Ferguson Jenkins
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Fergie Jenkins | |
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| Starting pitcher | |
| Batted: Right | Threw: Right |
| MLB debut | |
| September 10, 1965 for the Philadelphia Phillies | |
| Final game | |
| September 26, 1983 for the Chicago Cubs | |
| Career statistics | |
| Record | 284-226 |
| ERA | 3.34 |
| Strikeouts | 3192 |
| Teams | |
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| Career highlights and awards | |
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Ferguson Arthur "Fergie" Jenkins CM (born December 13, 1943 in Chatham, Ontario, Canada) is a Canadian former right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball. He spent most of his career with the Chicago Cubs, and also played with the Philadelphia Phillies, Texas Rangers, and Boston Red Sox.
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[edit] Career
[edit] Early Years
Drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies in 1963 and signed by Tony Lucadello, Jenkins made his major league debut as a 21-year old in 1965 as a relief pitcher. He was traded the following year to the Chicago Cubs along with Adolpho Phillips and John Herrnstein for pitchers Larry Jackson and Bob Buhl. The Cubs received the best in the trade, where Jenkins would blossom into one of the best pitchers in the majors. In his first full year starting for the Cubs (1967), Jenkins gained twenty wins, while posting a 2.80 ERA and 236 strikeouts. He finished tied for second in the Cy Young voting, following Mike McCormick of the San Francisco Giants. He also was selected for his first trip to the All-Star Game. The following year his numbers improved, once again winning twenty games, but his ERA dropped to 2.63 and strikeout total increased to 260.
[edit] 1971 Season
Jenkins had his best season in 1971, playing in the All-Star Game, winning the National League Cy Young Award, and finishing seventh in MVP voting.
Jenkins was the first Cub pitcher and the first Canadian ever to win the Cy Young, and received 17 of 24 first place votes. Jenkins also posted a .478 slugging percentage, hitting six home runs and batting in twenty runs in just 115 at-bats.
No time was wasted in the 1971 season, with Jenkins as the opening day starter, the Cubs defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 2-1 at Wrigley Field. Jenkins pitched all ten innings for the Cubs, and Billy Williams hit a home-run in the final inning for the opening day victory. On September 1, 1971, Jenkins threw a complete game against the Montreal Expos, and had two home runs, single handedly winning the game 5-2.
For the entire season, Jenkins completed 30 of 39 starts, and received a decision in 37 of them - finishing with a (24-13) record. His control was stellar, walking only 37 batters versus 263 strikeouts across 325 innings.
[edit] Statistics
He led the league in wins twice, fewest walks per 9 innings five times, complete games nine times, and home runs allowed seven times. His streak of six straight seasons with 20 or more wins (1967-1972) is the longest streak in the major leagues since Warren Spahn performed the same feat between 1956 and 1961.
He, Greg Maddux, and Curt Schilling are the only major league pitchers to ever record more than 3,000 strikeouts with fewer than 1,000 walks. Only Robin Roberts allowed more home runs over a career.
In 1974, Jenkins, then with the Texas Rangers (who had acquired him from the Cubs the previous off-season for two players, one of whom was future four-time batting champion Bill Madlock), became the first baseball player to win the Lou Marsh Trophy, an award given annually to Canada's top athlete (he won a career-high, and still a Rangers franchise record, 25 games). He was also named the Canadian Press male athlete of the year four times between 1967 and 1974.
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| Ferguson Jenkins | |
| "Fergie" | |
| Inducted as a member of the Chicago Cubs (31) | |
| Year Inducted: 1991 | |
| First Year Eligible: 1989 | |
[edit] Controversy
In late 1980, during a customs search of Jenkins in Toronto, Ontario, he was found possessing cocaine and marijuana [1]. In response, Commissioner Bowie Kuhn suspended him indefinitely. Jenkins missed the rest of the 1980 season, but in an unprecedented action, an independent arbiter reinstated him, and he returned to the game, playing until his retirement following the 1983 season.
[edit] Honors
Ferguson Jenkins was inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 1987 and in 1991 became the first Canadian ever elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. He was inducted into the Texas Rangers Hall of Fame in 2004. He was appointed the commissioner of the now-defunct Canadian Baseball League in 2003. He has been inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame. In 1979, he was made a Member of the Order of Canada.
[edit] Trivia
- The Phillies traded both Jenkins (in 1966) and Ryne Sandberg (in 1982) to the Cubs after each had only played one year in the majors. Thus the hapless Phils freely supplied the Cubs with two of their greatest players (both have been inducted to the Hall of Fame) of the past half-century.
- Jenkins shared the same uniform number (31) on the Cubs with certain Hall of Famer (and fellow control artist) Greg Maddux.
- His 250 win was against the Oakland Athletics on May 23, 1980.
- His 3,000 strikeout was against Garry Templeton on May 25, 1982.
- The anchor of the 12 Black Aces a group of African-American pitchers with at least twenty wins in one season.
- A well-publicized incident, involving Jenkins' transport of cannabis, is believed to have delayed his election to the Hall of Fame.
- An outstanding all-around athlete, Fergie played basketball as a member of the Harlem Globetrotters.
- After Jenkins retired from Major League Baseball in 1983, he pitched for two seasons for the London Majors of the Intercounty Major Baseball League operating in southern Ontario, Canada.
- Jenkins' career is explained (by Tap drummer Mick Shrimpton) in the extra scenes for the movie This Is Spinal Tap, where a caller to a radio station asks how many shutouts Jenkins acquired during his career.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Baseball Hall of Fame
- Fergie Jenkins Foundation
- Baseball-Reference.com - career statistics and analysis
- BaseballLibrary.com - biography
- The Baseball Cube - major and minor league statistics
- Sidebar "Texas Ranger Hall of Famer"
| Preceded by Willie Stargell |
Major League Player of the Month July, 1971 |
Succeeded by Joe Torre |
| Preceded by Bob Gibson |
National League Cy Young Award 1971 |
Succeeded by Steve Carlton |
| Preceded by John Hiller |
AL Comeback Player of the Year 1974 |
Succeeded by Boog Powell |
| Preceded by Sandy Hawley |
Lou Marsh Trophy winner 1974 |
Succeeded by Bobby Clarke |
Categories: 1943 births | Living people | National League All-Stars | 3000 strikeout club | Baseball Hall of Fame | Black Canadians | Canada's Walk of Fame | Canadian baseball players | Canada's Sports Hall of Fame | Harlem Globetrotters players | Lambda Chi Alpha brothers | Major league pitchers | Members of the Order of Canada | Ontario sportspeople | People from Chatham-Kent, Ontario | Philadelphia Phillies players | Chicago Cubs players | Texas Rangers players | Boston Red Sox players | Baseball players suspended for drug offenses
