Ryan Dempster, Rich Harden, Scott Richmond and Jeff Francis are a few of the pitchers who are currently starting pitchers on big league clubs. None of them will threaten the 200 win level, let alone the three hundred win level. In fact none of them are likely future hall of famers. What they have in common is that they are all Canadians.
In the history of Canadian baseball players, none was greater or won more games than Ferguson Jenkins. Jenkins was inducted into the baseball Hall of Fame in 1991, exactly 20 years after winning the Cy Young Award.
Jenkins became a big leaguer in 1965 and pitched 2 seasons with the Phillies. The Phillies apparently never saw the potential in Fergie and traded him to the Cubs where in his first full season in 1967 Jenkins won 20 games. The next year Jenkins won 20 games a year and lost 5 other games by the score of 1-0. I guess you could say he lacked some run support in those games. From 1967-1974 Jenkins won at least 20 games in 7 out of 8 seasons. Amazing numbers for any pitcher over an eight year period.
When Jenkins career ended in 1983, he was just 16 wins short of that 300 number. Maybe if he had a bit more run support in a few games he would have made it.
I had the privilege of spending some time with Jenkins back in 1991. He was in my hometown for a speaking engagement and I was invited to his hotel room to talk with him and get a few things autographed. He was a very nice and humble man. I am sure he never remembered me, but I remember him. To baseball fans in Canada, Ferguson Jenkins is the Greatest Canadian Pitcher of all time.
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