Clarence Jenkins
(1898-1968)
Hall of Fame Induction: 2021
Card Shown: Negro League
Legends
Position: G
Height: 5’7″
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Clarence “Fats” Jenkins made a name for himself in the 1920s and 1930s as a great baseball player and an even better basketball player. The speedy guard was an effective shooter and and a tremendous athlete on the basketball court. Clarence is perhaps best known as a key player and captain on the highly competitive New York Renaissance team that won a world championship in 1939.
Awards and Honors
- In 1938, the Hammond (Indiana) Times wrote of Jenkins, “The colored race looks upon him as their Babe Ruth. He is a great baseball player as well as the colored race’s standout cager.”
- Clarence served as the captain of the New York Renaissance team, also known as the Harlem Rens, from 1925-1940. The Rens were created in 1923 by Bob Douglas, the first African American owner of a totally professional basketball team.
- In 1939, toward the end of his career, Jenkins and the Rens won the first ever World Professional Basketball Tournament. That team also included Hall of Famers Zach Clayton, William “Pop” Gates, Charles “Tarzan” Cooper, and John “Boy Wonder” Isaacs.
- As a team, the Rens were inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1963.
- In the mid 1930s, the Rens main competition came from a New York Original Celtics team that featured Nat Holman, Joe Lapchick, Henry “Dutch” Dehnert, Johnny Beckman, and Bobby McDermott.
Points of Interest
- The 1939 World Professional Basketball Tournament was an early step in the integration of professional basketball as two of the twelve teams in the tournament were all-black, Jenkins’ Rens and the Harlem Globetrotters.
- Jenkins’ daughter, Ellen Jenkins Harris, explained that Clarence was very aware of his legacy and thought it important that he was making a difference for those who would follow him.
- Clarence played basketball for a number of teams, in parts of four separate decades, before retiring from basketball in 1943.
- During his era, some considered Jenkins to be one of the greatest athletes ever. His athleticism translated into a long, parallel career playing professional baseball. He was an outfielder who played pro baseball from 1924-1940 and ended his career with a .333 lifetime batting average.
- With his leaping ability, Clarence often took the center jump ball even though he was the smallest player on the team. This greatly helped his team since there was a center jump in basketball after each made basket in the early days of the sport.
Statistics
Clarence Jenkins Baseball Statistics
provided by Baseball-Reference.com
Clarence “Fats” Jenkins Cards
