Fergie
Written By Bernie Weisz Dec. 27th, 2009 Pembroke Pines, Florida e mail:[email protected] Ferguson Jenkin's new book, "Fergie:My Life From The Cubs to Cooperstown" truly invites the reader into his life, from his baseball career, to his personal tragedies of divorce, suicide of his fiancee, death of his daughter and mother, the story of his drug arrest, and much more. Jenkins had written two prior books, "Inside Pitching" in 1972 and "Like Nobody Else:The Fergie Jenkins Story" in 1973, but this all came before his best season ever, which was in 1974. That year, with the Texas Rangers he led the American League in wins and won more games than in any other, with a record of 25 victories and 12 losses. In no other book that he wrote, does Jenkins reveal his thoughts so candidly and reflect on his life, from his experiences with the Harlem Globetrotters basketball team to playing two seasons with the Boston Red sox, the end of his playing days, and ultimately, his election into the Hall of Fame in 1991. He was a three time All-Star and also won the Cy Young Award with the Chicago Cubs in 1971, recording 24 victories and 12 losses with an ERA of 2.77. Born December 13th, 1942 in Chatham, Ontario, Canada, Jenkins spent the majority of his career pitching for the Chicago Cubs from 1966 to 1973 and his last two years in baseball in 1982 and 1983. He also had stints with the Philadelphia Phillies as a rookie (1965-1966), the Texas Rangers (1974-1975 and 1978 to 1981) and the Boston Red Sox (1976 and 1977. Jenkins details each stop along the way, including his minor league playing days in the Florida State League, where he bitterly recalls the racial prejudice he experienced before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibited discrimination in public facilities. Jenkins describes how he was signed by Philadelphia Phillies scout Tony Lucadello in 1962. Jenkins mournfully recalls how after Lucadello discovered he was dying from pancreatic cancer, he drove over to the ball fields in Ohio, where he had scouted players over the years, and killed himself. Jenkins details his major league debut at age 22 in 1965 as a relief pitcher. He describes his shock at finding out he was traded the following year to the Chicago Cubs with Adolpho Phillips and John Hernstein for Larry Jackson and Bob Buhl. From there, Jenkins bloomed into one of baseball's premier pitchers. In his first full year as a starter for the Cubs in 1967, he recorded 20 wins and 13 losses, posing an ERA of 2.80 and 236 strikeouts. He was tied for second in the Cy Young award voting, following Mike McCormick of the San Francisco Giants. He also was picked for the All Star Game that season. This started an incredible skein of 20 game victories each season that ran until 1972, a feat that has never been duplicated. In 1968, Jenkins recalls that despite a losing season, his numbers would improve to 20 wins and 15 losses, an ERA of 2.63 and 260 K's. Amazingly, that year he lost five of his starts in 1-0 ball games, in what was called "The Year of the Pitcher". He wrote: After the 1968 season, when Bob Gibson recorded an ERA of 1.12 and Denny McLain won 31 games, baseball officials felt the game had become imbalanced, with the rules favoring pitchers too much. You probably wouldn't get a pitcher to admit such a thing, but the league lowered the mounds, and batting averages did go up". The reader wonders if there is a steroid accusation in his mention of Reggie Jackson when Jenkins notes: I first met Reggie when he was about 21 years old with the Oakland A's in Spring Traning in Arizona. Reggie was a thin player at the time. He started bulking up with Baltimore and got bigger when he was with the Yankees" Jenkins writes his impressions of the core of the 1968 Cubs, with passages about Ron Santo, Glenn Beckett, Billy Williams, Randy Hundley, Ernie Banks, Joe Niekro, Bill Hands and Ken Holtzman. One of the strangest stories in this book was Ken Holtzman's disappearance during the bloody summer of 1968 and America's debacle concerning the Tet Offensive in Vietnam. Jenkins writes: "That was the summer that the Democratic National convention took place in Chicago. It was a heated time in American society, with the Vietnam War firing up and the civil rights movement on everyone's minds. Kenny Holtzman was a member of the Illinois National Guard, and he was called up to serve in the middle of the season, He traded his cubs hat for a hard helmet, and his cub's uniform for a soldier's uniform as thousands of young people demonstrated in the streets. One minute Kenny was with us, the next he was down the street in a different arena." Another interesting anecdote was his recollection of the turmoil the Cubs experienced in 1968, that had racial connotations. Jenkins wrote: "There was a lot of tension on the Cubs early in the season, some of it black and white. Lou Johnson was a new member of the team. He was a solid hitter, and all-around player, someone activ
