Baseball bat belonging to 'Shoeless' Joe Jackson - who was accused of throwing the 1919 World Series - is auctioned by Christie's for $583,500
- The 'Black Besty' bat is only one of two known to survive from his career
- It is also the only Jackson bat to have his full signature stamped onto it
- Jackson still holds MLB's third-highest lifetime batting average with .356
- He was one of eight Chicago White Sox players accused of throwing the World Series to the Cincinnati Reds for payment
- The players were acquitted but were all banned from the MLB for life
The bat that once belonged to baseball legend 'Shoeless' Joe Jackson has been auctioned by Christie's for $583,000.
Jackson's 'Black Betsy' bat is only one of two known to survive from his career. It is also the sole bat to have his full signature, in script, stamped into the barrel.
Christie's said the bat was sold to an online bidder on Wednesday on the first of a two-day auction of baseball memorabilia.
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The bat that once belonged to baseball legend 'Shoeless' Joe Jackson has been auctioned by Christie's for $583,000
Jackson's 'Black Betsy' bat is the only one of two known to survive from his career. Jackson (pictured) played for the Philadelphia Athletics, Cleveland Indians and Chicago White Sox
The price reached nearly half of the auction record for a game-used baseball bat, which belonged to one Babe Ruth used in 1923 that sold for $1.2million.
Jackson's bat comes from the National Pastime Museum, an online museum based on a private collection of baseball artifacts, photographs and mementos.
'Black Betsy' was made for Jackson by a local fan named Charles Ferguson in the player's hometown of Greenville, South Carolina in the early 1900s.
The bat measures 36 inches long, weighs 48 ounces and was darkened with tobacco juice, according to the Society for American Baseball Research.
Its color inspired Jackson to name it 'Black Betsty' and he eventually took the bat to the major leagues, where he played for the Philadelphia Athletics, Cleveland Indians and Chicago White Sox.
Jackson first made his name known in the minor leagues, becoming a star with the Carolina Association, a Class D league that operated from 1908 to 1912.
It is also the sole one to have his full signature (pictured), in script, stamped into the barrel
Jackson earned his lifelong nickname, 'Shoeless Joe', after a reporter spotted the 19-year-old playing one game in his stocking feet because his new shoes were not broken in
It was there that Jackson earned his lifelong nickname 'Shoeless Joe' after a reporter spotted the 19-year-old playing one game in his stocking feet because his new shoes were not broken in.
Jackson was not a fan of the name, later telling another reporter: 'I've read and heard every kind of yarn imaginable on how I got the name.
This photo provided by Christie's shows a cleat mark from 'Shoeless' Joe Jackson on the upper right side of the bat's handle
'I never played the outfield barefoot, and that was the only day I ever played in my stockinged feet, but it stuck with me.'
But soon Jackson became known for something else entirely.
At the prime of his career, Jackson was one of the eight Chicago White Sox players who were accused of throwing the 1919 World Series, won by the Cincinnati Reds, for payment.
The players were acquitted by a trial jury, but were expelled from the major leagues for life.
Jackson, who still holds the third-highest lifetime batting average with .356, maintained his innocence for the rest of his life.
'I gave baseball all I had,' he told The Sporting News in 1942. 'The Supreme Being is the only one to whom I've got to answer.'
'If I had been out there booting balls and looking foolish at bat against the Reds, there might have been some grounds for suspicion.'
'I think my record in the 1919 World Series will stand up against that of any other man in that Series or any other World Series in all history.'
Jackson was named as one of the eight Chicago White Sox players (the team pictured in 1919) who were accused of throwing the 1919 World Series, won by the Cincinnati Reds, for payment
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