Erica Jong, Meet Jackie Jensen

Post date: Jul 3, 2013 2:50:57 PM

ERICA JONG, MEET JACKIE JENSEN

Who better to think about while travelling to New England than the most enigmatingly fascinating home run hero the region ever knew: Jackie Jensen. If ever an individual was cast for the lead role of “America’s Post War Hero” it was Jensen. The strange, rather sad circumstances that led to his fall from the limelight to the shadows is just as interesting.

Born March 9, 1927 in San Francisco, the handsome, husky Jensen was a three sport sensation at Oakland’s Technical High School, and after a brief stint in the Navy during World War II, he earned a football scholarship to the University of California, playing under Pappy Waldorf. At Cal the affable Jensen gave the grandfatherly Waldorf all he expected and more, becoming Cal’s first 1,000 yard rusher, winning All American honors, and finishing fourth in the Heisman Trophy balloting. He also scored a touchdown in their upset loss to Northwestern in the Rose Bowl. As if that were not enough, Jensen pitched Cal’s baseball team to victory in the inaugural College World Series, besting future NFL Hall of Famer Bobby Layne in a classic pitcher’s duel in Cal’s win over the University of Texas, and in a later game striuck out a famous New Englander repeatedly in an easy victory over Yale—George H.W. Bush.

Before his senior year of football Jensen cashed in on his ability and fame, signing a huge $75,000 salary and bonus (at a time when the Major League minimum was $5,000) to play baseball for the Oakland Oaks in the Pacific Coast League. One fan admiring his play was Zoe Ann Olson, the Olympic Diving silver medalist whom he dated in high school. Their marriage made headlines befitting Hollywood celebrities.

Three thousand miles across the country the New York Yankees, realizing that Joe DiMaggio was about to celebrate his 36^th birthday a month after the World Series, started looking for his replacement. They bought Jensen’s contract-- along with that of a scrappy, truculent little infielder named Billy Martin—for an astounding $100,000 from the Oaks, further cementing Jensen’s reputation as the peerless Golden Boy.

The only trouble was that the much celebrated young man, who was only 23 years old when he debuted for the Yankees in 1950, was not ready for Major League pitching, batting only .170 while appearing in just 45 games. Manager Casey Stengel used him but once--as a pinch runner-- in the 1950 World Series. In 1951 Jensen came back and played a little more impressively for the Bronx Bombers, hitting eight homers and stealing eight bases in just 56 games. It was not enough for the Yankees, and he split the season with the Kansas City Royals, their minor league affiliate After the '51season the Yankees’ front office did not give up on Jensen as much as they fell in love with another five-tool phenom: Mickey Mantle.

Mantle’s arrival in the Bronx made Jensen expendable, and in May, 1952 he was traded to the lowly Washington Senators. Out of the spotlight and away from the pressure of New York Jensen made the American League All-Star team, hitting hitting .286, driving in 80 RBIs, leading the league with 18 assists, and ranking third with 18 stolen bases. After 1953 the Senators foolishly traded him for Mickey McDermott and Tommy Umphlett to the Boston Red Sox.

Jensen, dismayed at being traded once again, had to be talked out of quitting by Boston’s general manager, Joe Cronin. As things worked out he flourished in Boston, no longer having the pressure of being the team’s biggest star, while getting better pitches to hit with Ted Williams and Jimmy Piersall in the lineup. Red Sox followers became enamored with Jensen as he blossomed into one of the most productive offensive players of the 1950s.

In 1954, his first season in Fenway Park, Jensen led the American League with 22 stolen bases, finished third in RBIs (117), and fourth in home runs (25). He followed that offensive performance the following year finishing first in RBIs (116), third in stolen bases (16), and fifth in total bases (275). The pattern continued over the next four years. In 1956 Jensen was first in triples (11), second in total bases (327) and fifth in stolen bases (11), while in 1957, he was fourth in RBIs (103); while in 1958, first in RBIs (122), second in bases on balls (99), and fifth in home runs (35). In 1959, he was once again first in RBIs (112). Jensen’s great productivity won him the American League’s Most Valuable Player Award in 1958. During this decade Jensen also became the first athlete to play in a Rose Bowl, World Series, and baseball All-Star game. As a result, Jensen developed a large national following, and the Sporting News Baseball Guide listed one of his hobbies as collecting model trains. Few who read it realized this avocation hinted at his premature retirement from baseball.

As the major leagues expanded west and schedules became more compacted, the baseball industry moved further away from train travel and turned to the rapidly expanding airline industy. Jensen had a tremendous fear of flying. He worked hard at overcoming this phobia, and Red Sox owner Tom Yawkey arranged for Jensen to get psychotherapy –a novel intervention for a baseball player in the 1950’s—to help his star player overcome this crippling anxiety. Sadly it did not work, and Jensen sat out the entire 1960 season. Convinced to give it one more try before Opening Day in April 1961, Jensen turned to hypnotherapy and played once again. By the end of the season he was disappointed in his waning offensive skills and retired for good.

After his baseball career ended, Jensen became a sportscaster and opened a restaurant in Jack London Square in San Francisco. He died of a heart attack at age 55 in July, 1982. While he quit playing over 50 years ago, New Englanders who remember the popular slugger can think wistfully about how a Jackie Jensen in left field could help keep the Orioles and Yankees at bay during this current pennant race. As Johnny Gomes hits a little more than his weight with four home runs, imagine if Boston’s beloved hero of yesteryear could be sandwiched in the lineup between Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Mike Napoli and David Ortiz….