Born on July 16, 1889, he rose above that poverty to become one of baseball's all-time best hitters. But today, his illustrious name isn't mentioned when folks are talking about ballplayers and their accomplishments. No, unfortunately, his name always comes up when the story is on the dark side of baseball -- a Pete Rose, Lenny Dykstra and, now, Albert Belle kind of story.
To understand how and why this happened to him, we must go back in time to a place where life was a daily struggle and the game of baseball was something you watched to forget about that struggle for a while.
He was the son of sharecroppers and just before he was born, his parents moved the family to a little burg outside Greenville, S.C., called Brandon Mill. Sharecroppers were folks who made their living working other people's land. The pay was terrible, the hours never-ending and success was defined by how many meals you had that year with meat on the table.
THE MOVE TO Brandon Mill, however, was to end the maddening lifestyle. There was a textile mill there, you see, and his parents thought it would be a better life for them and their children instead of toiling in the dirt all day and night.
But school was out of the question. When you are struggling to survive, everyone in the family must work. So, he joined his family members in the mill at an age when he should have been learning how to read and write. The mill was a dangerous place for a young boy to be. His brother, Dave, was crippled for life by one of its mangling machines.
But while the mill was a menace, it was also his savior. The company had a baseball team and when he was 13 years old, he joined it.
Good is not the word for what this kid could do. He started as a catcher, then moved to the mound and became a pitcher. So powerful was his fastball, however, that no one wanted to catch for him.
So, he became an outfielder. A good outfielder and an awesome hitter. When he was 18, another team from the town of Greer came to play Brandon Mill. And on that Greer team was a player named Tom Stouch, who became the manager of the Greenville Spinners, a minor-league club, the very next season.
STOUCH REMEMBERED the kid in Brandon Mill as a pure hitter, a guy who wouldn't beat you with the long ball but would nick you to death with those looping singles and doubles down the line. He paid a visit to this young 19-year-old and signed him to a contract to play for Greenville. The pay? A whopping $75 a month -- twice what he was making as a mill worker.
At the end of his first season, he led his league with a .346 batting average and 120 hits. Stouch called Philly owner Connie Mack and told him about his young prodigy. Mack quickly dispatched a scout and the next thing you know, the kid was a major-leaguer. How good? In 1911 he batted .408 for the season. But despite that monster number, he didn't win the batting title because Ty Cobb that year batted .420.
Philly eventually traded him to Cleveland, and in 1915 he landed in Chicago, where he -- like Belle - played for the White Sox.
He played in 1,332 games and finished with a .356 lifetime batting average. But he could have done more, much more, had he not admitted to being part of a fix in 1919 where Chicago lost the World Series to Cincinnati in the so-called "Black Sox" scandal.
He was Shoeless Joe Jackson, you see. A man who was perhaps not educated enough to realize that baseball was never just a game.
SIDE NOTE: By the way, why did they call him Shoeless Joe? It seems when he was playing for Greenville he had purchased a new pair of spikes that hurt his feet. The pain was so intense that he asked to sit out the game. The club could not afford to do that, so he played -- in his socks.
An associate challenged me to answer the following: What Yankee player was known as the "Carnesville Plowboy"? Can you help?
-- From Cyborg at an Americus kind of net.
According to my information, the only Yankee to ever have that name was Tom Morgan, who pitched for the Bronx Bombers in the early 1950s. But he simply went by the name "Plowboy." Hope this helps.
Is it true that Pete Rose is banned for life and has no chance whatsoever of making the Hall of Fame?
-- From Ray using one of those Mcimail accounts.
That is wrong, Ray. Pete can get into the Hall someday. But he must first petition the commissioner for reinstatement. And if he doesn't do so in his lifetime, his estate can come along later and ask for it. If he is reinstated, he will get elected to the Hall.
Do you really think Mike Ditka and Bill Parcells can turn around the Saints and the Jets?
-- From Harry R., putting up with all those AOL headaches these days.
Well, in a word, Harry: Yes! It only took Parcells four seasons to march the Giants to a Super Bowl title. And Ditka is equally impressive in how fast he can turn around a team. These guys are blue-collar boys, the kind who promote a work ethic that demands their players live up to their potential.
Do you think I am really that good?
-- From a Tiger called Woods, hurting after failing to Master a course in Australia.
Hey, wait a second, buddy. I am Tiger Woods!
1) Before Andres Galarraga came along, he was the guy they called "The Big Cat." Give up?
2) What was Tris Speaker's nickname? Give up?
3) Who was known as "Old Reliable"? Give up?
4) Who was the fellow that went by the nickname "Super Chief"? Give up?
5) And just because I am nice guy, who did they call the "Yankee Clipper"? Give up?
Mike Emmett has been kicking around sports departments in newspapers and online operations around the U.S. for years. Got something to say to the Irishman? Email him with a click here.