SPORTS QUIZ

Which Boston professional athlete and only professional athlete ever to play in the following: Rose Bowl, the equivalent of an all star game in his sport, and equivalent of a world championship series for his profession?

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Tom Brady

No,

Sorry

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Jim Plunkett?

No,
Sorry!

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Ok, I got the answer, but I had to look it up. Oooh, toughie. I would never have gotten it.

Ya, it is a nice one isn't it Bob! I thought Sam would get it real quick!

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Jackie Jensen?

YES! Boston Red Sox!!!!!!

He also quit baseball due to his fear of flying, only after 10 years.

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Sports Illustrated had a feature story on him back in the 70's, thats how I knew the answer. Didn't he marry some Hollywood starlet ?

Not sure Will

He married Zoe Ann Olson (Olsen?), who was a champion diver, I believe.

Good question, 112288. I had no idea.

Sam

Just a follow up

Jack Eugene Jensen (March 9, 1927 – July 14, 1982) was an American right fielder in Major League Baseball who played for three American League teams from 1950 to 1961, most notably the Boston Red Sox. He was named the AL's Most Valuable Player in 1958 after hitting 35 home runs and leading the league with 122 runs batted in; he also led the league in RBI two other years, and in triples and stolen bases once each. Respected for his throwing arm, he won a Gold Glove Award and led the AL in assists and double plays twice each. He retired in his early 30s as baseball expanded westward, due to an intense fear of flying.


In 1949 he married his high school girlfriend Zoe Ann Olsen, the silver medalist in diving at the 1948 Summer Olympics;

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NOW AN ADDITIONAL QUIZZZZZZZZZ

Jensen did all three.

Now which other player played in Rose Bowl and World Series and had a Boston connection?

He also the first to something in baseball later duplicated by a Boston Red Sox?

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when did Jensen play in the Rose Bowl? what position?......shocked I never heard of the guy and he was a Red Sox and an MVP.

Cow,

With his build, speed and power, I'd assume he'd have to have been a halfback or fullback in those days—more likely a halfback. He started with the Yankees for maybe two or three years, then played perhaps half a dozen years with the Red Sox, and I believe he wound up in Washington. I want to say he had a nickname something like "The Golden Boy."

Sam

Jensen was born in San Francisco, California. His parents divorced when he was five, and he was raised by his mother who moved the family regularly. 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. In the season-ending 7-6 victory over 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 4th-ranked Cal was upset 20-14 by 7th-ranked Northwestern.
In 1949 Jensen, who batted and threw right-handed, left college after his junior year and signed with the Oakland Oaks in the Pacific Coast League. His contract – along with Billy Martin's – was sold to the New York Yankees in 1950 with the intention of him being a backup for Joe DiMaggio. But he played in only 108 games for the Yankees over three years, primarily in left field. He appeared as a pinch runner for 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. Jensen did not stay in the game defensively, and the Yankees completed a sweep of the Phillies in Game 4; he did not appear in the 1951 Series against the New York Giants.
Following the arrival of Mickey Mantle with the Yankees, in May 1952 Jensen was sent to the Washington Senators in a six-player deal, and he made his first All-Star team. He finished the season with a .286 batting average and 80 RBI, 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 1954, also finishing third in RBI (117) and fourth in home runs (25). But despite his speed he also set a major league record by grounding into double plays 32 times, breaking Bobby Doerr's 1949 total of 31; the record would stand until Jim Rice grounded into 36 double plays in 1984. No longer facing the pressure of becoming his team's principal star, Jensen again made the All-Star team in 1955, leading the league with 116 RBI and finishing tenth in the MVP vote. In 1956 he batted a career-high .315 and led the AL with 11 triples, and in 1957 he had 103 RBI and led the league in both assists (16) and double plays (4).
Jensen made his last All-Star team in 1958 when he batted .286 with a league-leading 122 RBI, also placing second in the AL with 99 walks and fifth in HRs (35), doubles (31), total bases (293) and on base percentage (.396). He won MVP honors, beating out Bob Turley, Rocky Colavito and Bob Cerv for the award. In 1959 he again led the league in RBI (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 runs and stole 20 bases, and came in tenth in the MVP balloting.

So Ted was in left, Jensen was in right, - gee, I wonder who was in center.

Dom

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