Hall of Fame Members

Lore & Background

Jenkins was born and raised in Chatham, Ontario, the only child of Delores Jackson and Ferguson Jenkins Sr. His father, a chef and chauffeur, was the son of immigrants from Barbados, while his mother was a descendant of captive Africans enslaved in America, who escaped through the Underground Railroad before settling in Southwestern Ontario. Both of his parents were good athletes; his father was an amateur boxer and semi-professional baseball player for the Chatham Coloured All-Stars.

A talented athlete, Jenkins competed in track and field, ice hockey, and basketball in his school years, lettering five times. When he began playing bantam baseball in his teens, he started out as a first baseman. He honed his pitching skills by throwing pieces of coal from a local coal yard, aiming at either an open ice chute or the gaps of passing boxcars. He was also encouraged to continue working on his pitching by Gene Dziadura, a former shortstop in the Chicago Cubs minor league system, and a Philadelphia Phillies scout. Many training sessions involving the two followed, until Jenkins graduated from high school.

Reader's Guide

Jenkins was a 20-game winner for seven seasons, including six consecutive seasons for the Cubs. He was the NL leader in wins, in 1971, and the American League (AL) leader in wins, in 1974. Jenkins was also the NL leader in complete games in 1967, 1970, and 1971, and the AL leader in complete games in 1974. He led the NL in strikeouts in 1969 and had over 3,000 strikeouts during his career. His 284 victories are the most by a black pitcher in major league history. Jenkins played basketball in the off-season for the Harlem Globetrotters from 1967 to 1969, and pitched two seasons in Canada for the minor league London Majors following his major league career. Jenkins became the first Canadian to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1991; he remained the only one until Larry Walker's election in 2020.

Did You Know?

• He threw a complete game in 30 of 39 starts during the 1971 season.
• Jenkins was named NL Player of the Month in July 1971, with a 6–1 record, a 2.14 ERA, and 49 strikeouts.
• In 1974, Jenkins achieved a personal best 25 wins, setting a Texas Rangers franchise record that still stands.
• Jenkins is one of the Black Aces, black pitchers with at least 20 wins in a single MLB season.