In the pantheon of Chicago Cubs pitchers through the decades, very few can match the dominance and longevity of Fergie Jenkins. That’s probably why he’s a Hall of Famer, and roundly considered one of the best – if not the best – pitchers in franchise history. He’s certainly among the best starting pitchers in baseball history.
For those reasons, it is wholly appropriate that the man is going to be forever immortalized at Wrigley Field, where he pitched so well for so long:
The Cubs have a Fergie Jenkins statue in the planning stages. It could be unveiled as early as 2022. Location at Wrigley Field is to be determined.
Jenkins: "It just brings a smile to your face, knowing that you're going to be immortal."
More soon on https://t.co/XyV3PiA6xx pic.twitter.com/1SEU4Tx4sf
— Jordan Bastian (@MLBastian) April 6, 2021
“Meet Me At The Fergie Statue!” pic.twitter.com/IsybfVJGT7
— Fergie Jenkins (@fergieajenkins) April 6, 2021
Fergie will join Ernie Banks, Billy Williams, Ron Santo, and Harry Caray with statues at Wrigley Field.
Just a legendary career for the Canadian-born righty:
https://twitter.com/SABRbioproject/status/1338116928141979650
4,500 innings pitched
3,192 strikeouts
284 wins
3.34 ERA
267 complete games (!)Happy birthday to a legend, @fergieajenkins! pic.twitter.com/jUZ7w5EECp
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) December 13, 2020
Fergie had FIVE(!) seasons throwing over 300(!) innings. Yes, the game was different then, but you still had to be absurdly good to justify that many starts and that many innings. And Fergie was absurdly good. The guy had a season (1971, Cy Young) where he threw 325.0 innings and had 31 unintentional walks against 263 strikeouts. I mean, 30 of his 39 starts that year were complete games! You just couldn’t do anything.