| SERIES: 1959 Home Run Derby SUBJECT: Jackie Jensen APPROXIMATE SIZE: 3-1/4"x5-1/4" ISSUER: CCC ORIGINAL or REPRODUCTION: Original vintage item produced in the time period shown NUMBER OF ITEMS: 3 COMMENTS / CONDITION: Lot of (3) 1959 Home Run Derby cards in generally very nice, ''pack-fresh'' condition with sharp corners as shown. See scans of actual cards offered for condition and further details. BIO: Jack Eugene Jensen was born in San Francisco, CA and died in 1982 in Charlottesville, VA. He went to college at the University of California. He played major league baseball from 1950 to 1961 as outfielder for the New York Yankees, Washington Senators and the Boston Red Sox, appeared in the 1950 World Series, and was selected 3 times as an All-Star. After serving in the Navy toward the end of World War II, he became an All-American in two sports at the University of California. As a baseball pitcher and outfielder, he helped California to win the inaugural College World Series in 1947. He pitched Cal to victory in the regional final by outdueling Bobby Layne of Texas, and in the championship Cal defeated a Yale team featuring future President George Bush. As a football halfback, Jensen was a consensus All-American as a junior in 1948, becoming the first Cal player to rush for 1,000 yards. He placed fourth in the Heisman Trophy voting, with Doak Walker taking the award. Jensen announced his retirement from baseball in January 1960, primarily because of an intense fear of flying but also due to the long separations from his family. He stated, "I have only one life to live, and I'll be happier when I can spend it with my family. Being away from home with a baseball team for seven months a year doesn't represent the kind of life I want or the kind of life my wife and children want." Indeed, upon his trade to the Red Sox in 1953 he considered not reporting to the team in order to return to his family in California, but general manager Joe Cronin increased his salary by $1,000 and he agreed to play. As teams had increasingly turned to air travel in the 1950s, he had unsuccessfully sought to combat his aversion to flying, aided considerably by Red Sox owner Tom Yawkey, who arranged for therapy treatments. Once baseball expanded to the West Coast in 1958, and with further league expansion and constant air travel foreseen, these difficulties became virtually insurmountable. Jensen returned to play in 1961, but turned to hypnotherapy when his panic attacks at airports became unbearable. Frustrated by a sub-par season (.263, 66 RBI), he retired again for good.Following his retirement, Jensen became sports director at a Reno, Nevada radio station, worked as a college football broadcaster, coached baseball at the University of Nevada and at California, and also managed in the minor leagues. He was inducted into the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame in 1983, the College Football Hall of Fame in 1984, and the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame in 2000. SKU: CL02409
Item: CL02409
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