A Truth So Genuine

I first encountered the magic of Field of Dreams as a teenager, when I saw the 1989 film with Kevin Costner and James Earl Jones. Like most viewers, I adored the story’s healing arc. One day an Iowa farmer hears a supernatural voice: “If you build it, he will come.” The farmer knows it’s crazy to turn under part of his cornfield to build a baseball diamond. Yet he listens. He works hard to get the park just right. And when the farmer finishes, “he” does come: Shoeless Joe Jackson.

Joseph Jackson was born on July 16, 1887, in rural South Carolina. He never really learned how to read or write, but he transcended his impoverished beginnings to become one of the most celebrated figures in the sport. He picked up his nickname early in his career, when a pair of new cleats were giving him blisters. He simply peeled them off, and, despite the heckling fans, he played the...