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{{Short description|American baseball player (1927–1982)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox baseball biography
|name=Jackie Jensen
|image=Jackie Jensen 1953.jpg
|caption=Jensen in 1953
|position=[[Right fielder]]
|bats=Right
|throws=Right
|birth_date={{Birth date|1927|3|9}}
|birth_place=[[San Francisco, California]], U.S.
|death_date={{death date and age|1982|7|14|1927|3|9}}
|death_place=[[Charlottesville, Virginia]], U.S.
|debutleague = MLB
|debutdate=April 18
|debutyear=1950
|debutteam=New York Yankees
|finalleague = MLB
|finaldate=October 1
|finalyear=1961
|finalteam=Boston Red Sox
|statleague = MLB
|stat1label=[[Batting average (baseball)|Batting average]]
|stat1value=.279 
|stat2label=[[Home run]]s
|stat2value=199
|stat3label=[[Runs batted in]]
|stat3value=929
|teams=
* [[New York Yankees]] ({{Baseball year|1950}}–{{Baseball year|1952}})
* [[Washington Senators (1901–60)|Washington Senators]] ({{Baseball year|1952}}–{{Baseball year|1953}})
* [[Boston Red Sox]] ({{Baseball year|1954}}–{{Baseball year|1959}}, {{Baseball year|1961}})
|highlights=
* 3× [[Major League Baseball All-Star Game|All-Star]] ([[1952 Major League Baseball All-Star Game|1952]], [[1955 Major League Baseball All-Star Game|1955]], [[1958 Major League Baseball All-Star Game|1958]])
* [[World Series champion]] ({{wsy|1950}})
* [[AL MVP]] (1958)
* [[Gold Glove Award]] (1959)
* 3× [[List of Major League Baseball annual runs batted in leaders|AL RBI leader]] (1955, 1958, 1959)
* [[List of Major League Baseball annual stolen base leaders|AL stolen base leader]] (1954)
* [[Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame]]
}}

'''Jack Eugene Jensen''' (March 9, 1927 – July 14, 1982) was an American [[right fielder]] in [[Major League Baseball]] who played for three [[American League]] (AL) teams from 1950 to 1961, most notably the [[Boston Red Sox]]. He was named the AL's [[Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award|Most Valuable Player]] (MVP) in {{Baseball year|1958}} after hitting 35 [[home run]]s and leading the league with 122 [[run batted in|runs batted in]] (RBIs); he also led the league in RBIs two other years, and in [[triple (baseball)|triples]] and [[stolen base]]s once each. Respected for his throwing arm, he won a [[Gold Glove Award]] and led the AL in [[assist (baseball)|assists]] and [[double play]]s twice each. He retired in his early thirties as major-league baseball expanded westward, due to an intense [[fear of flying]]. After being a two-sport star in college, Jensen was the first person to play in the [[Rose Bowl Game|Rose Bowl]], the [[World Series]], and the [[Major League Baseball All-Star Game|MLB All-Star Game]].{{efn|Only one other person, [[Chuck Essegian]], has managed the feat of appearing in both a Rose Bowl (1951) and a World Series ({{wsy|1959}}).}}

==Early years==
Jensen was born in [[San Francisco, California|San Francisco]], [[California]]. His parents divorced when he was five, and he was raised by his mother, who frequently moved the family. After serving in the [[United States Navy|Navy]] toward the end of World War II, he became an [[All-America]]n in two sports at the [[University of California, Berkeley|University of California]]. As a baseball [[pitcher]] and outfielder, he helped California to win the inaugural [[College World Series]] in {{Baseball year|1947}}. He pitched Cal to victory in the regional final by outdueling [[Bobby Layne]] of [[University of Texas at Austin|Texas]], and in the championship Cal defeated a [[Yale University|Yale]] team featuring future President [[George H. W. Bush|George Bush]]. As a [[American football|football]] [[running back|halfback]], Jensen was a consensus All-American as a junior in 1948, becoming the first Cal player to [[rush (American football)|rush]] for 1,000 yards. In the season-ending 7–6 victory over [[Stanford University|Stanford]] he ran for 170 yards, kicked a punt for 67 yards, and had a 32-yard run late in the game in a 4th-and-31 situation. Cal ended the regular season at 10–0 under coach [[Pappy Waldorf]], winning a share of its first [[Pacific Coast Conference]] title in ten years, and Jensen placed fourth in the [[Heisman Trophy]] voting, with [[Doak Walker]] taking the award. In the 1949 Rose Bowl, Jensen scored a touchdown in the first quarter to tie the game 7–7, but fourth-ranked Cal was upset 20–14 by seventh-ranked [[Northwestern University|Northwestern]].

==Baseball career==
[[File:Jackie Jensen 1959.png|thumb|180px|Jensen with the Red Sox]]

In 1949, Jensen, who batted and threw right-handed, left college after his junior year and signed with the [[Oakland Oaks (PCL)|Oakland Oaks]] in the [[Pacific Coast League]]. His contract – along with [[Billy Martin]]'s – was sold to the [[New York Yankees]] in {{Baseball year|1950}} with the intention of him being a backup for future Hall of Fame centerfielder  [[Joe DiMaggio]]. But he played in only 108 games for the Yankees over three years, primarily in [[left fielder|left field]]. He appeared as a pinch runner for [[Bobby Brown (third baseman)|Bobby Brown]] in the eighth inning of Game 3 of the [[1950 World Series]] against the [[Philadelphia Phillies]], but was in the game only briefly before [[Johnny Mize]] popped up to end the inning.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1950/B10060NYA1950.htm |title=New York Yankees 3, Philadelphia Phillies 2|date=October 6, 1950 |work=Retrosheet}}</ref> Jensen did not stay in the game defensively, and the Yankees completed a sweep of the Phillies in Game 4.  [[Mickey Mantle]] appeared in 1951 as DiMaggio's heir-apparent, preempting Jensen and starting in right field.   Jensen did not appear in the 1951 Series against the [[New York Giants (NL)|New York Giants]].

In May 1952 Jensen was sent to the [[Washington Senators (1901–60)|Washington Senators]] in a six-player deal, and he made his first [[Major League Baseball All-Star Game|All-Star]] team. He finished the season with a .286 [[batting average (baseball)|batting average]] and 80 RBIs, leading the league with 17 assists and placing third in the AL with 18 steals, a total he duplicated in 1953. He was traded to the Red Sox in December 1953, and led the AL with 22 steals in {{Baseball year|1954}}, also finishing third in RBIs (117) and fourth in home runs (25). But despite his speed he also set a major league record by [[grounded into double play|grounding into double plays]] 32 times, breaking fellow Red Sox [[Bobby Doerr]]'s {{Baseball year|1949}} total of 31; the record would stand until Red Sock [[Jim Rice]] grounded into 36 double plays in {{Baseball year|1984}}. No longer facing the pressure of becoming his team's principal star, Jensen again made the All-Star team in {{Baseball year|1955}}, leading the league with 116 RBIs and finishing tenth in the MVP vote.

In {{Baseball year|1956}} Jensen batted a career-high .315 and led the AL with 11 triples, and in {{Baseball year|1957}} he had 103 RBIs and led the league in both assists (16) and double plays (4). The 31 year-old star had his best season in {{Baseball year|1958}}, earning the AL [[Most Valuable Player (baseball)|MVP]] and beating out [[Bob Turley]], [[Rocky Colavito]] and [[Bob Cerv]] with a .286 batting average, a league-leading 122 RBIs, also placing second in the AL with 99 [[base on balls|walks]] and fifth in home runs (35), [[double (baseball)|doubles]] (31), [[total bases]] (293) and [[on-base percentage]] (.396). In June of that same year, he set a Red Sox club record for most home runs in a single month (since tied by [[David Ortiz]]) with 14, and in July made his final All-Star team. In {{Baseball year|1959}} he again led the league in RBIs (112) and won his only Gold Glove after leading the AL in double plays (4) for the second time; he also scored a career-best 101 [[run (baseball)|runs]] and stole 20 bases, finishing third in the AL in steals for the fourth time among his seven Top 10 finishes.  He came in tenth in the MVP balloting.

===Retirement===
Smack in his productive prime at 32, Jensen announced his retirement from baseball in January 1960, primarily because of an intense fear of flying, but also the result of 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 major-league baseball expanded to the [[West Coast of the United States|West Coast]] in 1958, and with further expansion and constant air travel foreseen, Jensen's difficulties became virtually insurmountable.

Jensen made a comeback attempt with Boston in {{Baseball year|1961}}, but turned to [[hypnotherapy]] when his panic attacks at airports became unbearable. Frustrated by a sub-par season (.263, 66 RBIs), he retired again for good. In an 11-season career, Jensen was a .279 hitter with 199 home runs and 929 RBIs in 1,438 [[games played|games]]. He also scored 810 runs, had 1,463 [[hit (baseball)|hits]], 259 doubles, 45 triples, 143 stolen bases, and 750 walks, for a .369 on-base percentage and .460 slugging percentage. He finished his career with a .977 [[fielding percentage]] playing at all three outfield positions.

==Television appearances==
On April 17, 1956, Jensen appeared as himself, with [[Vivi Janiss]] as his mother, in "The Jackie Jensen Story," which aired on the [[NBC]] [[anthology]] [[television series]] ''[[Cavalcade of America]]''. [[Child actor]] [[Gary Gray (actor)|Gary Gray]] played Jensen as a sixteen-year-old.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0537760/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_60|title=The Jackie Jensen Story on Cavalcade of America|publisher=[[IMDb|Internet Movie Database]]|date=April 17, 1956|access-date=August 8, 2016}}</ref>

Jensen appeared in four episodes of ''[[Home Run Derby (TV series)|Home Run Derby]]'', which aired in 1960.  He was 2–2 in his appearances, defeating [[Ernie Banks]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1oM-cdFwKU  |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/I1oM-cdFwKU |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|title=Home Run Derby S01E24 Jackie Jensen vs Ernie Banks |date=12 June 2014 | access-date=December 21, 2016 |via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref> and [[Rocky Colavito]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TPE0RlwYOI  |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/2TPE0RlwYOI |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|title=Home Run Derby S01E25 Jackie Jensen vs Rocky Colavito |date=13 June 2014 | access-date=December 21, 2016 |via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref> while losing twice to [[Mickey Mantle]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vV2Juk2YEHE  |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/vV2Juk2YEHE |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|title=Home Run Derby S01E03 Mickey Mantle vs Jackie Jensen |date=12 June 2014 | access-date=December 21, 2016 |via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvIOUFov-u8  |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/OvIOUFov-u8 |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|title=Home Run Derby S01E26 Mickey Mantle vs Jackie Jensen |date=13 June 2014 | access-date=December 21, 2016 |via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

==Later life==
Following his retirement, Jensen became sports director at radio station [[KTVN]] in [[Reno, Nevada]], worked as a college football broadcaster for [[College Football on ABC|ABC]] television, and coached baseball at the [[University of Nevada, Reno|University of Nevada]] and at the [[University of California, Berkeley]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/07/15/obituaries/jackie-jensen-baseball-star-who-won-mvp-dies-at-55.html |title=JACKIE JENSEN, BASEBALL STAR WHO WON M.V.P., DIES AT 55 |date=July 15, 1982 |website=The New York Times}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jackiejensen.com |title=JACKIE JENSEN The Golden Boy |access-date=December 21, 2016 |website=jackiejensen.com}}</ref> He also managed the [[Minor League Baseball|minor league]] [[Jamestown Falcons]] in 1970.<ref>{{cite news |title=Jackie Jensen Named Jamestown Manager |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-burlington-free-press-jamestown-jens/124230235/ |access-date=May 7, 2023 |work=The Burlington Free Press |date=May 19, 1970 |page=18|via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}}</ref> He was co-owner of the '''Bow & Bell''' restaurant with [[Charles F. Erb#Personal|Charles "Boots" Erb]] in [[Jack London Square]] in [[Oakland, California]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.restaurantwarecollectors.com/forums/showwiki.php?title=Bow-and-Bell |title=Bow & Bell |date=November 10, 2011 |access-date=December 21, 2016 |website=restaurantwarecollectors.com |archive-date=December 22, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161222084439/http://www.restaurantwarecollectors.com/forums/showwiki.php?title=Bow-and-Bell |url-status=dead }}</ref>

On October 16, 1949, Jensen married [[Zoe Ann Olsen-Jensen|Zoe Ann Olsen]], the silver medalist in diving at the [[1948 Summer Olympics]]; the couple divorced on May 18, 1963, remarried on July 11, 1964, and divorced again on January 17, 1968. In February 1968, he married Katherine Cortezi. Jensen had three children by his first wife – Jon, Jan, and Jay. Jay's son Tucker Jensen pitched in two [[NCAA Division II baseball tournaments]] for [[Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University]], pitched in the [[Toronto Blue Jays]] organization during 2011–2012, and pitched for the [[Gateway Grizzlies]] of the independent [[Frontier League]] during 2013–2014.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.cgi?id=jensen000tuc|title=Tucker Jensen|access-date=December 21, 2016|website=Baseball-Reference.com}}</ref>

Jensen died on the way to [[University of Virginia]] Hospital in [[Charlottesville, Virginia|Charlottesville]], [[Virginia]], at the age of 55 after suffering an apparent [[Myocardial infarction|heart attack]] at his home near [[Scottsville, Virginia]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Jackie Jensen Dies at 55 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/123916278/jackie-jensen-death-july-151982/ |access-date=May 2, 2023 |work=The Roanoke Times |date=July 15, 1982 |pages=D1, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/123916336/jackie-jensen-death-part-2-july-15/ D5]|via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}}</ref> He is interred in [[Amherst, Virginia]].

==Legacy==
[[File:Oakland High School 4.jpg|thumb|Jackie Jensen Field at [[Oakland High School (Oakland, California)|Oakland High School]]]]
Jensen was one of several Red Sox players featured in the 1957 [[Norman Rockwell]] painting ''[[The Rookie (painting)|The Rookie]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mfa.org/exhibitions/norman-rockwells-rookie |title=Norman Rockwell's 'The Rookie' |access-date=December 22, 2016 |website=Museum of Fine Arts, Boston}}</ref>

Jensen was inducted into the [[Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame]] in 1983,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bashof.org/Hall_of_Fame_1983.html |title=1983 Inductees |access-date=December 21, 2016 |website=bashof.org |archive-date=June 16, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110616060821/http://www.bashof.org/Hall_of_Fame_1983.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> the [[College Football Hall of Fame]] in 1984,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cfbhall.com/inductees/?player=0406 |title=Jackie Jensen |access-date=December 21, 2016 |website=cfbhall.com}}</ref> and the [[Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame]] in 2000.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://boston.redsox.mlb.com/bos/history/feature_hall_of_fame.jsp |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070214020251/http://boston.redsox.mlb.com/bos/history/feature_hall_of_fame.jsp |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 14, 2007 |title=Red Sox Hall of Fame |access-date=December 21, 2016 |website=MLB.com}}</ref> Also in 2000, ''The Golden Boy: A Biography of Jackie Jensen'' was published, with a foreword by [[Curt Gowdy]].

== See also ==
{{Portal|Biography|Baseball}}
* [[List of Major League Baseball annual runs batted in leaders]]
* [[List of Major League Baseball annual stolen base leaders]]
* [[List of Major League Baseball annual triples leaders]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
* ''Baseball: The Biographical Encyclopedia'' (2000). Kingston, New York: Total/Sports Illustrated. {{ISBN|1-892129-34-5}}.
* ''ESPN College Football Encyclopedia'' (2005). New York: ESPN Books. {{ISBN|1-4013-3703-1}}.
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite magazine |last=Fimrite |first=Ron |date=April 12, 1976 |title=A Fear Of Flying |url=https://www.si.com/vault/1976/04/12/616333/a-fear-of-flying |magazine=Sports Illustrated |access-date=December 21, 2016}}
* {{cite book |last=Martin |first=George I. |date=May 1, 2000 |title=The Golden Boy: A Biography of Jackie Jensen |location=Portsmouth, NH |publisher=Peter E. Randall |isbn=978-0914339861 }}

==External links==
* {{Baseballstats|mlb=116533|espn=23341|br=j/jenseja01|brm=jensen001jac}}, or [http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/Pjensj101.htm Retrosheet]
* {{sabrbio|00badd9b|Mark Armour|December 21, 2016}}
* {{cfbhof|id=1671|name=Jackie Jensen}}
* {{findagrave|13487976}}

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{{1947 College Baseball All-Americans}}
{{1948 NCAA Division I FBS College Football Consensus All-Americans}}
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{{AL MVPs}}
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{{AL RBI champions}}
{{AL stolen base champions}}
{{Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jensen, Jackie}}
[[Category:1927 births]]
[[Category:1982 deaths]]
[[Category:All-American college football players]]
[[Category:American football running backs]]
[[Category:American League All-Stars]]
[[Category:American League RBI champions]]
[[Category:American League stolen base champions]]
[[Category:American people of Danish descent]]
[[Category:Baseball players from San Francisco]]
[[Category:Baseball players from Oakland, California]]
[[Category:Players of American football from San Francisco]]
[[Category:Players of American football from Oakland, California]]
[[Category:Boston Red Sox players]]
[[Category:California Golden Bears baseball coaches]]
[[Category:California Golden Bears baseball players]]
[[Category:California Golden Bears football players]]
[[Category:College football announcers]]
[[Category:College Football Hall of Fame inductees]]
[[Category:Gold Glove Award winners]]
[[Category:Major League Baseball right fielders]]
[[Category:Nevada Wolf Pack baseball coaches]]
[[Category:New York Yankees players]]
[[Category:Washington Senators (1901–1960) players]]
[[Category:20th-century American sportsmen]]
[[Category:All-American college baseball players]]
[[Category:American League Most Valuable Player Award winners]]
[[Category:People from Scottsville, Virginia]]
[[Category:United States Navy personnel of World War II]]