommy spoke at the event, which was a thrill for the many in attendance.
Tommy Lasorda speaking at the dedication of the Shoeless Joe Jackson statue on July 13, 2002.
The statue was sculpted by Doug Young, who has lived in Greenville since 1992. Doug is a member of the Metropolitan Arts Council, and has served on art-related organizations including Taylors Art Group, the West Greenville Arts Festival, Pendleton Street Arts District Business Association, and Indie Craft Parade. He is currently serving on the Taylors Townsquare board of directors and is president of The Gallery Centre Association. His other works include Gethsemane, The Patriot, Della Gillette, the Creche, and WaterBlessing.
In 2018, the Shoeless Joe sculpture was moved to the entrance of Fluor Field, where it has stood ever since, greeting the thousands of fans who walk through the gates at every Greenville Drive home game. The sculpture was originally created in clay and then cast in bronze. In an interview with the Greenville Journal in 2020, Doug reminisced about the year-long process of creating the life-size piece:
The Shoeless Joe Jackson statue, by sculptor Doug Young.
“Many people may not know that this sculpture was made in the lobby of City Hall. Working in public gave everyone a chance to watch the progress and even put clay on the sculpture. It was almost like a community project, from fundraising to putting clay on the piece to the large crowd at the unveiling. I was able to meet people who knew Joe. I listened to their stories and even held Joe’s famous baseball bat, ‘Black Betsy.’ This sculpture will always be a favorite of mine because it is full of wonderful memories.”
The statue has become a meeting place for fans, and thousands of visitors have taken their photo with Joe. If you’re one of them, post your photo on social media and tag us in the picture @shoelessmuseum so we can see it. If you haven’t had the opportunity to see the statue in person yet, make sure next time you’re in town to visit the museum or go to a Drive game that you go check it out.
Each newsletter, we’re going to spotlight one new member as a token of our appreciation. This issue, we’d like to tell you a little bit about Kelly Boyer Sagert, who recently became a member.
New member, Kelly Boyer Sagert, in Cleveland on September 14, 2017, after the game which the Indians won in extra innings, securing the team’s record-breaking 22nd consecutive victory.
Kelly became interested in baseball in the 4th grade. That year, students who reached a certain benchmark on their report cards got two free tickets to a Cleveland Indians game. Kelly and her friend Kathy each won, and Kelly’s father took them and Kelly’s sister to see a game that summer. Despite the Indians struggling to stay out of the basement that season, they won 12-1 the day Kelly went, and even hit a grand slam during the game. From that moment on, she was hooked.
Kelly had long been interested in the Black Sox Scandal and, when she saw that Greenwood Publishing was looking for someone to write a book-length biography of Shoeless Joe, she put her hat in the ring. Kelly had previously written some encyclopedia entries on little known Native American athletes which caught the eye of the Greenwood editor, and she got the contract to write the book on Joe. Kelly’s book is called Joe Jackson: A Biography.
Joe Jackson: A Biography by Kelly Boyer Sagert
The more Kelly researched and wrote, the more fascinated she became. Kelly says if she could go back in history and see any one game, it would be the Greenville Spinners’ game against the Anderson Electricians on June 6, 1908 so she could see for herself exactly how and why Joe got the nickname “Shoeless.”
Kelly is a lifelong Indians fan, and was at the sold-out opener at Municipal Stadium with more than 70,000 like-minded friends. She also had tickets to the now-infamous “10 Cent Beer Night” game, but her father got a work call before they could leave, so she had to stay at home and watch the events unfold on television. Her mother kept saying how relieved she was that they weren’t there, but what a memory that would have been!
Kelly belongs to the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR), and heard about our museum from a fellow member. Now that Kelly has become a member of our museum, too, she can’t wait until we reopen and the pandemic is over so she can make a road trip to see it for herself. Neither can we.
If you want to have a chance to be the new member we spotlight in our next newsletter, you can BECOME A MEMBER of our museum at whichever level best fits your current budget.
If your 2020 membership was at a level which included a book, you received Shoeless: The Life and Times of Joe Jackson by David Fleitz. We consider that to be the most comprehensive book about Joe’s life and career, so if you haven’t taken the opportunity to read it, we will still offer it for sale in our online store. But all 2021 memberships at levels which include a book will come with a copy of Burying The Black Sox: How Baseball’s Cover-Up of the 1919 World Series Almost Succeeded by Gene Carney.
Burying The Black Sox by Gene Carney
In our opinion, this is the best book ever written on the Black Sox Scandal. It is the book that paved the way for much of the research and revelations on the scandal that have been possible in the last 15 years. We are also proud to have author Gene Carney's personal library and research notes at the Shoeless Joe Jackson Museum and Baseball Library, on display for all current and future researchers to see.
If you’re thinking about becoming a member, also remember that you will receive the exclusive 2021 Member enamel pin, only available through membership purchases. Any support is greatly appreciated, especially as we prepare in the coming months to reopen. We hope to see you there when it’s ready.
As always, thanks for being here. Until next time…
-dan