The 100 Greatest in 100 Days: #85 Ferguson Jenkins

Landing at #85 on our list is Ferguson Jenkins. Fergie used his pinpoint control and tireless arm to become one of only six pitchers in MLB history (and only the second in the last 100 years) to throw 4,500 career innings with a WHIP less than 1.15 and a BB/9 of two or less. Fergie led the league in wins twice and finished in the top-3 seven times. He led the league in strikeout-to-walk ratio and BB/9 five times, complete games four times, and finished in the top-10 in WHIP an astounding 13 times.  He won the 1971 NL Cy Young Award and nearly won it four more times finishing 2nd in 1967 and 1974 and 3rd in 1970 and 1972. Jenkins is the only player in MLB history to have at least 24 wins and a strikeout-to-walk ratio of at least 7.0 in the same season. He’s the only player in the last 100 years with at least 265 career complete games and a WHIP under 1.15. He’s the only player in the last 100 years with a season of at least 30 complete games and a BB/9 of 1.0 or less. He’s one of only three players in the last 100 years to lead the American League and the National League in wins. He’s the only player in the last 80 years with a season of 25 wins and a BB/9 of 1.2 or less, and he’s one of only four players in the last 100 years to win at least 115 games in both leagues.

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Hi (hopefully) awesome reader! I welcome your comments. However, please be aware that I make all of my arguments using facts, statistics, and logic. Unfortunately, the average comment on a top-100 list goes something like this:

"UR StooPid. (Insert player) is trash. I've watched (pick a sport) for (pick a number of years) and (pick a player) is better than everyone. UR DUMB. HAHA6969."

–Some Jabroni

As cognitively stimulating as this species of comment is, it ends up being a missed opportunity to share a nuanced perspective. I reply to all comments that show even the most basic levels of thought and humility. The people who make the comments like the example above are under the assumption that the three seconds of thought that popped into their brains after reading the list is more than the 1000s of hours that I put into creating and maintaining the lists. I would be happy to defend any placement, or make an adjustment if one is warranted. If you are a jabroni, like the one above, then your comment will die in the lonely void of the unpublished comments section.

For everyone else, I look forward to your comments!

P.S. The theme of this site and the top-100 lists is that athletes from previous generations have historically been grossly overrated by sports publications in a way that is statistically improbable. Click on the "About" dropdown menu to see just how badly the average top-100 list disproportionately favors athletes from older generations when leagues were smaller, race quotas existed, and globalization wasn't a thing. Also, please consider reading "The History" section of the sport you are commenting on.

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