1996 SC Bill To Name Road In Honor Of Joe
Product of the Legislative Printing Agency-LPITR
Current Status
Bill Number: 4424
Type of Legislation: Concurrent Resolution CR
Introducing Body: House
Introduced Date: 19960110
Primary Sponsor: Rice
All Sponsors: Rice
Drafted Document Number: dka\3413cm.96
Date Bill Passed both Bodies: 19960214
Date of Last Amendment: 19960208
Subject: Joseph Jefferson Wofford "Shoeless
Joe" Jackson
Body Date Action Description Com Leg Involved
______ ________ _______________________________________ _______ ____________
House 19960214 Received from Senate
Senate 19960214 Adopted, returned to House
with concurrence
Senate 19960214 Recalled from Committee 15 ST
Senate 19960213 Introduced, referred to Committee 15 ST
House 19960208 Amended, adopted, sent to Senate
House 19960207 Recalled from Committee 21 HEPW
House 19960116 Referred to Committee 21 HEPW
House 19960116 Recalled from Committee 24 HIMR
House 19960110 Introduced, referred to Committee 24 HIMR
Product of the Legislative Printing Agency-LPITR
(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to
meet World Wide Web specifications.)
AMENDED--NOT PRINTED IN THE HOUSE
February 8, 1996
(P:\amend\dka\3512cm.96)
H. 4424
Introduced by REP. Rice
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.
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