Pulled this photo from our files yesterday. On the back, Paul Thompson has him identified as "Bill Jackson." There actually was a Bill Jackson who played for the White Sox in 1914 and 1915 but only appeared in 76 games. If this is in-fact Joe Jackson how could Paul Thompson misidentify him? That seems odd.
Lets take a closer look. Clearly, there is a "B" written next to his last name and then the "ill" was added later, with a different writing utensil. In this auction from Heritage in 2015 there is also a "B" on the back of their photo that was crossed out, with "Joe" then written in:
https://sports.ha.com/itm/baseball/1...umbnail-071515
This is Bill Jackson, according to Getty Images. Something is amiss, however as Baseball Reference lists Bill Jackson as 5' 11" 160lbs, and Eddie Collins at 5' 9" 175. Hmm:
I think most people are familiar with this image of Joe Jackson, which at first glance looks like it could be the same player and taken on the same day as the original photo I posted above. Looking closely at his belt buckle in both photos it's clear they are in completely different positions and the top buttons of their shirts are also different. Still, it's certainly possible they could just be shots taken on different days.
I'm not saying definitively that our photo is Bill and not Joe Jackson. It just seems odd that Paul Thompson could mix them up and I think it's worth investigating to get a definitive ID:
