Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Ferguson Jenkins turns 70 today.

Ten Notes On Ferguson Jenkins.

1- Ferguson Jenkins was born and raised in Canada. He would be the first Canadian to be elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

2. Ferguson Jenkins played for four different teams- Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs, Texas Rangers, Boston Red Sox and finishing up back with the Cubs.

3. Ferguson won 20 games with the Cubs 6 seasons in a row. He won 20 or more 7 out of 8 seasons at one point from 1967-1974. Twice he led the league in wins.

4. Jenkins greatest years were with the Cubs. My first memory of him was Pirate announcer Bob Prince saying that the Pirates were facing Ferguson Jenkins and His Orchestra. He thought Ferguson Jenkins was a name that sounded like a band leaders.

5. Jenkins pitched 19 seasons in the majors but never pitched in the playoffs. I have always felt that he was the most underrated pitcher of his era. You would hear about Gibson, Marichal, Palmer, Seaver, Hunter, Carlton etc but Jenkins is rarely mentioned with them. I think his lack of pitching in the big games hurt him. No playoff or World Series moments. It was never his fault it was the teams he was on.

6. Jenkins all time record was 284-226 with a 3.34 ERA. He won the National League Cy Young Award in 1971. He made 3 All-Star teams.

7. Jenkins had great control he is one of only 4 major league pitchers with over 3000 strikeouts and under 1000 walks during his career- Greg Maddux, Curt Schilling and Pedro Martinez are the others in that club.

8. Jenkins wasn’t elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame until his  third year of eligibility. This may have been because of a drug arrest late in his career.

9. Jenkins is one of 12 black pitchers in baseball history to have won 20 games. He leads that group with 7 20 game seasons, Bob Gibson had 5.

10. Early in his baseball career he played with the Harlem Globetrotters in the off-season.