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  FERGIE

  M y L I F E

  F Ro M t h E C u b s

  t o C o o p E R s t ow n

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  FERGIE

  M y L I F E

  F Ro M t h E C u b s

  t o C o o p E R s t ow n

   • 

  Ferguson Jenkins

  with Lew Freedman

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  Copyright © 2009 by Ferguson Jenkins

  no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted

  in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, or otherwise, without the

  prior written permission of the publisher, triumph books, 542 south Dearborn street,

  suite 750, Chicago, Illinois 60605.

  triumph books and colophon are registered trademarks of Random house, Inc.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Jenkins, Ferguson, 1943-

  Fergie : My life from the Cubs to Cooperstown / Ferguson Jenkins, with Lew Freedman.

  p. cm.

  Includes bibliographical references.

  Isbn 978-1-60078-171-1

  1. Jenkins, Ferguson, 1943- 2. baseball players—united states—biography. 3. African

  American baseball players—biography. 4. Chicago Cubs (baseball team) I. Freedman,

  Lew. II. title.

  GV865.J38A3 2009

  796.357092--dc22

  [b]

  2008050289

  this book is available in quantity at special discounts for your group or organization. For

  further information, contact:

  Triumph Books

  542 south Dearborn street

  suite 750

  Chicago, Illinois 60605

  (312) 939-3330

  Fax (312) 663-3557

  printed in u.s.A.

  Isbn: 978-1-60078-171-1

  Design by sue Knopf

  photos courtesy of Fergie Jenkins unless otherwise indicated

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  This book is dedicated to my mother,

  Delores Louise Jenkins,

  to my father, Ferguson Jenkins Sr.,

  and to my children,

  Kimberly, Kelly, Delores, and Raymond.

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  Contents

  F o r e wo r d

  by billy williams

  ix

  I n t r o d u c t I o n by Lew Freedman

  xiii

  c h a p t e r 1

  hall of Fame

  1

  c h a p t e r 2

  Growing up in Chatham: Choosing a sport

  9

  c h a p t e r 3

  Family

  17

  c h a p t e r 4

  preparing for pro ball

  25

  c h a p t e r 5

  turning pro

  33

  c h a p t e r 6

  Moving up in the Minors, winter ball

  47

  c h a p t e r 7

  A Major Change

  65

  c h a p t e r 8

  starting for the Cubs

  73

  c h a p t e r 9

  winning in Chicago

  81

  c h a p t e r 10

  A harlem Globetrotter

  89

  c h a p t e r 11

  1969

  95

  c h a p t e r 1 2

  Inside pitching

  101

  c h a p t e r 13

  After the ’69 Collapse

  109

  c h a p t e r 14

  the Catcher: A pitcher’s best Friend

  117

  c h a p t e r 1 5

  six straight 20-win seasons and the Cy young 123

  c h a p t e r 16

  texas

  131

  c h a p t e r 17

  boston

  141

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  c h a p t e r 18

  the Achilles Injury

  147

  c h a p t e r 19

  back in texas

  153

  c h a p t e r 2 0

  End of playing Days

  157

  c h a p t e r 21

  hunting and Fishing

  163

  c h a p t e r 2 2

  oh, Canada

  171

  c h a p t e r 2 3

  personal tragedies

  177

  c h a p t e r 2 4

  Coaching baseball

  185

  c h a p t e r 2 5

  Conclusion

  191

  S o u r c e S

  198

  a b o u t t h e au t h o r

  199

  I n d e x

  201

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  Foreword

  when Ferguson Jenkins joined the Cubs, we became friends very

  quickly. we both enjoyed the outdoors, hunting and fishing when

  we were away from the ballpark. Fergie had a daughter, and my wife

  and I had four daughters, so our families became friends, too. I met

  his relatives from Canada and some of his other close friends back in

  Chatham.

  Right from the start, we rode back and forth to wrigley Field

  together from the Chicago suburbs and talked the whole time about

  baseball, fishing, and hunting. A lot of the other guys played golf, but

  I didn’t, so I was glad to have somebody on the team who enjoyed the

  same hobbies I did. we got to know each other really well and hit it

  off right away.

  when Fergie first came over to the Cubs from the philadelphia

  phillies in 1966, he was a bullpen pitcher. but Leo Durocher, our

  manager at the time, saw this tall, lanky guy, and Fergie showed Leo

  something that made him think he would be a good starting pitcher for

  us. so, the following year, he made Fergie a starter, and that changed

  things for the Cubs, for baseball, and for Fergie. It was the true begin-

  ning of his hall of Fame career.

  Fergie and I also enjoyed raising hunting dogs. we kept them at a

  friend’s place in barrington and went bird hunting there, a lot of pheas-

  ant hunting. we had a lot of good times together, in baseball and away

  from the ballpark. At one point, Fergie and I bought a boat together, a

  25-foot Chris-Craft, and used it to fish on Lake Michigan.

  ix

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  F e r g I e

  we were just two young guys trying to pick something up to use for

  fun. but then we realized we had no place to park the boat. we found

  out that it was pretty hard to get a slip in one of the Chicago harbors

  on Lake Michigan. we called up the city, and they told us there was

  no room. we didn’t know what to do. we needed a place for the boat.

  then we called someone we knew, and I don’t know what he did, but

  he might have told somebody it was two stars for the Chicago Cubs

  who needed space, because about six hours later someone called and

  said, “we found a slip for you.”

  having Fergie on the t
eam was a lot of fun for me because he liked

  to do some of the things I liked to do, but he was a great addition to

  the Cubs’ pitching staff. Any time Fergie went out to the mound, it

  gave us a lot of confidence that we were going to win the ballgame that

  day. the numbers and records prove that. he didn’t give up too many

  hits, and he didn’t give up too many runs. whenever he went to the

  mound, it reassured us that we were going to be in the ballgame. we

  knew he was going to pitch a good ballgame, and most likely he was

  going to win.

  Fergie had control, and he had the pitches to get hitters out. Every

  now and then he would position his outfielders. he would turn his

  back to the plate and face me and put one hand over his navel, point

  his fingers, and tell me to move over a couple of feet. he had such

  control with his pitches that he was pretty sure where the ball would

  go when the hitters hit it. he put me closer to the foul line, and the

  ball would be hit there. Fergie was one of the only pitchers I knew who

  could do that.

  For a period of time, Fergie and I had this thing going that when

  the season started we would each write down our goals, put them in an

  envelope, and put them away in our lockers. he would write down how

  many games he was going to win. they were goals we had for ourselves,

  and nobody knew what they were besides us.

  A lot of Cubs players were together for several years in the 1960s,

  and we shared the 1969 season when we thought we were going to

  win the pennant. Guys like Ernie banks, Ron santo, Randy hundley,

  Glenn beckert, Don Kessinger, Fergie, and I became very close. we had

  x

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  F o r e wo r d

  great chemistry and spent a lot of time together. It was a case of a close-

  knit ballclub, and we enjoyed each other. there weren’t two or three

  weeks that went by when we didn’t congregate with all of our families.

  our wives were together and talked. we have kept our friendships

  going for 40 years. Randy hundley’s fantasy baseball camps have had a

  lot to do with that. that brings a lot of us together every year.

  Fergie has had some tragedies in his life, and when his wife Mary

  Anne was killed in that automobile crash, we had just come off a

  cruise together. then when his little girl was killed, we all reached out

  to Fergie, called him on the phone to let him know we were thinking

  about him, and convinced him to come to Arizona for one of the fan-

  tasy camps when he otherwise would have stayed home. It was a chance

  for us to help him a little bit and boost his feelings.

  when Fergie was going through those tragic moments, it was a

  good thing that we all congregated. we had a sit-down dinner, about

  25 of us, and sat around and talked baseball. that was good therapy for

  Fergie. he has had some difficult times, but he has bounced back.

  Fergie spends a lot of time doing charity work. he flies all over the

  country. Any athlete who appreciates what he has gained through play-

  ing professional sports is conscious of giving back, and Fergie does a

  lot. I really do admire what he’s doing. he’s doing a great job with it.

  —Billy Williams

  Hall of Fame 1987

  xi

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  Introduction

  when a baseball fan mentions the name “Ferguson,” everyone knows

  he is talking about Ferguson Jenkins. Ferguson is a more common last

  name than first name. the recognition factor is probably even higher if

  the name “Fergie” is uttered because that’s Jenkins’ nickname and his

  preferred method of identification.

  Fergie is an informal name, and Jenkins is not a man who holds

  much with pretense. he is an informal guy who enjoys greeting people

  and estimates he has signed 1 million autographs over the last four and

  a half decades. If throwing a fastball 90 miles per hour did not leave

  him with any soreness in his right hand, arm, or shoulder, scrawling his

  signature should at least produce writer’s cramp.

  From the time he first adapted to pitching as a schoolboy in

  Chatham, ontario, until he retired from Major League baseball in

  1983, Ferguson Jenkins was a marvel on the mound. he concluded a

  19-year big-league career with the philadelphia phillies, Chicago Cubs,

  texas Rangers, and boston Red sox, with 284 victories and 226 losses

  for a .557 winning percentage.

  Jenkins won at least 20 games in a season six years in a row and

  seven times in eight years. he is one of an elite corps of pitchers to

  strike out more than 3,000 batters in a career, and his lifetime earned-

  run average was 3.34. Jenkins’ longevity, productivity, and excellence

  earned him induction into the national baseball hall of Fame in 1991.

  he was the first Canadian citizen—and remains the only Canadian—so

  honored.

  xiii

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  F e r g I e

  A tremendous athlete who excelled in a number of sports as a

  youngster—and remains an avid hunter, fisherman, and all-around

  outdoorsman as well as an active golfer—Jenkins channeled his skills

  into befuddling batters and achieving rare distinctions during his play-

  ing days.

  Jenkins is a man of many parts. he was a Canadian in the united

  states’ national pastime. he was a black man who overcame discrimi-

  nation in the American south. he was the toast of big cities from

  Chicago to Dallas, but never forgot his small-town roots. he had a

  natural gift, but after retiring as a baseball player, he sought to teach

  pitching wizardry as a coach. Jenkins is a man who has reaped the

  financial benefits of being a famous athlete, but gives back to his com-

  munities—American and Canadian—with passionate fund-raising for

  good causes and makes himself available for events coast-to-coast in

  both countries to help others.

  Jenkins has been a very fortunate man in many ways, but he has

  endured terrible personal tragedies and had his faith in God tested by

  them. there have been unforeseen challenges over the years that might

  have left another man bitter, but he has persevered. As there often is

  for anyone who lives long enough, there has been glory and heartbreak

  for Jenkins along the way.

  best remembered for his high-flying days with the Chicago Cubs

  (though he is also enshrined in the texas Rangers’ team hall of Fame),

  Jenkins has fond memories (and stories from) each of his major-league

  clubs. with some, it was because of the success he enjoyed. with

  others, it was simply because of the good company—teammates—who

  contributed to making his stays tremendous fun.

  Jenkins was a well-paid athlete for his time, but by modern stan-

  dards he was underpaid. During Jenkins’ prime pitching years in the

  1960s and 1970s, the top salaries earned by superstars in baseball

  surpassed $100,000 but peaked out at hank Aaron’s $200,000-a-year
r />   contract.

  Mixed in with his active travel and donation of his time for

  charitable work, including raising money for the Ferguson Jenkins

  Foundation (an ontario-based organization that contributes to worthy

  xiv

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  I n t r o d u c t I o n

  groups in Canada and the united states), Jenkins also travels exten-

  sively, making personal appearances where he is one of the star attrac-

  tions. And when the Cubs call, Jenkins is a willing vocalist, leading the

  singing of “take Me out to the ballgame” during the seventh-inning

  stretch at wrigley Field.

  Few people are as much in need of a planner in their suitcase as

  Jenkins. If it’s tuesday, it must be a sports collectible store in Chicago

  on the Fergie itinerary. If it’s wednesday, it must be Cooperstown for

  a hall of Fame event. If it’s thursday, it must be Kansas City for a golf

  tournament. to Jenkins, a handy calendar with commitments penciled

  in is as important as carrying his frequent flyer number in his wallet at

  all times. have carry-on satchel, will go.

  For a two-hour autograph appearance at a new store called the

  Fan’s Edge in a Chicago suburb during the 2008 baseball season,

  Jenkins settled into a cushy armchair in front of a spare table and

  greeted a line of fans that extended most of the length of the store and

  out the door into the shopping mall corridor. the store sponsored

  Jenkins’ appearance as part of its grand opening strategy, so the auto-

  graphs were free to patrons.

  some of the fans were gray-haired, clearly old enough to have

  cheered for Jenkins when he pitched for the Cubs for the last time

  25 years earlier. some of the children accompanying parents or grand-

  parents did not really know who he was, but were urged to pose for

  pictures with the hall of Famer in hopes that they would appreciate

  the moment later, when they are older. some were teenage boys who

  were sports memorabilia collectors wishing to add to their private stash

  of baseball souvenirs.

  Jenkins keeps his head clean-shaven in Michael Jordan style (“I’m

  bald,” he says), wears a small earring in his left ear, and for such casual

  public appearances dresses casually in shirts that do not require tucking

  into the slacks that are fancier than jeans, but less formal than dress

  pants. Each time Jenkins cupped a gleaming, naked white baseball

  before autographing it, he showed off his large hands. the combina-