Most people, if they know about Shoeless Joe Jackson, know two things: first, the nickname, and second the Blacksox scandal.
A native of Pickens County, South Carolina, Jackson grew up poor and illiterate. He played baseball partly as an escape from grinding poverty and a life of 12-hour shifts in a mill - when he was seven.
As he grew older, Jackson gained a reputation as a tremendous hitter. Later, Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb would point to him as the best hitter in the game - high praise.
Despite his lack of education, Jackson had the world by a string until 1919, when the Black Sox scandal broke.