Editing Shoeless Joe Jackson (section)

==Professional career==

===Early professional career===
In 1908, Jackson began his professional baseball career with his hometown minor league team, the [[Greenville Spinners]] of the [[Carolina Association]], married 15-year-old Katie Wynn, and eventually signed with [[Connie Mack]] to play for the [[Philadelphia Athletics (AL)|Philadelphia Athletics]].<ref name="joebio"/>
[[File:Shoeless Joe Pelican Park 1910.jpg|thumb|left|Jackson with the Pelicans]]

Jackson started the season with the Spinners for $75 a month and hit .346 to lead the Carolina Association in batting average, hits, and RBI for 1908. In August 1908, his contract was purchased by Connie Mack of the Philadelphia Athletics for $900. Jackson immediately reported to the Athletics and made his major league debut.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.shoelessjoejackson.org/|title=Shoeless Joe Jackson Museum|website=Shoeless Joe Jackson Museum}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://greenvillerec.com/parks/shoeless-joe-jackson-memorial-park/|title=Shoeless Joe Jackson Memorial Park}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/shoeless-joe-jackson/|title = Shoeless Joe Jackson – Society for American Baseball Research}}</ref>

For the first two years of his career, Jackson had some trouble adjusting to life with the Athletics; reports conflict as to whether he did not like the big city or was bothered by hazing from teammates. Consequently, he spent much of that time in the [[Minor League Baseball|minor leagues]]. Between 1908 and 1909, Jackson appeared in just 10 MLB games.<ref name="bio">{{cite web | title = JoeJackson.com Biography | work = shoelessjoejackson.com | url = http://shoelessjoejackson.com/about/biography.html | access-date = December 11, 2006 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070112052028/http://shoelessjoejackson.com/about/biography.html | archive-date = January 12, 2007 | url-status = dead | df = mdy-all }}</ref> During the 1909 season, Jackson played 118 games for the [[South Atlantic League (1904–1963)|South Atlantic League]]'s [[Savannah Indians]]. He batted .358 for the year.<ref>[https://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=jackso004jos "Shoeless Joe Jackson Minor League Statistics & History"]. baseball-reference.com. Retrieved May 24, 2013.</ref>

[[File:Cobb jackson.jpg|thumb|[[Ty Cobb]] and Jackson in Cleveland in 1913]]

The Athletics gave up on Jackson in 1910 and traded him to the [[Cleveland Indians#1901–1946: Early to middle history of the franchise|Cleveland Naps]]. He spent most of 1910 with the [[New Orleans Pelicans (baseball)|New Orleans Pelicans]] of the [[Southern Association]], where he won the batting title and led the team to the pennant. Late in the season, Jackson was called up to play on the big league team. He appeared in 20 games for the Naps and managed a batting average of .387.

===Major League career===
In 1911, his first full MLB season, Jackson set several rookie records. His .408 [[batting average (baseball)|batting average]] that season is a record that still stands and was good for second overall in the league behind [[Ty Cobb]]'s .419 - one of the few times in baseball history that a batting average above .400 did not win a batting title. His .468 on-base percentage led the league. The following season, Jackson batted .395 and led the [[American League]] in [[Hit (baseball)|hits]], [[Triple (baseball)|triples]], and total bases. On April 20, 1912, Jackson scored the first run in [[Tiger Stadium (Detroit)|Tiger Stadium]].<ref>''The Final Season'', p.5, Tom Stanton, Thomas Dunne Books, An imprint of St. Martin's Press, New York, 2001, {{ISBN|0-312-29156-6}}</ref> The next year, he led the league with 197 hits and a .551 [[slugging percentage]].

In August 1915, Jackson was traded to the Chicago White Sox.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/j/jacksjo01.shtml|title=Joe Jackson Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More|website=Baseball-Reference.com}}</ref> Two years later, Jackson and the White Sox won the [[American League]] pennant and also the [[1917 World Series|World Series]]. During the series, Jackson hit .307 as the White Sox defeated the [[San Francisco Giants#Early days and the John McGraw era|New York Giants]].

Jackson missed most of the 1918 season while working in a shipyard because of [[World War I]]. In 1919, he returned  to post a strong .351 average during the regular season and .375 in the World Series. However, the heavily favored White Sox lost the series to the [[Cincinnati Reds]]. The following season, the 32-year-old Jackson batted .382. He was having one of his best overall seasons, leading the American League in triples and setting by large margins career marks for home runs, RBI, and fewest strikeouts per plate appearance until he was suspended with seven other members of the White Sox after allegations surfaced that the team had thrown the previous World Series.