Staring up at the sky in the parking lot of the Roanoker Restaurant last fall, Ferguson Jenkins was a little disappointed. Clouds were obscuring the stars.

"This morning the stars were out, the big dipper, everything, beautiful," he said. "Maybe it'll clear up by morning."

Life can be that simple, even for Jenkins.

The devoted outdoorsman was in Southwest Virginia chasing the promise of a trophy buck, but he took time out for some homemade pie and a talk about his other life, the one marked with heroic pitches from triumph to tragedy.

Jenkins, 61, was a Hall of Fame pitcher with an extraordinary ability to control a baseball and no way to protect his loved ones. Even as he was bathed in accolades, Jenkins had to bury his mother, his second wife, his third fiance and his daughter.

"Sports are fun," Jenkins said. "On the field, nobody can hurt you and you know exactly what you're supposed to do. It's like a sanctuary.

"The outside turmoils can be devastating sometimes."

Jenkins, who will be the guest speaker Sunday at the Salem-Roanoke Valley Baseball Hall of Fame's induction banquet, has made a sort of peace with that, reaching out to friends and to God.

Jenkins' father was a chef, first for a railroad and later a hotel in Chatham, Ontario. His mother, a descendant of slaves who'd escaped the U.S. on the underground railroad, suffered from a rare eye disease and the trauma of giving birth to Jenkins left her almost totally blind.

Still, the Jenkins household was a popular neighborhood hangout and Jenkins describes his boyhood as almost idyllic. He was sports mad, playing just about any game imaginable and excelling at most.

His first love was hockey, and he idolized Canadiens defenseman Doug Harvey and later loved revolutionary Bruins defenseman Bobby Orr, who put the offense in defense.

Baseball ranked third, and he turned his focus to pitching only after it became clear that he wouldn't have a career in hockey or basketball.

In 1962, Jenkins graduated from high school and signed with the Philadelphia Phillies. He spent two full seasons in the minor leagues before making his major-league debut in 1965 and remaining there for the next 18 years.

"I was never nervous pitching, I knew exactly what I was trying to do," Jenkins said.

He had seven 20-win seasons and won the Cy Young Award, but toiling mainly with the Chicago Cubs and Texas Rangers he never got to the postseason.

Twice in the offseason, he toured with the Harlem Globetrotters.

He bought some land in Ontario and started raising hunting dogs, and a family. He married his hometown sweetheart Kathy Williams. They adopted a daughter, then had two more girls.

Jenkins' mother died of stomach cancer in 1970.

"I had never been exposed to death until I was 26 and my mom died," Jenkins said. "I had to deal with burial plots and the whole thing. The whole day my brain was going crazy."

Jenkins made mistakes. He admits he was unfaithful in his first marriage, fathering a daughter, and used cocaine "recreationally."

He was charged with possession of marijuana and cocaine on a 1980 road trip to Toronto, but the charges were dropped.

Jenkins retired after the 1983 season, though he has occasionally worked as a pitching coach. He and Kathy divorced in 1987.

A year later, he married Mary-Anne Miller and adopted her son Raymond. They bought a ranch in Guthrie, Okla., where Jenkins raised cattle and Appaloosa horses. They had a daughter Samantha.

Just before Christmas in 1990, Mary-Anne Jenkins was involved in a single-car accident on her way home from work. She lingered 35 days in the hospital before she died.

Jenkins was inducted into the Hall of Fame six months later.

Cindy Takkiedine, a friend from Jenkins' playing days, moved to Oklahoma to help Jenkins with the kids and the two became engaged in the spring of 1992.

On Dec. 15, 1992, Takkiedine ran a vacuum hose from the exhaust pipe in her car, sealed the windows with duct tape and killed herself and Jenkins' daughter Samantha.

"When you're an athlete, you think you've got it made, but you don't have it made," Jenkins said. "This is a cruel world."

Jenkins had to reach out for help, and found it.

"There's a support group for families who've lost children. There's 14 families in my support group in Oklahoma," he said. "And I'm a devout Christian. ... The church really helped me. Plus I've got four beautiful kids still living, three beautiful daughters and a son.

"You can't go through life and do it alone."

In 1993, Jenkins married Lydia Farrington. The two stayed on the Guthrie ranch until last year, when they moved to a home on a golf course in Arizona.

Jenkins is almost always on the move. He has his own charitable foundation and makes appearances for businesses and charities.

He tries to arrange his appearances around hunting opportunities. He's been hunting since he got his first .22 rifle at age 14 and has a collection of 35 trophy mounts, including an elk, moose, deer, mountain goat, and a javelina.

"You're in the deer stand at 6 in the morning, just you and the deer stand," he said. "It's quiet."

As passionate as Jenkins is about the outdoors, when he meets fans all the talk turns to baseball.

"They always ask me who was the toughest hitter to get out or what was my favorite ballpark," he said.

Willie McCovey, a left-hander, was the hardest guy to get out. Other tough outs were Roberto Clemente and Rod Carew.

Easy outs, for Jenkins at least, were Steve Garvey, Willie Mays and Hank Aaron.

Wrigley Field was easily Jenkins' favorite ballpark.

"Second was Yankee Stadium," he said. "When I was young, I couldn't wait to pitch there with all that history."

Jenkins got to live just about all of his baseball dreams, and is learning to live with his personal tragedies.

"Life has its ups and downs," Jenkins said. "Nobody on this earth is going to have it smooth.

"I've been very lucky."FERGUSON JENKINS

By the numbers3.34Lifetime ERA4Seasons on the All-Star team720-win seasons, including six straight from 1967-197449Career shutouts284-226Career record1971Year he won the Cy Young1991Year he was inducted into the Hall of Fame, where he remains the only Canadian enshrined. 3,192Career strikeouts, making him the only pitcher

with 3,000 and fewer than 1,000 walks (997).Salem-Roanoke Baseball Hall of Fame inducteesSunday, 6 p.m.

Salem Civic Center

±

Tickets: $25 (purchase in advance at

the box office)

For more

information:

Call

(540) 774-4768InducteesMilward T. "Mel" QuinnPlayed for the Roanoke Red Sox's pennant-winning Piedmont League club in 1946 and remained in the minor leagues until 1951. He helped found the Tuckahoe Little League in Richmond and coached in Cave Spring Little League after returning to Roanoke in 1983.Mike WilliamsA native of Pearisburg and a Giles High School grad, Williams played at Virginia Tech before playing in the majors for four teams. He was an All-Star and set the Pirates' saves mark with 50 in 2002.Sidney Witt Sr.Began serving as a coach of Little League Baseball in the Roanoke Valley in 1973. He led four state champions and his 1978 team was third in the Little League World Series. In 1989, he created the area chapter of the Little League Challenger division.Bob JohnsonThe last surviving member of the Salem Athletic Club board of directors, which operated professional teams for more than two decades. He joined the board in 1952, when the Salem Rebels were created. Named president of the Salem Pirates in 1979.Brian HoffmanThe Roanoke College grad was official scorer for several Carolina League teams in Salem from 1975-2000. He is sports editor of the Salem Times-Register and was a charter member of the Salem-Roanoke Baseball Hall of Fame board of directors.