Quote:
Originally Posted by ThomasL
I have never seen a signature of his for sale outside one being in the Jack Smalling collection...I think Kevin Keating had one once upon a time maybe as well. That info card with his hand written note is closest I have ever come. He has baseball cards (zeenuts) and type 1 photos that come up for auction every so often.
I get the impression he would have been a fun guy to hang around, I read an interview he gave later in life where he basically said he was very happy being the 3rd string catcher. He also wrote letters to Comiskey from over seas while he served in WW1 that were printed in the papers that are a fun read.
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His brother - William - made it big in Mexico. Some crazy backstory, too. As for my fascination with Joe:
Mid to late 80s, my friend Billy and I were trying to round out the 1919 White Sox on Micro League Baseball. We had to field 25 players and spent an afternoon pouring over the baseball encyclopedia for any player that had at bats for the team. We stumbled upon Joe Jenkins. I believe his birthday was in October and my buddy, Billy, was born in October. He passed away in late June. School let out in late June. Joe Jenkins became a hero for us.
To see if someone was telling the truth, we’d say: “Swear on Joe Jenkins!” and the other, if they were being completely honest, would reply “I swear on Joe Jenkins”. There was a penalty if that oath was ever broken.
I still see Billy from time to time and Joe’s name still gets bandied about.
The little I’ve read on him does indeed make him seem like an interesting character. I got to check out those baseball cards...