all it rubbing it in, sticking it to ya, or he who laughs last laughs best.
On September 8, 1972, the Chicago Cubs defeated the Phillies 4-3 at Veterans Stadium. The winning pitcher was Ferguson Jenkins, who pitched a complete game for his 20th victory of the year. It was the sixth consecutive season he had won twenty or more games.
“What I’m going to say may shock the fans, and maybe they won’t take it the right way,” he said after the game, “but I’m going to say it anyway. I no longer want to be categorized with other active pitchers. I want people to say that Fergie Jenkins belongs in a class by himself. That’s a great class to be in, and these great Cub players – Ron Santo, Billy Williams, Randy Hundley – have put me in that class by scoring runs for the team. I’m not saying that I’m a better pitcher than anyone else, but I have done something that others haven’t – I’ve now won twenty games six seasons in a row. Among active pitchers that puts me in a class by myself.”
The last two pitchers to accomplish that feat were Robin Roberts and Warren Spahn. And no one has done it the last half century since Jenkins achieved it.
