Joe Jackson Barnstorming Photo

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Posted By: Anonymous

Again....the first step here is to search the newspaper accounts....and that may involved looking at the entire 1923 run. Joe was known to slip off to the North when the paycheck was right and it may have only been for one game or a game here and there....so this may involved someone reading every day for the entire year of 1923....not an easy thing to do....but something that I feel has to be done to rule this out. I can help out here by saying that Joe was in Americus, GA from July 20, 1923 to August 28, 1923. Then there is a break in his known whereabouts from August 29 - September 7th. On September 7th and 8th we know he is in Waycross, GA for two games against Charleston, SC...with the newspaper reporting on September 9th that Joe has returned to Americus where he will operate a pool hall for the winter (the Pool Hall deal did not happen.....but he did return to Americus for a short period...then the report was he was heading back to Savannah for the winter.) He did play for Bastrop, LA for a period of time before coming to Americus on July 20th...but I do not have those exact dates handy.
One thing that was mentioned by the guy selling the photo is Jackson played under assumed names.....which to an extent is true. From my research, Joe tried playing under assumed names in 1922.....but that didn't last long......folks usually figured him out once he unleashed that black bat of his and his long throws to the plate from deep center or left. By 1923....and from all the known places he played in 1923....he is known in newspaper accounts of those towns....as the great Shoeless Joe Jackson of former major league fame.....no more assumed names. If he did play in Zanesville under an assumed name....it probably would have been under the names: Jefferson Walker, Joe Walker (rare), Joe Josephs (used a lot in 1922)....or the rumored Gus Johnson (Gus Johnson was an actual ballplayer of the period...and someone Joe had played with.....and I haven't found any proof that Joe actually used this....other than rumors in books that he used Gus Johnson while in Bastrop, LA in '23).
Sooooooooo......the sad reality is....even if we do this great task of searching the entire year of 1923...we may not come up with anything.....but if someone does do the research....I would like to know the names of the players on the team....as I have other names that Joe could have used in 1922.......so that may shed some light on the situation as well.

Looking forward to hearing from anyone with proof on this very interesting photo.............

Mike
Official Historian
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