On the blog today, adding to the "missing" 1971
Baseball's Greatest Moments checklist with a card for the great Fergie
Jenkins of the Chicago Cubs, celebrating his fourth straight 20-win
season in 1970:
Fergie
was just tacking on great season after great season at this time, with
1970 seeing him post a career-best (at the time) 22 wins while
completing 24 of his 39 starts, tossing three shutouts and pitching to a
3.39 ERA over 313 innings, with 274 strikeouts, topping his previous
high mark by one.
An absolute machine,
he still had another three 20-win season's in the tank, including his 24
from 1971 that brought home a Cy Young Award, when he also completed an
astounding 30 of 39 starts, striking out 263 batters and posting a 2.77
ERA over 325 innings.
As we all know, he put together a Hall of Fame career, topping 280 wins,
3000 strikeouts, with 49 shutouts, the aforementioned Cy Young Award in 1971 and four
other top-3 finishes in the award voting.
In 1991 he capped off his career with an induction into Cooperstown on his third try, just getting the 75% of the vote with 75.4% support.
On a geeky side-note, “Fly” was also the first pitcher to ever regsiter 3000+ strikeouts while issuing less than 1000 base on balls.
In 1991 he capped off his career with an induction into Cooperstown on his third try, just getting the 75% of the vote with 75.4% support.
On a geeky side-note, “Fly” was also the first pitcher to ever regsiter 3000+ strikeouts while issuing less than 1000 base on balls.
