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JACKIE JENSEN
The Golden Boy
Jackie Jensen
was one of America's sporting greats. An outstanding collegiate football
player and baseball player for the University of California at Berkely,
he is one of the few athletes to have ever played in both the Rose Bowl
and baseball's World Series. His career as a professional baseball player
took him to the title of American League Most Valuable Player in 1958,
with a career which included playing for the Washington Senators, the
New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox. He is honored as a member of
the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame and the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame.
His biography
cited in the Bay Area Sports Hall of fame website reads:
"Jack
Eugene Jensen, "Jackie"
University of California, 1946-48
Oakland Oaks, 1949
NY Yankees, 1950-52
Washington Senators, 1952-53
Boston Red Sox, 1954-61
Football and baseball great Jackie Jensen was born in San Francisco 1927.
An All-American halfback at the University of California, Berkeley, he
also played on the UC baseball team as a pitcher-outfielder. Jensen began
his professional career playing for the Oakland Oaks of the Pacific Coast
League, and in 1949 was sold to the New York Yankees. He was traded to
the Washington Senators in 1952, and a year later went to the Boston Red
Sox where he played through 1961. In 1958, Jensen was named the American
League MVP and led the league in runs-batted-in. He has the unique distinction
of playing in both the Rose Bowl and the World Series. Enshrined in the
Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame in 1983."
Off the field, Jackie was one of the icons of his era: handsome, generous,
and gentlemanly. He featured on the cover of many magazines, including
Sports Illustrated, shown here, and was the subject of a feature film,
"The Jackie Jensen Story". He was painted by Norman Rockwell.
He also featured on numerous baseball cards by Topps and others, often
spending hours signing autographs for fans who sent him the cards, and
returning them by post.
His fear
of flying was legendary, causing him to quit baseball at the height of
his career.
After retiring from baseball as player, he went on to become a sports
presenter for ABC TV. He was also the baseball coach for the University
of Nevada, Reno, and at his alma mater, Cal Berkeley, before moving to
Virginia, where he became a Christmas tree farmer and established the
Jackie Jensen Baseball Camp at Fork Union Military Academy.
Throughout
his life, Jack remained an outstanding sportsman - skier, tennis player,
and golfer. He played in the Bing Crosby Pro Am tournament at Pebble Beach
for many years, and won the Michelob Busch golf tournament in Williamsburg,
Virginia shortly before his death in 1982.
Find out more about the amazing life of Jackie Jensen in his biography,
"The Golden Boy: A Biography of Jackie Jensen" by sports writer,
George Martin; click the link to Amazon.com, where you can buy it on line
Book details:
Paperback
224 pages (June 1, 2000)
Publisher: Peter E. Randall Publisher
ISBN: 0914339869
Image
courtesy of and Copyright Sports Illustrated; other content Copyright
© quoted authors.
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