Ferguson Arthur Jenkins, lovingly known as “Fergie,” was born December 13, 1942, in Chatham, Ontario, to Delores Jackson and Ferguson Jenkins Sr. His father was the son of immigrants from Barbados, and his mother descended from American slaves who bravely escaped through the Underground Railroad before settling in southwestern Ontario.

As a young man, Fergie possessed a strong work ethic. He was determined and competitive, excelling in multiple sports including track and field, ice hockey and basketball. It was baseball, however, and more specifically his brilliant ability to throw with unique speed and accuracy, that garnered him attention well before graduating high school. In 1965, at the age of 22, he made his major-league debut as relief pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies. The following year, he was traded to the Chicago Cubs, where he honed his professional pitching career on the iconic Wrigley Field, a ballpark known to favour hitters. Jenkins would go on to earn All-Star recognition and win the Cy Young in 1971.

As exceptional as Jenkins was on the pitcher’s mound, he also played basketball with the Harlem Globetrotters from 1967-69. In 1979, Fergie was named a member of the Order of Canada well before formally retiring in 1983 from his beloved sport. In 1991, Jenkins became the first Canadian ever to be inducted in the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.

This June 10, please join me in Chatham-Kent as we honour Fergie by revealing his full-size bronze statue, an exact replica of the one that stands proudly in Wrigley Field.