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

February 8, 1996

(P:\amend\dka\3512cm.96)

H. 4424

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.