Ouachita Athletics Hall of Fame
As a teenager, Travis Jackson played for a team at Ouachita Baptist College and for a semipro team in eastern Arkansas, where Little Rock Travelers manager Kid Elberfeld scouted him late in the 1921 season.
The Waldo, Arkansas native played the 1922 season with the Travelers but was sold to the New York Giants when the Travelers’ season ended. Jackson became the Giants' shortstop and was named team captain a few years later, an unusual honor for a younger player, particularly on a team considered the best in the National League in the 1920s. The Giants won four straight National League titles from 1921 to 1924. The Giants’ infield during the 1925–27 period was composed of players who would all be elected to the Hall of Fame.
Jackson played in four World Series. He was named to The Sporting News all-star team three times and to the official All-Star Game once. Jackson batted .300-or-more six times, hitting a career-high 21 home runs in 1929 and driving in a career-best 101 runs in 1934. Regularly among the league leaders in assists and double plays, he was voted the Most Outstanding Shortstop by the Sporting News in 1927, 1928 and 1929. His throwing arm and quick release were among the best in the majors. Jackson led the league in fielding average and double plays each twice, and led in assists four times.
Jackson was enshrined in 1982 in the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. He finished his career batting .292 with 1,768 hits, 929 RBIs, 833 runs scored and 71 stolen bases. He played in four World Series’ – 1923, 24, 33, 36.
TRAVIS JACKSON HALL OF FAME PAGE
