Ferguson Jenkins' devout Baptist mother predicted he'd meet the devil when he stopped going to church, shortly after he signed a professional baseball contract with the Philadelphia Phillies.

Only the devil's name wasn't Lucifer.

"His name was Leo Durocher," Jenkins, 63, told the gathering of high school All-American baseball players Sunday evening at the Sandia Casino ballroom. "Everything was four-letter words." It wasn't a horrific experience for the young Canadian, then only 22 years old in the 1966 season, when the Phillies traded him to the Cubs in a five-player deal in April that year. "He got the best out of me."

And Durocher also gets credit for moving Jenkins from the bullpen, where the Phillies had employed him, into the starting rotation.

Combining 35-40 starts a year with his "best" landed Jenkins into Cooperstown, after a 18-year career with four clubs, 284 victories and 49 shutouts.

Jenkins is the only Canadian player in the Hall of Fame, and the only pitcher there with more than 3,000 strikeouts and fewer than 1,000 walks.

Sadly, Jenkins, a lanky right-handed pitcher, never played for a team that got as far as the World Series, although his Cubbies, for whom he pitched from 1966-73 and again from '82-83, "got real close a couple of times, '69 and '70."

After a record-setting six consecutive 20-game winning seasons (he was 20-15 in 1968, when he came out on the short end of five 1-0 losses), which included the National League's Cy Young Award in '71 (24-13, 2.77 ERA); Jenkins dropped off to a 14-16 record in 1973 and the Cubs, apparently thinking he was washed up, sent him to Texas for infielders Vic Harris and Bill Madlock.

Although the "devil" had been fired a few seasons before the trade, when Jenkins arrived in Arlington, "I met his buddy, Billy Martin, and he was worse," Jenkins quipped. "He'd fight with his ballplayers."

According to "The Team by Team Encyclopedia of Major League Baseball," "One of the biggest reasons for the Rangers' turnabout (from a last-place record of 57-105 in 1973 to 84-76, good for second place, the next season) was pitcher Fergie Jenkins. The Chicago Cubs castoff finished with a 25-12 record. Incredibly, he could have won 30. During one nine-game stretch in which he pitched through a sore leg that affected his delivery and strikeout totals, Jenkins was 1-8. For the rest of the season, when he wasn't hurting, the ace was 24-4."

After the 1975 campaign, Devil No. 2 and Jenkins were gone: Martin was managing the team in the Bronx and Jenkins was with the Red Sox. While pitching for the Red Sox, Jenkins fell into disfavor with then-manager Don Zimmer and was gone after two seasons, sent back to Texas (1978-81), where he won 46 games from '78-80. The 1979 season, when he went 16-14, was his last winning season; he was 12-12 in 1980 -- and became only the fourth pitcher with 100 wins in both leagues -- 5-8 in just 19 starts in '81 (when Zimmer was the Rangers' skipper). He signed a free-agent deal with the Cubs, going 14-15 in 1982 and 6-9 in 1983.

He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1991.

Jenkins' keynote address at the annual banquet lasted 29 minutes; he told stories from his playing days and dispensed advice on the game and life itself to the prep stars.

Among his big-league stories were desperately trying to get Giants slugger Willie "Stretch" McCovey out, and how McCovey once sent a limo to get Jenkins and deliver him to Candlestick Park because he was so excited about facing him again; rooming with Ernie Banks; facing Don Drysdale, "probably one of the meanest players ... he wanted to hurt you" and getting advice from Dodgers catcher John Roseboro before he stepped into the batter's box to face the Dodgers ace; striking out six batters in three innings at the 1967 All-Star Game in Anaheim; an admission that "I'd probably have six no-hitters if I didn't shake the catcher off;" and snippets about three of the game's strange characters, Joe Pepitone (who wore a wig), Bill "Spaceman" Lee (who told reporters once he'd pitched while high) and Bernie Carbo (who spent time talking to a stuffed gorilla on team flights).

"I played 21 years (including time in the minors from 1962-65); the average for a ballplayer is 3 1/2. .... The thing is not to get hurt," he cautioned, before telling how he broke a hand while engaged in a fight while playing hockey one off-season (He's a Canadian, remember). He told how he'd signed for a $6,000 bonus and $400 a month -- "$161 to live on (after taxes) -- and $2 a day meal money.

"I'd love to be 18 again," he said. "If you work hard, boys, you can be millionaires overnight," Jenkins said.

Indeed, some of them being first-round draft picks would easily command a multi-million dollar offer.

Working hard is something he learned at an early age: "I lived on a small farm; if I didn't do the chores, I couldn't play baseball.

"You're playing the greatest game that was ever created," he said, mentioning how he'd loved having roommates like Billy Williams, Banks, Dwight Evans, Jim Bibby and Toby Harrah during his career. "You learn to live with each other.

"Listening is the No. 1 thing; don't say, 'Yeah, I know.'"

Following his speech, Jenkins sat down for a short time to answer questions from The Observer.

Jenkins said he didn't remember pitching in an exhibition game at the Albuquerque Sports Stadium in 1970 when the Cubs faced the Dodgers on a cold day, but he seemed to have a good memory for everything else.

What are some of the things you are proudest of from your career?

"I pitched pretty good for the Texas Rangers; I won 25 games with them. We had a bad ball club but the guys played hard for me. It's kind of a working agreement. They can see you're working hard to win ballgames and the end result is they score two, three, four runs for you. ... And that one year I beat Oakland five times in one year - I beat Catfish Hunter, Vida Blue, Kenny Holtzman, Blue Moon Odom, and I think I beat Vida Blue one other time - when they see you work hard, it rubs off."

You hit six homers in 1971; do you remember them?

"Who I hit them against? No, but I was the only pitcher that year that was 20-20-20. I won 20 games, had over 20 RBIs and had over 20 hits. But you just go out there and do what you can as an athlete."

Remind me of some of the relievers you had back in the day, and that wasn't in the era of the closer.

"We had Phil Regan and Ted Abernathy; that was about it. One year, I think (Dick) Selma went to the bullpen, but not much of a bullpen. In Texas, we had Steve Foucault for a couple years. In Boston, we had Dick Drago and we might have had (Bob) Stanley, and Reggie Cleveland, too. So we really didn't have what we called a 'stopper.' So, when it was your turn to pitch, you might have to go nine, 10 innings sometimes."

Who are some guys you think belong in the Hall of Fame?

"Bert Blyleven, to start off with. Ron Santo, Tommy John, Maury Wills, Goose Gossage, Lee Smith, Gil Hodges, Tony Oliva, Luis Tiant. There's a bunch of players that played in my ear that have been overlooked; they're not dead, they haven't fallen through the cracks. Their stats are in black and white, it's that the reporters don't give them the votes."

Are there any changes you would make in the game of baseball, if you were put in as commissioner?

"I'd 'up' the mound, put it at 15 or 16 inches. I'd speed the game up ... guys have got to be ready to hit. Stop throwing those balls out; that's how pitchers learn to pitch, with a ball that's roughed up. They change the ball with every foul ball. ... I used to get foul balls that had mixed seams; (I'd make it) run this way, make it sink. I mean, that's the way to learn how to pitch. And after every third out, don't throw the ball into the stands, throw that ball back to the mound, where it belongs. ... And the strike zone's way too small; they've made it a tee box - too small. They don't like to listen; they just had a rash of throwing out managers, and some of those calls, they show them again and the manager is right. Hey, let's have a little conference, talk to your fellow umpire, let's get it straight. If you have to make another decision, don't be embarrassed you made a bad call. Hey, this guy's on your same team; he's in blue, have him help you out."

What about a salary cap?

"I don't think that'll ever happen. ... I just think all the good players are making all the good money, and that's in any sport. ... I don't know if a salary cap would hurt baseball or not."

What about Pete Rose in the Hall of Fame?

"Won't happen, because he confessed to gambling, and he's confessed another time, and then he wrote in his book he gambled, and the only guy that can reinstate him is Bud Selig and if I were the commissioner, I'd have to think long and hard because I gave him the benefit of the doubt when I was retired and I'd read stories and I'd think, 'Why did the guy do that?" but the guy wrote in his book he did it. (But) what he did on the field, he's a Hall of Famer."

What's your take on Barry Bonds?

"He hasn't been proven guilty, although there's been articles and books written. He's gotten big over the years and he's still big, so how do you sustain that body without taking stuff? Or, he's still working out hard to stay big and strong. I played against his father and played with his dad and his dad was a great athlete. I saw him when he was with A.S.U., and he's matured; he's gotten bigger and bigger, and he put 35 pounds of nothing but solid muscle. But, hey, people that work out and do hard things, good things can happen. But until he's proven guilty, hey, let's hope this home run total holds up."

When you're home watching TV, is there a team or player you like watching?

"Yeah, a player that's making an ass out of himself right now, Carlos Zambrano. When I was working with (former manager Dusty Baker) in the spring, 10, 15 days at a time, I used to talk with him. He speaks very good English, he understands what you're trying to get across to him. He's turned into a sidearm pitcher; he used to be 3.4-arm pitcher. he dropped down and dropped down. He's angry because he got a salary at $12 million and now he wants $85 million; he wants that four- or five-year deal that's going to get him $85 million - and that's wrong. Play, finish out your season, and negotiate."