A familiar face will be introducing Chatham baseball legend Fergie Jenkins when a new statue of him gets unveiled at Wrigley Field in Chicago.
The statue of the baseball hall-of-famer gets unveiled on Friday morning and will be part of the new “Statue Row” outside of Wrigley Field where the Ernie Banks, Ron Santo, and Billy Williams are also located.
Jenkins, 79, was traded to the Chicago Cubs by the Philadephia Phillies 56 years ago. Jenkins won a Cy Young Award and a record six straight 20-win seasons in Chicago. Jenkins previously told CK News Today that dozens of people from Chatham-Kent are expected to be in attendance for the ceremony.
One of those attendees will be Chatham-Kent's municipal town crier George Sims, who will get the honour of introducing Jenkins before the unveiling.
Sims left from Detroit on Thursday morning, taking the Amtrak to Chicago.
The making of Fergie Jenkins' statue. Photo courtesy of Chicago Cubs.
"I've been talking with Fergie's family and I've talked to Fergie. He said it's a good thing to have people come down from Chatham-Kent and I'm hoping to represent many people that way," he said.
Sims has been the town crier for Chatham-Kent since 1991.
Not only has Sims been the long-time town crier, but he is also a time-time friend of Jenkins and said the pair's friendship goes back to their childhoods.
"We went to Queen Mary school together, years ago. My mother actually taught Fergie in kindergarten at Queen Mary. We've kept up correspondence every so often," he explained. "I've known him for a long time. I've followed his baseball career. I've kept up and done other cries for him at other places. It's a good relationship between Fergie and Chatham-Kent. It's wonderful."
Sims will be all decked out in his traditional town crier uniform for the event. He said he even made a special cry up for the occasion, which he's keeping under wraps until the unveiling.
Sims said he's looking forward to seeing Jenkins and his family in Chicago, including meeting Jenkins' son for the first time, and said he couldn't be more proud to be on hand for the big moment.
"[Jenkins] is a magnanimous person of tremendous gifts to everyone," said Sims. "He really is a good fellow and I'm very proud to say 'yes, he is from Chatham.'"
In addition to getting the honour of introducing Jenkins for the statue unveiling, Sims said it's also a thrill to be able to represent the municipality of Chatham-Kent during such a significant moment.
"We live in a very nice place," said Sims. "We still do no matter what anyone says about all the things that are wrong here. it's a good place to raise kids and have a family. Chatham-Kent is very strong in my books and I hope I'm a good ambassador for that."