Ferguson Jenkins (born December 13, 1942, in Chatham) | Black History Month | Seneca Students

Ferguson Jenkins is a descendent of American slaves who escaped slavery through the underground railway to Canada. Mr. Jenkins was born to Delores and Ferguson Jenkins, both athletes in their own rights (Ferguson Jenkins, 2022). He grew up playing hockey and basketball. He began playing baseball when he was a teenager. Although he had dreams of becoming a hockey player, he was scouted at the age of 15 and went on to a 21-year professional baseball career as a pitcher. During this time, he broke several records and reached noted milestones with “284 victories…the most by a Black pitcher in major league history” (Ferguson Jenkins, 2022, para. 1).

In 1971, he was awarded the NL Cy Young Award as the league’s top pitcher (Ferguson Jenkins, 2022). He was inducted into the National baseball Hall of Fame in 1991 and was the only Canadian to have had the honour until 2020. Over his career he accumulated many awards and was appointed to the Order of Canada in 2007. In 2010, he was honoured with a Canadian Stamp and in 2011 he traveled across Canada to talk about the stamp and speak on behalf of Black History initiatives.

Reference

Ferguson Jenkins. (2022, February 4). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferguson_Jenkins