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For more than a century, Shoeless Joe Jackson has been a ghost in modern checklists. That changes now. After Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred removed deceased players from the league’s permanently ineligible list earlier in 2025, Topps is issuing its first official Jackson card: a 2025 Bowman Chrome Retrofractor that carries the “1st Bowman” treatment.

What that decision unlocked
By taking deceased players off the ineligible list, MLB cleared a path for two things that once felt out of reach: licensed cards from modern manufacturers and a realistic route to Hall of Fame consideration. Jackson’s name has lived in vintage sets and oddball issues for decades, but modern licensed cardboard has been off the table until now. With the policy change, Topps moved quickly and found the right lane to introduce him to today’s collectors.

The card and when you can pull it
Jackson’s debut arrives in 2025 Bowman Chrome on September 23. It’s part of the Retrofractor program that gives legends an official “1st Bowman” card, a clever nod that blends prospect-era branding with baseball history. Early plans had Tony Perez as the lone Retrofractor this year, and Jackson’s addition turns the insert into a true headline.

Why the uniform might surprise you
Although most fans picture Jackson in White Sox pinstripes, the Retrofractor shows him with the Philadelphia Athletics, the club that first signed him. Connie Mack brought Jackson into the organization in 1908. He saw only five games that year and five more in 1909 before the A’s traded him to the Cleveland Naps, where everything clicked.

The rise in Cleveland, the fame in Chicago
Once Jackson settled in Cleveland, he turned into a force. In his first full season in 1911, he hit .408. From 1911 through 1914 he batted .381, finishing in the top 10 for the Chalmers Award each year, piling up 809 hits along with 75 triples and 124 steals. In 1915, Cleveland shipped him to Chicago in a cost-cutting move. He spent the rest of the decade with the White Sox and was still just 32 when everything unraveled.

The ban and the long shadow it cast
After the 1919 World Series, Commissioner Kennesaw Mountain Landis banned eight White Sox players—later immortalized as the “Eight Men Out”—over a game-fixing scandal. Jackson hit .375 in that Series and homered, but investigators concluded he knew about the scheme and accepted $5,000. The lifetime ban erased his remaining prime and kept him off licensed checklists for generations.

Cards before Topps, and the long quiet since
Jackson’s playing-days cards came mostly from early 20th-century food and regional issues, with a notable card in 1940 Play Ball. Licensed modern appearances have been rare. Upper Deck produced the most recent run back in 2004, while Panini has included Jackson in unlicensed products over the last decade. That’s part of why a Topps-issued, MLB-licensed card in 2025 feels like a genuine hobby moment.

Career in one glance
Jackson’s .356 lifetime average across 13 seasons speaks for itself. If not for the ban, he likely would have stacked enough counting stats to walk into Cooperstown. Now, with the policy change, he could reach the Hall through a committee vote as soon as 2028.

Why a “1st Bowman” Retrofractor makes sense
Bowman’s Retrofractor idea has become a bridge between eras—taking the most recognizable prospect mark and applying it to legends who never had that shot. Jackson fits perfectly. The Athletics image connects him to his earliest big-league chapter, and the chromium finish brings his story into the same visual language collectors use for today’s stars.

What this means for checklists going forward
Topps has already kicked off a multi-year Hall of Fame chase in 2025 Topps Chrome, and Jackson’s appearance in Bowman Chrome suggests more historically significant names could follow in similar fashion. For player collectors, team builders, and fans of baseball history, this is the kind of release that invites a fresh start on a very old story.

Key dates and details
• Product: 2025 Bowman Chrome Retrofractor, “1st Bowman” Shoeless Joe Jackson
• Team on card: Philadelphia Athletics
• Pack odds: part of the Retrofractor program
• First day to pull: September 23, 2025

If you’ve been waiting for a licensed Shoeless Joe in modern Topps Chrome-style stock, this is the pack to circle.