Since baseball season is upon us, Utah has decided to honor one of its own legends of the game by inducting him into the State of Utah’s Sports Hall of Fame. The person in question is none other than Cletus “The Bird” Jenkins. If you have not heard of him, then you are missing out one of baseball’s most controversial pitchers.Mr. Jenkins was born in 1920, one year after the famed “Black Sox Scandal,” in the town of Vernal, Utah. Cletus had a natural ability to play baseball, part of which was due to the fact that his middle finger was longer than what it should have been on average. As he grew up, scouts began to take notice of him and his extraordinary abilities as a pitcher, and he was drafted by the Cincinnati Red Legs. During his minor league stint with the Chickasaw Mudpuppies, Jenkins amassed an amazing record of 17 wins, 2 losses, an ERA of 1.17 and the nickname “The Bird” before being called up to the majors. Unfortunately, his major league career only lasted half a season.
I decided to make way out to where he is living now, close to his hometown, and pay him a visit. After making my way through the open fields, past several barbed wire fences and finally over a mountain ridgeline, I arrived at the out of the way home of Cletus “The Bird “ Jenkins. As soon as I was able to convince him that I was not a government agent, a body snatcher or a missionary, he was nice enough to put away his shotgun and call off his dogs. Once I climbed down from the tree, I was face to face with the Utah legend and I had questions.
The Regal Seagull: “How does it feel to be recognized by your home state as a Hall of Famer?”
Cletus Jenkins: “Oh I reckon it feels alright. You hunt?”
The Regal Seagull: “Ummm no, no I don’t. But I think it’s a wonderful thing. Tell me, how did you come by the nickname “The Bird”?
Cletus Jenkins: “You know? I never did quite figure that one out. You want some squirrel jerky?”
The Regal Seagull: “No thank you.”
Cletus Jenkins: “You sure?”
The Regal Seagull: “Yes I am sure, thank you.”
Cletus Jenkins: “Suit yerself.”
The Regal Seagull: “How many different types of pitches did you throw as a pitcher?”
Cletus Jenkins: “Oh I threw four pitches pretty good. I had a fastball, of course, a curveball, a knuckleball and screwball. Say, you ain’t one of them people who put that radio transistor in my teeth are ya?”
The Regal Seagull: “No sir, I’m not. They say that your career only lasted half a season. Why is that?”
Cletus Jenkins: “Well they say it was fer my own safety. I don’t know why but fer some reason every team I pitched against got real sore with me and batters would always charge the mound and I would get into fights with them. I ain’t never hit a batter when I was pitching, so I don’t know why they got so mad. I got told that I set a record for inciting the most bench clearing brawls, though I never said an ill word to them. Well, not until after they were yelling and wanting to fight me. If you ask me, I think it was them commies or the CIA out to ruin the game and me.”
The Regal Seagull: “You don’t think it was because of how you grip the ball or what they might have thought you were doing to them?”
Cletus Jenkins: “What are you implying?”
The Regal Seagull: “Ummmm nothing Mr. Bird, I mean Mr. Jenkins.”
Cletus Jenkins: “I told you, it was them commies or the CIA.”
The Regal Seagull: “Well the CIA was not”- click- “Uhhh you have a point sir. Absolutely.”
The Regal Seagull: “Before I leave, would you mind showing me the grips you used on those pitches of yours?”
More Utah news at The Regal Seagull
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