Entry Category: Baseball - Starting with J

Randy Jackson was a talented multi-sport athlete who played approximately ten years with three different major league baseball teams in the 1950s. During his collegiate and professional athletic careers, the Little Rock (Pulaski County) native received recognition for his skills in both baseball and football. Ransom Joseph (Randy) Jackson was born in Little Rock on February 10, 1926, to Ransom Joseph Jackson, who was a cotton broker and insurance salesman, and Ann Polk Coolidge Jackson. He had a younger sister, Suzanne. Ransom grew up in Little Rock attending what is now Central High School. Sports were severely cut during his time at the school due to World War II. Neither football nor baseball were played, leaving Ransom to participate in …

Fergie Jenkins was a major league pitcher in the 1960s, 1970s, and early 1980s. Over his nineteen-year major league career, the six-foot-five-inch right-hander established a reputation for consistency and durability. Jenkins pitched for the Arkansas Travelers in 1963, 1964, and 1965, and was only the second African American to play for the Travelers. He won a Cy Young Award in 1971 and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1991. Ferguson Arthur (Fergie) Jenkins Jr. was born on December 13, 1942 (although some records say 1943, Jenkins has always maintained that it was 1942) in Chatham, Ontario, Canada. He was the only child of Ferguson Arthur Jenkins Sr. and Delores Jenkins. Growing up in Chatham, Jenkins was a …