An absolutely phenomenal player, whose legend is dimmed by his falling to temptation in the Black Sox scandal.

A fearsome hitter, with power to all fields, good speed, and superlative plate judgement, Jackson is (I believe) the only player to hit over .400 and not win a batting title.  He hit .408 in 1911 and lost to Cobb.  He came back the next year with .395, and lost again to Cobb.  In 1913 he hit .373 and lost to Cobb. In 1920, his final year, he hit .384 and lost to Sisler.

Defensively he was regarded as the best at his position for most of his career, and Ring Lardner called him "the place where triples go to die."  Gunned down baserunners at second, third and home with such regularity during the early part of his career, that only the foolhardy tried to stretch a hit on balls hit to his field after that.

If not for the whole Black Sox scandal, I'd cast my vote for induction in a heartbeat. Just that the thought of voting in someone who cheated the game in some way doesn't sit in my stomach too well. Also why I will deny Bonds and Rose entry into the Hall if I have anything to say about it.

We all know the 1919 story, but a monster player, a great, great hitter who somewhat surprisingly never won a batting title because Cobb was winning it nearly every year, and Speaker and Sisler won it for the 2 years that Cobb didn't during Jackson's career. Ruth claimed to model his hitting style after this legend's one.