Camden's Tom 'Sut' Jenkins blasted game-winning home run against the Boston Red Sox in August 1925

Sportsman's Park in St. Louis, Missouri.

Yesterday – Aug. 13 – marked the 90^th anniversary of the finest Major League Baseball moment for Camden native, Tom “Sut” Jenkins.

Jenkins, one of the greatest professional baseball players to ever call Wilcox County home, was born in Camden in 1898. He was the brother of longtime Wilcox County Sheriff Lummie Jenkins, and those who knew Tom best called him by his nickname, “Sut,” a reference to his soot-black hair. Not long after graduating from Wilcox County High School, where he was a standout athlete, Jenkins turned pro in 1921 when he signed with the Mobile Bears.

In the minor leagues, Jenkins, who was known for his hitting ability and speed on the base paths, quickly attracted the attention of Major League scouts. He eventually joined the famous Boston Red Sox as an outfielder and pinch hitter, making his Major League debut at Fenway Park on Sept. 15, 1925.  Jenkins played left field in that game in front of Fenway’s famous “Green Monster” and reached base on a walk, but the Red Sox came up short, 2-1.

Jenkins went on to play for the Philadelphia Athletics (now known as the Oakland Athletics) and later joined the St. Louis Browns (now known as the Baltimore Orioles). Jenkins played for the Browns from 1929 through 1932, mostly as a pinch hitter. Jenkins had many fine moments as a baseball player, but the finest moment of his career took place on Aug. 13, 1931 in St. Louis.

Tom 'Sut' Jenkins

On that day, the Browns faced Jenkins’ former team, the Boston Red Sox, at the old Sportsman’s Park in St. Louis before a crowd of around 1,000 people. Right-handed Californian George Blaeholder got the pitching start for the Browns, and the game was tied 4-4 in the bottom of the third inning when Browns manager Bill Killefer put Jenkins into the game to pinch-hit for Blaeholder. Jenkins grabbed his bat and stepped into the batter’s box against Red Sox righty, Jack Russell of Paris, Texas.

With one out and the game tied, there were already two Browns on base, first baseman Jack Burns of Cambridge, Massachusetts and shortstop Jim Levey of Pittsburgh. Jenkins, a 33-year-old veteran at this point in his career, watched as Blaeholder let loose with a pitch, no doubt hoping that Jenkins would either swing and miss or ground into an inning-ending double play. Instead, Jenkins swung his powerful arms, connected with the pitch and sent it deep into right field for a three-run homer.

That evening’s St. Louis Post-Dispatch carried an account of the game under the headline, “BROWNS 9, RED SOX 6: TOM JENKINS, BATTING FOR BLAEHOLDER, HITS HOME RUN.” That story, written by sportswriter James M. Gould, told readers that Jenkins’ home run blast bounced off the stadium’s right-field roof. In the top of the fourth, pitcher Chad Kimsey of Copperhill, Tenn. replaced Jenkins in the lineup, and he never returned to the game.

St. Louis went on to finish the 1931 season with a 63-91 record and fifth in the American League, which at that time only had eight teams. Jenkins was sent back down to the minors in the summer of 1932, and he eventually hung up his spikes after the 1934 season, having appeared in a total of 171 Major League games. Jenkins lived to the ripe old age of 81 before passing away in Weymouth, Mass. on May 3, 1979.