Pegasus Interviews Baseball Hall of Famer Fergie Jenkins

by Justin Smith

Photo by Laura Seewoester

Fergie Jenkins, ex-pitcher for the Cubs and the Rangers. Jenkins had 49 career shut outs and won The Cy Young Award 1971. "He's just a bad-ass pitcher," says Peg staffer Justin Smith.

Fergie Jenkins stood up to meet me and gave me a cheerful smile as we introduced ourselves to one another. This massive giant had hands that practically enveloped my whole forearm when we shook hands. I got a chance to speak with Mr. Jenkins at the “Baseball As America” exhibit preview at the Museum of Nature and Science.

Pegasus News: You were known for being a control pitcher. Do you feel the league and the public today focus more on power pitchers rather than ones who tend to be a little more on the finesse side?

Fergie Jenkins: Well, things have definitely changed. When I was pitching, we would pitch 140 pitches per game. We had an early reliever and a late reliever. Nowadays, you have a reliever or hold, setup guy, then a closer. To tell you the truth, innings 7, 8, 9, those were the innings I wanted to pitch. Those were my games to win. I didn't want to just hand them over to somebody else. I had good control, but honestly I was just interested in one thing. Throwing strikes. Finesse or power, strikes win the game.

PN: You had an influential father in your life. How do you feel about modern players who are coming up today that probably have less of a chance of having father figures teaching them about the game today?

FJ: Did you know that my father played in the Negro League. And being from Canada my father first taught me about hockey and baseball and took me to my first games. I think it’s important for fathers to be around to teach their children about the game.