Chicago Cubs: The Heroes of Wrigley Series presents Ferguson Jenkins

Fergie Jenkins dreamed of becoming a professional hockey player but instead became one of baseball’s premier pitchers during the late 60’s and early 70’s.

Canadian born Ferguson “Fergie” Jenkins was a consistent player with remarkable control. He demanded attention while on the mound providing a statement of power, form, relaxation, and repetitiveness, trademarks of Jenkins. He repeated that motion for 19 seasons, 4,500 2/3 innings pitched, 284 wins and 226 losses for mostly terrible teams.

Jenkins grew up a natural athlete, excelling in several sports in school including track, basketball, hockey and baseball, lettering five times. He dreamt of one day becoming a professional hockey player, competing in Canada’s highest league, but soon found himself drawn to baseball. Perhaps, it was in his pedigree as his father was once a semi-pro player for an all-black team. His mother, an ancestor of slaves who fled to Canada after escaping the southern United States via the Underground Railroad, was also a terrific bowler.

As a child, he grew up living across the street from a coal yard. He and his friends would pick up pieces of coal or rocks and try and hit the ice chute when the rubber flaps would open. It prompted great accuracy and timing. While his long arms and lanky legs made him a perfect fit as a first baseman, he soon began to gain notoriety as a pitcher, using those abilities he learned at the coal yard to overpower and stump opposing batters.

One person who Jenkins caught the eye of was Gene Dziadura. Dziadura was a former shortstop in the Chicago Cubs minor league system and a scout for the Philadelphia Phillies. He saw a great deal of talent in Jenkins and began to guide him in training sessions until Jenkins graduated high school and then quickly signed by Philadelphia in 1962.

After several years in the minor leagues, Jenkins was called up in the latter part of the 1965 season. He appeared in seven games, going 2-1 with a 2.19 ERA.

On April 21, 1966, after appearing in just one game for the Phillies, Jenkins was traded to the Chicago Cubs and his illustrious career at the Friendly Confines began.

Chicago Cubs: “Mental attitude and concentration are the keys to pitching”

Despite now being the Majors, Fergie fed his athletic appetite in the offseason by playing winter ball in the Dominican Republic and touring with the Harlem Globetrotters.

By 1967, his first full season with the Cubs, he was already on his way of becoming a dominant pitcher. That season, at the age of 24, he made his first All-Star Game. He worked three innings, striking out six of the league’s best hitters that included future Hall of Famers Mickey Mantle, Harmon Killebrew, and Rod Carew. His ’67 campaign was also the beginning of his consecutive season streak of winning at least 20 games. A feat that he repeated for six straight years, equaling Mordecai Brown’s Cubs record that stood for over six decades.

A workhorse on the mound, he was also known as being an excellent hitting pitcher. In 1971, he saw the ball well, hitting seven doubles, one triple, six home runs and knocking in 20 runs. During his career, he hit a total of 13 home runs.

1971 was arguably his best year on the mound, as well. He went 24-13 with an ERA of 2.77, tossing 30 complete games. He was as accurate and concise as they come, striking out 263 batters while only walking 37 during his 325 innings pitched that season. He would later be rewarded the National League Cy Young Award, becoming the first Cubs pitcher to ever receive the honor.

Chicago Cubs: Fergie remains one of the team’s most beloved

Throughout his career, Jenkins was known as being somewhat of an unlucky player of sorts. He never made the postseason because he never played for a first-place team. When he joined the Red Sox in 1976, it was the year after they reached the World Series. He also lost thirteen separate 1-0 outings in games where he pitched complete games.

Despite his bad luck, he molded a stellar career with many accolades along the way. He led the National League in complete games three times (1967, 1970-71) and strikeouts once (1969). During the span of his consecutive 20-win seasons from 1967-72, he was the Major League leader in wins and strikeouts.

He provided a reliable glove in the field, as well. In four separate seasons (1968, 1976, 1981, 1983), he had a perfect fielding percentage.

He is one of four players in Major League history to record 3,000 strikeouts with fewer than 1,000 walks (Greg Maddux, Curt Schilling and Pedro Martinez). He also is one of only six players in history to have won 100 games in both the National and American Leagues (Cy Young, Jim Bunning, Gaylord Perry, Nolan Ryan and Dennis Martinez).

Fergie Jenkins’ dominance eventually merited a call from Cooperstown and he was inducted into the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame in 1991. To this day, he is the first and only Hall of Famer born in Canada. That same year, the 1991 All-Star Game, being held in Toronto, was dedicated to Jenkins.

Jenkins has his name etched in the Cubs record books, holding franchise records in strikeouts (2,038) and games started (347).

On May 3, 2009, the Cubs retired the No. 31 in honor Jenkins and Greg Maddux. Ferguson “Fergie” Jenkins will forever remain in the upper echelon of the Chicago Cubs.