Wallach has played in the game every summer since, 11 years running, likening it to a family reunion. “Once I became entrenched in that community, it was all downhill from there,” he said. Descendants of both Jackson and Cobb took part and Wallach even made a game-saving catch.Īs a huge fan of baseball, baseball history and the relationships that can form when talking about both, Wallach was immediately hooked. It was played on one of the fields where Jackson got his start playing for one of the local cotton mills at the age of 13. The pickup game ended up changing his life. The woman was persuasive, so Wallach begrudgingly agreed. We’ll be playing against the Ty Cobb Museum from Royston, Georgia. “Oh, you don’t need a glove,” she countered. Heck, he didn’t even have a glove with him. “Good! We’ve got a game on Saturday and it starts around 11,” the woman said. Wallach, who was 21 at the time, told her yes.
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The family is made up of White Sox fans, so on Dan’s first visit south, they made the 45-minute drive to Greenville to check out the museum.ĭan was enjoying the visit when a woman approach him and asked if he played baseball. So how did Wallach end up making plans to leave Chicago to run a museum for a ballplayer who’s been dead for 69 years and hasn’t played for 100?Īs the tale goes, Wallach’s parents retired to South Carolina about 12 years ago. I certainly never had any intentions of leaving … but here we are.” I’m from the Chicago suburbs, born and raised. “Yeah, it’s insane,” Wallach said with a laugh earlier this week. The entire plan seems both romantic and completely crazy in a Ray Kinsella “go the distance” type of way. No matter what happens in that area, Wallach is sure to find himself in the middle of the story. What’s more, a new ruling on the ineligible list from Major League Baseball last month opened the door for Jackson’s eventual election into the Hall of Fame.
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It’s all part of the board’s plan to “be a 21st century museum” and keep Jackson’s memory alive as the 100th anniversary of his final game in baseball approaches this August. Not only should the museum’s hours expand in a dramatic way, but Wallach will be bringing his personal collection of Jackson memorabilia for display. Since 2008, the house has been a museum that was only open on Saturdays from 10 to 2 and didn’t feature much more than pictures, information plaques and an impressive baseball book collection.Ī huge Shoeless Joe fan - he even has a tattoo of Jackson’s autograph on his right foot - Wallach wants to change that. The house in Greenville was where the banned-for-life Black Sox star spent the final 10 years of his life. Rather, he’ll be working in it as the new executive director of the Shoeless Joe Jackson Museum. Wallach won’t be living in the 950-square foot house. It’s there where his new life awaits in a small red-brick house located across the street from a minor-league ballpark. Some day in the next few weeks, Wallach will pack the few things he didn’t put in his moving pod and drive roughly 700 miles to South Carolina’s northwest corner. He tended his last shift at Yak-Zies in Wrigleyville last Saturday night and has been making the last rounds at favorite Chicago area restaurants like SuperDawg. To get stories like this one in your inbox for free, sign up here.ĭan Wallach currently sleeps on an air mattress in an empty house he’ll soon put up for sale. Below I will leave a link to samples of Autographs with the likes of Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Lou Gehrig and others.Midway Minute is a Chicago sports newsletter. You will have an easier time finding his "Shoes" If you have one. If you are looking for a Joe Jackson Signed baseball, forget it. I also found a Shoeless Joe Jackson/Buck Weaver Signed Baseball that sold for $69,000. A Joe Jackson Signed Recognizance Bond from the Barry Harper collection, sold for $44,062.50 The very few signatures that I found mostly appear on documents. Signature request signed by Joe's wife usually on index cards or alike sized pieces of paper sell for about $200.-$1,000.
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Jackson, who would sign Joe's name for him. This did not stop autograph seekers from requesting Jackson's signature by mail, and when these occasional requests came in they were honored by Mrs. The fact was Jackson could sign his name, but was very reluctant to do so, and rarely signed except when absolutely necessary, usually on legal documents. Part of the legend of Joe Jackson is that he was illiterate, and could not even sign his name. Throw the "book" away on this one, the Shoe doesn't fit.Ī Joe Jackson signature is perhaps the scarcest in all of sports. A "Shoeless" Joe Jackson Single signed Baseball has a "book Value" of about $25,000.-$40,000.