Canadian baseball legend Fergie Jenkins in Chatham
Fergie Jenkins is visiting his hometown one month ahead of the Chicago Cubs honouring the Hall of Fame pitcher with a new statue at Wrigley Field.
The Canadian baseball legend shared on social media he paid a visit to his childhood home in Chatham, Ont., earlier this week.
“It's great to come back. This is my heritage,” Jenkins says. “I've got a lot of relatives here. And I just enjoy knowing that this was my hometown.”
Jenkins was born in Chatham in 1942.
Jenkins tells CTV News he is working to relocate The Fergie Jenkins Foundation from St. Catherines to Chatham.
“My kids are here,” Jenkins explains. “I'd like to have them see more of the of the museum and have them be more of a part of it.”
The Cubs announced earlier this month that Fergie Jenkins’ statue will be unveiled on May 20 and will be part of “Statue Row” in a new section of the ballpark.
“Alongside a bunch of my teammates,” Jenkins says. “My roommate Ernie Banks, and teammates Billy Williams and Ron Santo. It's going to be a small park right outside of Wrigley Field called Gallagher Way and we're going to be honoured all four of us are going to be together once again!”
Thursday marked 56 years that Jenkins was traded to The Cubs, launching a legendary career. Jenkins would win a Cy Young Award and record six straight 20-win seasons in Chicago.
Jenkins is one of two Canadian-born Hall of Famers and was Canada's first major league baseball player inducted in the Hall of Fame, pitching 18 seasons in the majors and gathering more than 3,000 strikeouts.
Jenkins says he hopes to be back in Chatham before summer to see his foundation and museum successfully relocate.
“My hometown is Chatham,” he says. “It'd be nice to bring it back here and if the mayor can find a beautiful building, and all the exhibits, I had memorabilia balls, bats, uniforms, fellas I played with pictures. My dad had seven scrapbooks. And we had those on display in St. Catherine’s but we’ll bring it back here and people can see my baseball career started right here at Chatham.”
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