In June 2023 during Induction Weekend festivities at the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame, the road which runs through the Hall of Fame property was renamed in honour of Ferguson (Fergie) Jenkins.
Fergie Jenkins was born in Chatham, Ontario in 1942. He grew up playing basketball, hockey, and of course, baseball. Jenkins signed with the Philadelphia Phillies after graduating high school, but was traded in 1966 to the Chicago Cubs who began the process of transitioning him into a starting pitching role.
In his first season as a full-time starter, Jenkins recorded 20 wins, and was selected to pitch in the 1967 All-Star game. His career only improved after his inaugural season as a starter, leading to 1971 when Jenkins won the National League Cy Young Award. By the time Jenkins retired after the 1983 season, he had appeared in 664 games (including 267 complete games), and he was the first pitcher to end his career with at least 3,000 strikeouts, while registering fewer than 1,000 walks.
Fergie Jenkins was inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 1987. In 1991, he became the first Canadian inducted into Cooperstown, not to be joined by another Canuck until Larry Walker’s induction in 2020.
Fergie Jenkins is one of Canada’s most successful baseball figures, which is why the street was named in his honour in 2023.
