Ferguson Jenkins is one of the baseball players we've discussed during our practices. Fergie appeared in an in-depth interview with John Callaway on Channel 11 (WTTW) on Friday, April 17th.
Update:
I had a chance to watch Ferguson Jenkins' appearance on WTTW. Most of the discussion was about his early life, the tragedies that he's faced throughout his life, and his experiences with racial issues while playing baseball in the 1960's.
Fergie mentioned that he didn't start pitching until the age of 16! As a Canadian, he was mostly interested in hockey and also played a lot of basketball when he was young.
He did talk about the differences between a thrower and a pitcher--and how pitchers are able to change speed and location to get hitters out. He talked about how he would routinely throw 165 pitches a game--something unheard of today.
Finally, he shared a funny story about Willie McCovey--one of the great lefthanded hitters of his day. Fergie said that Willie McCovey was one of the hitters who he had a lot of trouble getting out. McCovey once hit a homerun in San Francisco off Jenkins that may have gone over 600 feet.
The next time that Ferguson Jenkins and the Cubs visited San Francisco, the phone rang in Fergie's hotel room. Fergie's roommate, the great Ernie Banks (known as Mr. Cub) answered the phone. Ernie told Fergie that the concierge wanted to let him know that his limo was ready. Fergie said that he didn't reserve a limo. Ernie then mentioned that Willie McCovey had the limo sent to the hotel so that Fergie wouldn't be late for the game. Jenkins was scheduled to be the starting pitcher that afternoon and McCovey wanted to be sure to hit against him!
Of course, Fergie wasn't the only pitcher who had trouble retiring Willie McCovey. McCovey eventually entered baseball's Hall of Fame. And, a section of the San Francisco Bay located just beyond the rightfield wall of the stadium is named after him (McCovey Bay).
2011 Chicagoland Tournament Champions & 2011 Lombard Tournament Champions!
