JENSEN GETS UNDER WAY FAST
Full Flight On Second Stride Aids Steals
"A few years have brought a big change in the Boston Red Sox' style of play. Not so long ago, they were a beefy, sluggish team that in the base-running department led the league in little except falling on their faces.
By comparison, the Red Sox are now young and speedy, and feature the American League's best base-stealer in Jackie Jensen.
But Jensen says that speed is not the answer. There are faster runners, he admits, yet his 22 stolen bases this past season gave him a commanding lead over his nearest rival, Jim Rivera of Chicago (18), and made him runner-up in the majors only to Milwaukee's Bill Bruton (34).
'I can run, but Minnie Minoso is faster than I am,' says the Red Sox center fielder. 'So are Rivera and Mickey Mantle. There are faster men on my own team, like Billy Consolo.
'I don't steal on catchers. I steal on the pitchers. I study them. I learn their motions, and I get a good start.
'Pitchers can stop you, if they want to, but they have the hitters to worry about, and they forget,' adds Jensen. 'Managers have always told me to steal in the right situations- when a run is important.'
It may be a pitcher's hip, foot, or left shoulder- but most of them tip off the start of their delivery to the plate. How does Jensen know those tip-offs so well?
'Through study, that's all,' he says. 'Anybody can do it.'
Jensen's interest in stealing bases this past season has certainly refuted the idea that he is an indifferent ball player. Stealing bases is work.
'I'll steal when I think it means something,' he admits. 'Those fellows who steal 80 and 90 bases a season must have been stealing a lot for their records. There's no sense in stealing just to rub it into the other team. I won't do it.'
Jensen has the knack for being in full flight on his second stride. This was a great asset to him in football, at which he excelled for the University of California as a fullback.
He doubts if football made him a fast starter, but admits it may have helped develop this facility.
Fancy slides are not an important part of his repertoire.
'When I steal, I believe in going in straight in with my foot,' he says. 'That's the quickest way to get there. Hooking is slower. I don't slide my head first because it always skins my knees.'
During the season Casey Stengel praised Jensen as a base runner, saying, 'He knew how to get a lead when he joined us right out of college. He's a natural base runner.'
When Stengel's appraisal was repeated to Jensen, he began with some vehemence, 'Stengel is-.'
He checked himself and said, 'Stengel is a great manager, but when the Yankees sent me to Kansas City in 1951, he said it was because I had to learn how to run the bases!' "
-Harold Kaese, condensed from the Boston Globe (Baseball Digest, November-December 1954)
JENSEN TELLS HOW HE, A SPEED BOY, HIT INTO RECORD DP'S
"Ordinarily, heavy-footed horse-hiders are the ones who hit into double killings. Prior to the 1954 season, Bobby Doerr of the Boston Red Sox was the worst in American League history with 31, done in 1949. Doerr was a clever infielder with the glove but not fast on the paths. Ernie Lombardi of Cincinnati pegged the National League low point at 30 in 1938, and you know 'Botch.' Catcher Lombardi required an hourglass to check his time running to first base. He really was a plodder.
Along comes Jackie Jensen of the Red Sox with 32 in the season recently completed. How come? The young man is fast. California football zealots wish they had had him last fall. Jackie could bolt straight up the middle from fullback, and once in the clear, dart for yardage all the way. He always could scamper like a ring-tailed monkey. Only bigger and stronger.
We caught up with Jensen at the eating house he operates on the Oakland waterfront, a sort of Fisherman's Wharf, in the nautical style of Bow and Bell.
'I can't understand it, either, and I'm embarrassed at hitting into 32 double plays,' Jensen said. 'I don't relish the distinction. I hope that's not my claim to immortality in the majors.'
Cal's Golden Boy explains it this way: 'You know I can run. I led the American League with 22 stolen bases. I could have stolen more, except stealing isn't always the strategy.
'I'm a right-handed batter and pitchers throw inside to me- away from my power. This makes me fall away from the plate when I complete my swing. You don't think this is much? It means I'm off balance and I lose a fraction of a second going down to first. The split second is enough to allow the opposition infield to nip me by a stride.
'Anyhow, I'm batting behind Ted Williams. Ted is usually on first, and he's not the fastest man in the world. He doesn't get to second soon enough to break up the double play. Ted was protecting his injured shoulder. Nobody could blame him for failing to put on a football block at second.'
Jensen has the greatest admiration for Williams. Ted advised Jackie to be quicker with his hands and shorten his swing; that is, bring the bat around faster.
'For a skinny beanpole, Williams has terrific wrist action,' Jensen says. 'He taught me that sheer strength isn't everything. The wrists do it.'
The American League pitcher who gave Jensen the most trouble was Mike Garcia of Cleveland. Bob Lemon and Early Wynn had better records, but Garcia thew stuff which Jensen admittedly couldn't follow.
Just the same, Jackie-boy prospered in Red Sox flannels for an ex-fullback. He averaged .276, smacked 25 homers and knocked in 117 runs- which is the true test of usefulness. Jensen's previous high in RBI's was 84, and his high in homers 10, both with Washington."
-Will Connolly, San Francisco Chronicle (Baseball Digest, January-February 1955)
"A former All-American football star for the University of California, Jackie had his best year in 1954. Displaying the power that made him a top prospect when he signed with the Yankees in 1950, he led the Red Sox in R.B.I.'s and placed third in the American League.
As a Yankee, Jackie saw part-time service until he was traded to Washington in '52, before joining the Red Sox in '54."
-1955 Topps No. 200
"Jackie was in 152 games for the Boston Red Sox in 1954 and he hit .276. He had 160 hits, good for a total of 274 bases, and these included 25 doubles, seven triples and 25 home runs. He batted in 117 runs and scored 92.
Jackie first came to the majors with the Yankees. He also played for the Senators before coming to Boston.
He was an All-American football player at the University of California."
-1955 Red Man No. AL-19
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