Those who watched him in person considered him one of the game’s best natural hitters. That’s how he became, as he remained, Shoeless Joe. He simply peeled them off, and, despite the heckling fans, he played the rest of the game in his stocking feet. He picked up his nickname early in his career, when a pair of new cleats were giving him blisters. He never really learned how to read or write, but he transcended his impoverished beginnings to become one of the most celebrated figures in the sport. Joseph Jackson was born on July 16, 1887, in rural South Carolina. And when the farmer finishes, “he” does come: Shoeless Joe Jackson. He works hard to get the park just right. One day an Iowa farmer hears a supernatural voice: “If you build it, he will come.” The farmer knows it’s crazy to turn under part of his cornfield to build a baseball diamond. Like most viewers, I adored the story’s healing arc. I first encountered the magic of Field of Dreams as a teenager, when I saw the 1989 film with Kevin Costner and James Earl Jones.
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