H*4424 Session 111 (1995-1996)
H*4424 Concurrent Resolution, By Rice
A Concurrent Resolution to request the Department of Transportation to name a
portion of South Carolina Highway 123 in Greenville County from White Horse
Road to Pendleton Street in honor of Joseph Jefferson Wofford "Shoeless Joe"
Jackson.
01/10/96 House Introduced HJ-6
01/10/96 House Referred to Committee on Invitations and Memorial
Resolutions HJ-7
01/16/96 House Recalled from Committee on Invitations and
Memorial Resolutions HJ-25
01/16/96 House Committed to Committee on Education and Public
Works HJ-25
02/07/96 House Recalled from Committee on Education and Public
Works HJ-19
02/08/96 House Amended and adopted HJ-18
02/08/96 House Sent to the Senate HJ-20
02/13/96 Senate Introduced SJ-6
02/13/96 Senate Referred to Committee on Transportation SJ-6
02/14/96 Senate Recalled from Committee on Transportation SJ-8
02/14/96 Senate Adopted, returned to House with concurrence SJ-8
AMENDED--NOT PRINTED IN THE HOUSE
February 8, 1996
(P:\amend\dka\3512cm.96)
H. 4424
Introduced by REP. Rice
S. Printed 2/7/96--H.
Read the first time January 10, 1996.
A CONCURRENT
RESOLUTION
TO REQUEST THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION TO
NAME A PORTION OF UNITED STATES HIGHWAY 123 IN
GREENVILLE COUNTY FROM THE GREENVILLE COUNTY
LINE CONTINUING TO PENDLETON STREET IN HONOR OF
JOSEPH JEFFERSON WOFFORD "SHOELESS JOE"
JACKSON.
Whereas, Joseph Jefferson Wofford "Shoeless Joe"
Jackson was born on July 16, 1889, in Pickens County; and
Whereas, Joe's family moved to the Brandon Mill Community in
Greenville County when he was six years of age; and
Whereas, by 1902, at thirteen years of age, he was working twelve
hours a day in a cotton mill in Greenville County; and
Whereas, Joe's only escape from the drudgery of the mill was in
the fields playing baseball; and
Whereas, at the age of fifteen he was an outfielder for the Brandon
Mill Baseball Team; and
Whereas, at nineteen years of age Joe signed a seventy-five dollar a
month contract to begin his professional baseball career playing for
the Greenville Spinners in 1908; and
Whereas, Connie Mack, upon discovering Joe's talent, is credited
with saying, "An apothecary down in that burg who had
previously written me some good tips in regard to young prospects
kept urging me to give this fellow a trial. But what intrigued me
most was that this prodigy played without shoes. He doesn't wear
spikes or in fact any kind of covering for his feet, came the tip.
He's so fast that he can tear around those bases without any such
help."; and
Whereas, on July 19, 1908, Joe married his greatest fan and
sweetheart, Katie Wynn; and
Whereas, he played for the Philadelphia Athletics during the
1908-1909 season and for the Cleveland Indians from 1910-1915;
and
Whereas, while playing for the Indians, Ty Cobb said that Joe was
the finest natural hitter he had ever seen; and
Whereas, at the end of the 1915 season, he was traded to the
Chicago White Sox where he played on the White Sox's 1917
World Series Championship Team; and
Whereas, the moment in history that "Shoeless Joe
Jackson" unfortunately is remembered best is for supposedly
throwing the 1919 World Series game between the White Sox and
the Cincinnati Reds; and
Whereas, Joe and seven of his teammates were banished from
organized baseball for life by Baseball Commissioner, Judge
Kenesaw Mountain Landis for this alleged crime even though they
were found innocent in a jury trial in 1921; and
Whereas, in 1929, Joe and Katie returned to Greenville County as
heroes for giving their best to major league baseball and proceeded
to open and operate several businesses; and
Whereas, Joe died on December 5, 1951; and
Whereas, there has been an ongoing battle to have his name entered
into the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame; and
Whereas, in an effort to demonstrate Joe's importance to baseball
and to the community in which he lived, KM Fabrics, Inc., on
December 7, 1993, donated and deeded the land known as Old
Brandon Mill Ball Field to the Greenville County Recreation
District. This is the field on which Joe learned to play the game he
truly loved; and
Whereas, The Greenville County Recreation District conducted a
"ground breaking" ceremony at this site on October 27,
1994, for the "Shoeless Joe Jackson Memorial Park";
and
Whereas, a grand opening and dedication ceremony for the park
will take place on Saturday, March 30, 1996; and
Whereas, it is fitting and proper that a portion of United States
Highway 123 in Greenville County from the Greenville County line
continuing to Pendleton Street be named the "Shoeless Joe
Jackson Memorial Parkway" as a lasting tribute to this
distinguished South Carolinian. Now, therefore,
Be it resolved by the House of Representatives, the Senate
concurring:
That the members of the General Assembly request that the
Department of Transportation designate and name a portion of
United States Highway 123 in Greenville County described in this
resolution as the "Shoeless Joe Jackson Memorial
Parkway" and to install appropriate markers or signs at places
along the highway as the department considers advisable containing
the words "Shoeless Joe Jackson Memorial Parkway".
Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be forwarded to
the Department of Transportation and the family of Joseph Jefferson
Wofford Jackson.
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