Shoeless Joe & Me: A Baseball Card Adventure

Baseball Card Adventures #4

by Dan Gutman

When Joe Stoshack hears about Shoeless Joe Jackson -- and the gambling scandal that destroyed the star player's career -- he knows what he has to do. If he travels back in time with a 1919 baseball card in his hand, he just might be able to prevent the infamous Black Sox Scandal from ever taking place. And if he could do that, Shoeless Joe Jackson would finally take his rightful place in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

But can Stosh prevent that tempting envelope full of money from making its way to Shoeless Joe's hotel room before the big game?

Genres: Sports, Baseball, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Fantasy, Childrens, Young Adult

180 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 5, 2002

About the author

The author of over 80 books in a little over a decade of writing, Dan Gutman has written on topics from computers to baseball. Beginning his freelance career as a nonfiction author dealing mostly with sports for adults and young readers, Gutman has concentrated on juvenile fiction since 1995. His most popular titles include the time-travel sports book Honus and Me and its sequels, and a clutch of baseball books, including The Green Monster from Left Field. From hopeful and very youthful presidential candidates to stunt men, nothing is off limits in Gutman's fertile imagination. As he noted on his author Web site, since writing his first novel, They Came from Centerfield, in 1994, he has been hooked on fiction. "It was fun to write, kids loved it, and I discovered how incredibly rewarding it is to take a blank page and turn it into a WORLD."

Gutman was born in New York City in 1955, but moved to Newark, New Jersey the following year and spent his youth there.

Reviews

[Christopher Almaguer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shoeless Joe & Me by Dan Gutman is about a thirteen year old kid named Joe Stoshack and how he can travel through time with baseball cards. Joe Stoshack now is going to trying to prevent the most famous scandal called the "Black Sox Scandal" in baseball history. The player Joe is mainly trying to save is Shoeless Joe Jackson from the "Black Sox Scandal" and if Stoshack saves Joe Jackson, Shoeless Joe will be in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Will Stoshack be able to prevent the "Black Sox Scandal" or will it be a disaster? I would recommend this book to people who like baseball and sports.

[Jarrett · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a really fast read and I really enjoyed it. Stosh has the power to go back in time with baseball cards. He does this a when he wants to see why or what would be like if something happened. He wants to go and see if Shoeless Joe would of still gotten killed if he wore a helmet or not. When Stosh gets caught he always has a pack of cards in his shoes so something tragic happens with those.

I suggest this to anyone who like mysteries and sports.

[Cam Phinney · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was about the 1919 "Black Sox" scandal. The Black Sox scandal is a scandal that took place in the 1919 World Series, the Cinncinati Reds vs. the Chicago White Sox. So the "Black Sox Scandal" was a scandal because the players on the White Sox were getting very little money from their owner. So many players got paid large amounts of money by the mob to lose the world series. 8 players on the team did it. So Joe Stoshack goes back in time to 1919 to stop Joe "Shoeless" Jackson to not lose the world series on purpose, but he gets in trouble with the mob. They take him into a basment and tie him to the chair. I dont want to spoil the rest.

[Jay Pruitt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun children's book which tells of how young Joe Stoshack uses baseball cards to travel back in time. In this case he visits the legendary "Shoeless Joe". We learn about the shenanigans surrounding the eight men who were accused of throwing the 1919 World Series game between the White Sox and Reds.

[Seth Ours · Rating 4 out of 5]

Joe Stoschack is a boy who has a secret power. He can travel through time using baseball cards. When he hears about Shoeless Joe and how he got caught up in the Infamous "Blacksox Scandal", he realizes what he had to do in order to save Shoeless Joe from being banned from the Hall of Fame. To help Shoeless Joe, he needed to get hold of a baseball card from the year 1919. Luckily, Stosh found one and was ready to travel back in time.

His mission in 1919 was simple. Find Shoeless Joe and stop him from "throwing" the World Series. Unfortunately, it wasn't that simple. Stosh ended up getting caught listening in on the mob that was paying the White Sox players to throw the game. This got Stosh in a lot of trouble and was even life-threatening. Somehow, he gets out alive. He finds Shoeless Joe and talks with him about the “Black Sox Scandal.” Shoeless Joe says that he would never play for money and that he never accepts what is given to him by the mob. Joe rants about how he has to get out of it to save his MLB career and reputation. Read the book to go on an adventure with Joey and see if he can prevent one of the most unfortunate events in baseball history.

Even though there were no credible sources to prove that Shoeless Joe ever did anything to throw the World Series he was on the team and therefore banned from baseball and ultimately the Hall of Fame, which he deserved to be in greatly. I feel the purpose of the book is to provide knowledge to people about what really happened with the "Black Sox Scandal" and give it a fun, fantasy twist. Also, it shows that life isn't fair, especially back in the early 1900s in the sports world. Overall, I enjoyed the book and would recommend it to anyone who likes sports or the history of baseball and conspiracy theories.

[Anthony Fletes · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was around the 1919 "Black Sox" scandal. The Black Sox scandal is a thing that took place in the 1919 World Series, the Cincinnati Reds vs. the Chicago White Sox. So the "Black Sox Scandal" was a scandal because the players on the White Sox were getting very little money from their owner. So many players got paid large amounts of money by the mob to lose the World Series. 8 players on the team did it. So Joe Stoshack goes back in time to 1919 to stop Joe "Shoeless" Jackson to not lose the World Series on purpose, but he gets in trouble with the mob. They take him into a basement and tie him to a chair.

[Blake Wilkins]

I had this book in my drawer when I was cleaning it out and I got bored so I picked it up and started reading it this weekend. I couldn't stop reading it. I finished it Sunday afternoon. I really enjoyed it because the author makes you feel like you are actually in Chicago during this time. And it makes you feel like you were actually at the World Series game that the White Sox played in. This book also makes me mad because as the reader, you know Shoeless Joe was innocent but he stills gets kicked out and never gets to play again.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had this in my room library for years. Donated when I retired. Picked it up recently thinking WT would enjoy a baseball read. YA books are usually well written; this is one of those. The main character is likable and believable even with the time-travel element of the story. I think most 11-14 year olds would really enjoy the story.

[Kat V · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good story in the series. 4 stars

[Sydney · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this book was very fun to read. It had a lot of suspense, and at times good humor. I enjoyed getting to see Joey learn new lessons, and make new friendships. One thing I didn't particularly like, was how the author would drag on description. Other than that I thought this book was really good, and worth reading.

[Lucas Schatzler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shoeless Joe & Me is about a boy named Stoch who has the power to travel back in time by using baseball cards to go back to the past. When Stoch finds out about the Black Sox Scandal and about Shoeless Joe Jackson and how fantastic baseball player he was. He decided to travel back in time to stop the scandal from ever happening. I would recommend this book to my Dad because he´s a big baseball fan. This book is one of my favorite books of all time.

[David Rough · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like this baseball series. Protagonist Joe Stoshack can travel back in time via baseball cards. This novel explores Shoeless Joe Jackson and the gambling scandal of the 1919 world series.

I really appreciate Dan Gutman's ability to weave a fictional story of modern-day Joe's life as a Little Leaguer with the history of baseball. The author is faithful in communicating the factual information of baseball history while filling in the gaps with a fun bit of fiction.

[Zaid Ahmed · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stosh, a boy who wants to prove Joe Jackson, an amazing baseball player whose signature costs $500,000, innocent. but as soon as he reaches he is caught listening to gangsters. so he finds a way to get to Joe Jackson. Then he tells Joe Jackson not to accept the bribe, so he replies I would never play for money.
The theme of the story is that the innocent should be justified.

[Gehrig Butz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shoeless Joe & Me is a sports book that is fictional but most of the book is actually true. It was written by Dan Gutman and was published in 2004 in the month of April. Shoeless Joe & Me is about a teenager named Joe Stoshack and he has a special power that when he touches a baseball card or even a photo of someone, he can travel back in time and he'll be really close to that person. The book takes place in 1919 in Chicago, Illinois at the White Sox stadium. In the book he travels back in time to meet Joe Jackson a famous baseball player that was banned from baseball along with 7 of his other teammates because they all played bad in a world series on purpose other than Joe Jackson against the reds for money from gamblers in 1919. Joe Stoshack had 2 goals, to get 2 signatures from Joe Jackson because in the book they go for $500,000 just for his signature on a piece of paper, but in real life his signature goes for $23,000 and tell Joe Jackson to not accept money from the gamblers so he could be in the Hall Of Fame. The main reason he wanted the money is because one of his favorite baseball card shops to go to was going out of business and the only way to save it was to get those signatures. If you like history and sports this book would be perfect for you to read because its not just about baseball it also explains that time period and the Influenza outbreak. If you want to read this book my biggest warning for the book is if you're not into time travel and sports you probably wont want to read it but otherwise its a really good book. The thing that i will most remember about this book is how to be selfless and do the rights thing.

[Drew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Title: Shoeless Joe and Me
Pages 163
Author Dan Gutman
Copyright date 2002
Publisher HarperCollinsPublishers
Genre Science Fiction
ISBN 978-0064472593
Price Around 8.00$

Joe Stoshack finds out he can travel through time using old baseball cards. This time, he wants to interact with Shoeless Joe Jackson a baseball player from the early 1900s who was banned from the sport due to the Black Sox Scandal. Joe believes that Shoeless Joe didn’t do anything wrong, and wants to go back to 1919 to help clear his name. Along the way, Joe goes through challenges and adventures of early 20th-century America, learning about the problems of the scandal and the time period.

I enjoyed the book because this book actually made me want to read more and find out what happens, usually I don’t like reading but this book made reading enjoyable. It was very interesting to read and definitely would recommend it.

To show why and how I liked it and enjoyed reading the book, to also describe how I feel about the book.

Five stars because I genuinely just enjoyed this book. It's probably now one of my favorite books of all time. It made me enjoy reading and want to read my book.

People who enjoy sports, If you don’t like sports then you might not understand the book as well as other people might.

I like Becoming Muhammid Ali because it’s kind of similar to Shoeless Joe Jackson because it has sports and it can show you how the 1800-1900s were.
Jackie and Me because it has the same author and it’s based off the same thing, traveling back in time so you could also learn how Jackie Robinson's time was.
Travel Team because it can show you why never giving up is important no matter your size

[Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the great unfortunate events of major league baseball is the case of the man known as Shoeless Joe Jackson. While he was otherwise intelligent, he was completely illiterate to the point of not even being able to sign his name. Yet, he was likely one of the most naturally talented players of all time. His throwing arm may have been the best to ever appear, there are confirmed legends as to how far he could throw a baseball.
Even though no one ever made a credible claim that Jackson did anything to throw the 1919 World Series, he was caught up in the scandal and banned from baseball for life. His “crime” was having knowledge of the attempt to lose and not reporting it. Which was incorrect, for he did report it to the owner of the White Sox at the time, the notorious tightwad Charles Comiskey.
This story once again has the title character (Joe Stoshack) capable of traveling back and forth through time by clutching period baseball cards. His subject this time is Shoeless Joe Jackson and his actual role in the Black Sox scandal. It is a great history of this event, anyone with knowledge of the case understands that a great injustice was done to Joe Jackson and he deserves to be in the baseball Hall of Fame.
The Gutman books are an excellent way to learn baseball history, they set aside the legends and deal with the facts of the players. If you don’t come away from reading this book thinking that Joe Jackson should be in the Hall of Fame, then you have no heart. For it is clear that he was an innocent man caught up in a storm of “throwing the rascals out.”

[Alex Kartak · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about a kid who is on a little league team who can time travel using baseball cards. Stosh's, Joe Stoshack, team sponsor tells him about his baseball cards shop closing down soon, so all of his cards were going to be on a high discount. Flip, the store owner, also tells Stosh about a player that could've had the best hitting records of all time, but was banned from the MLB in 1919. A player by the nickname Shoeless Joe played on the Chicago White Sox in 1919 and apparently lost the World Series on purpose because some gamblers had bet large amounts of money against them, gamblers paid off some of the players essentially. Stosh gets this 1919Shoeless Joe card and travels back in time to make sure Shoeless Joe actually wins the world series and declines the gambler's offer.

I read this book back in middle school and was hooked until I finished. I would characterize this book as a historical fiction even though most people would argue it to be fantasy fiction. I just love the controversy of sports and the reasoning behind it. As well as I love stories of travelling back in time to change something for a better cause.

I would use this book with grades 4-8 because I don't think students under grade 4 would have the attention span to read this book. I don't think I would use this book in an assignment, rather just have it showcased on my class bookshelf because I would be anxious to find out that not every student would be a fan of the story.

[Bryce Bailey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story was a great read. It's all the things I look for in a book like Action, Adventure, and drama. This book is about a kid named Joe Stoshak who has a big secret. He can travel through time using baseball cards. After learning about the black sox scandal Joe wanted to go back in time to prevent the whole thing from happening and maybe even save Shoeless Joe's reputation and career. While going on this adventure Joe runs into a couple of set backs that hopfully dont ruin his adventure or life.

Something that I thought was interesting was how well Dan Gutman uses imagery in this book. The way that Dan Gutman uses imagery makes you feel like you too were teleported back in time. Another thing Dan Gutman does well is keeping the story interesting. When reading this story you never know whats coming next. I also believe Gutman exsels at balancing out the fiction, adventure, and sports throughout the story so you never have to much of each. The last thing I beleive Gutman did well was making you consider how these historical players really acted.

I would recommend this book to anyone who likes action, adventure, and sports. While this book is fiction it still has many different sports facts throughout the book. This book never has a dull moment and always keeps you on the edge of your seat wonding whats coming next. If your looking for a book that has both sports and adventure this is it. This book will always keep you locked in and engaged.

[Ivan Rainey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review: Joe Stoshack is our main character with the ability to go anywhere in the time period of the baseball card he possesses. When he hears about the story of Shoeless Joe and the Blacksox scandal from Card Store owner Flip whose hero is in fact Shoeless Joe. Our main character wishes to change this famous narrative. So, he takes the card and travels back in time to try and help prevent Shoeless Joe from falling victim and saving his MLB career. If he succeeds, Shoeless Joe takes his place in the Hall of Fame. But, if he fails to do so, Shoeless Joe’s life will continue as it did in history. Sadly, he fails to change the outcome and Jackson remains a part of the “8 men out”. However, Stoshack is able to save a young boy who is his great uncle with flu medicine he had brought with him from his time period. One of my all-time favorite books and Baseball Stories.
Literary Aspect: This story is a very simple read with an interesting storyline. There is some illustration but not alot. The pictures are very cartoonistic with an old time vibe.
Review: I have done many readings on Shoeless Joe and his story. This twist in order to try to save Joe always leaves me asking what if. 5 stars.

[Ryan Laserre · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shoeless Joe & Me is about a 13 year old boy named Joe that can travel back in time with baseball cards. Whatever date is on the card, that's where he goes. While Joe was playing in a baseball card his coach told him about the Black Sox scandal, where a bunch of players were playing in the world series, and were offered to play bad and if they lost, they would get money. Since Joe can travel back in time with baseball cards, he travels back in time to the Black Sox scandal. But...... Joe ends up in the wrong place at the wrong time when he travels back in time. Shoeless Joe was taken out of the hall of fame because the players that played bad told the gamblers that he was in on it too. Read Shoeless Joe & Me to find out more!!

[Chad Vincent]

I enjoyed the book Shoeless Joe & Me becasue it was always intersting so i kept on reading it. Their was a boy named stosh and the baseball coach named flip and his store is closing so he cant sponsor the team anymore and he says life isn't always fair but you have to keep going and talks about the black sox scandal and stosh goes to his store and tells him about his secert that he can travel back in time with baseball cards and then he goes back in time and tries stop the black sox scandal. My favorite part of this book was when he gets the pictures of the boy. I would reccomend this book to people that like old sports players.

[Dane Schwirtz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my favorite book/series of all time as a kid. This series talks about how a kid can travel back in time and live in the shoes of past legendary baseball players. Its about a kid name Joe which is quite ironic but I picked this book over all the other ones in the series because it was much more fascinating and engaging because the attention to detail. It talks about the scandal shoelesss was in and who he truly was as a person and it just connected to me and kept me so engaged. - Dane Schwirtz

[Peter Sprigg · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the story of a boy in modern times who is able to literally travel through time to the past through a magical connection with baseball cards. In this one (there is a series with the same premise), Joe travels back to 1919 in an effort to prevent the Black Sox scandal (when members of the Chicago White Sox were bribed by gamblers to throw the World Series), and to prevent Shoeless Joe Jackson from being unjustly implicated in it. I sometimes find youth fiction quite entertaining, but this seemed rather formulaic, although I did make it to the end.

[Sandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was lacking in the historical references that have made many of the prior books so good. There was reference to prohibition and some attention on the influenza epidemic but more could have been said about this pivotal time in history, the eve of the roaring 20s. Perhaps there was a lack of information but it also seemed like Shoelace Joe was short-changed compared to the depth of character development spent in the prior books in the series. I hope this isn’t the new norm for the remainder of the series.

[Erica Wring · Rating 2 out of 5]

⭐️ 2.5 ⭐️ Perhaps I should’ve started with book number one in the series instead of four. But there were just too many unbelievable parts that I couldn’t get around. His Mom allows him to go back in time a hundred years like he’s just walking next door to a friend’s house? And he doesn’t do any research beforehand so he doesn’t make any stupid mistakes or get himself killed? Too many ridiculous concepts, in my opinion. But my son enjoyed it and wants to read the first three. However, he will likely have to read them on his own.

[Melanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am writing this shortly after Joe Jackson is now eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY. There has always been a question about was he part of the Black Sox. This book tells us how he got his name, that his was illiterate, and a honest man. I don't think any of us think he accepted the money and tried to do the right thing. In the book Stosh tries to do the right thing as well. He also changes his personal history and get to meet his great-grandma as a 12 year old.

H0w did this book find me? Part of a baseball series.

[Zachary Mercieca]

Shoe less Joe and me is a book that I recommend for kids that love the past of baseball and learning about the history of it. Every baseball fan should know about the black soc scandal where 8 players got banned from the game of baseball forever. This book is about a 13 year old kid who has the ability to go back in time by a touch of a baseball card, and Joe Stoshack is going to go back in time and try to prevent what happened in the 1919 world series.

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good YA book that I read to my son. Gutman's affection for the sport and for Joe Jackson are clear. He packs the story with details and develops a secondary plot which is interesting without distracting from his narrator's main quest of traveling through time to try to stop the Black Sox from throwing the 1919 World Series. It's a clever book, and one that my son enjoyed. Pleased to say I did too.

[maddie kincel · Rating 4 out of 5]

i found this book while i was cleaning my room and remembered how obsessed i was with the series when i was younger. i didn’t, and still don’t care about baseball, but i found these books to be so incredibly interesting. this time around, it was just as good as i remembered. i still don’t know the rules of a game and absolutely would not sit through a game, but i’m about to read the wikipedia page on the history of baseball.

[Marc · Rating 4 out of 5]

I rated this book a 4 because the ending of the book wasn't that good. Even though the book ending wasn't that good the book was really suspenseful. This book just made you want to keep on reading. There was so many parts that I thought the kid was going to die but some how he got through it. At the end this was a great book.