(This is the 11th in a series of features on Baylor Athletics' 25 for 25, which honors Baylor's top 25 athletes in the 25-year history of the Big 12 Conference (1996-21). Selected by a panel of Baylor experts, the final list was picked from a pool of over 100 candidates that came from all 19 intercollegiate sports that the school offers. Over the next couple of months, two honorees per week will be released and will also be featured during game broadcasts on the Baylor Sports Network from Learfield IMG College.)
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
Jason Jennings had arguably the greatest debut in Major League Baseball history, tossing a five-hit shutout and going 3-for-4 with a ninth-inning homer in the Colorado Rockies' 10-0 win over the New York Mets on Aug. 23, 2001.
"That was something, obviously, that had never been done before. And it just all kind of fell into place," said Jennings, who played in nine major league seasons with the Rockies, Houston Astros and Texas Rangers. "Maybe it's just the stars aligned, maybe it's just God let me experience that and put that on my mantel for my whole life. It's something I'll never forget."
A two-time All-American and two-time Big 12 Player of the Year who was the first consensus Division I Baseball National Player of the Year in 1999, Jennings credits his three years at Baylor for helping him develop into the player and man he's become.
"I would not have ever come close to anything that I did in my professional career if it wasn't for Baylor," said the 42-year-old Jennings, who was inducted into the Baylor Athletics Hall of Fame in 2009.
"My time at Baylor, just being surrounded by the great mentors of our staff with (Steve Smith, Steve "Hoot" Johnigan and Mitch Thompson), and then just the cast of characters we had on that team. You count up all the teammates I've had and all the locker rooms I've been in . . . none of those locker rooms compare to the ones we had in my time at Baylor."
A self-proclaimed "late bloomer," Jennings was a two-sport standout at Mesquite Poteet High School who was taken in the 54
th round of the 1996 MLB Draft by the Arizona Diamondbacks.
"I was a late-round guy out of high school," he said. "I was not immature, I was just a late bloomer – physically, mentally, everything."
Easily Baylor's best two-way player in program history, Jennings earned Freshman All-America honors in 1997, hitting .304 with a 3-5 record, 10 saves and a 2.90 ERA on the mound. As a sophomore, he was 11-4 and hit .327 with 18 home runs and 58 RBI.
Saving his best for last, Jennings tied a single-season record with 13 wins (13-2), struck out a school-record 172 batters, had a 2.58 ERA and hit .386 with 17 homers and 68 RBI. But, the Bears ended a win shy of the College World Series, when a "gassed" Jennings gave up a late 2-0 lead in a 6-2 loss to Oklahoma State in the Super Regional at Baylor Ballpark.
"Obviously, I've turned the page," Jennings said. "But just how close we were and how good we were and we were big-time rivals with those guys. . . . Honestly, the thing that I'll never forget is how hot it was and how tired I was. I'll admit, for the first time in my life, I was kind of out of gas at that point. I've won and lost a lot of games in my life, and that one stings a little bit just because we were so close to our goal. But, it doesn't take anything away from the guys or the team or the accomplishments we had that season."
Taken with the 16
th pick overall as the Rockies' first-round draft pick in 1999, Jennings had that memorable MLB debut two years later. In 2002, he was named National League Rookie of the Year, going 16-8 with a 4.52 ERA.
Jennings had a career record of 62-74 with a 4.95 ERA and also hit .207 with 14 doubles, two homers and 26 RBI. He was a utility reliever with the Rangers in his last MLB season in 2009 and helped the independent league Grand Prairie AirHogs win their first American Association Championship in 2011 before retiring from pro baseball.
"There are very few Nolan Ryans or Greg Madduxes out there," Jennings said. "An injury is coming, it's just a matter of time. . . . I reached the time in my life that I had done something that most people never get to do. I really appreciated everything the game gave to me. And it was kind of time just to reflect and step away and turn the page and just be a dad, a husband."
Knowing that he "wanted to stay in the game, somehow," Jennings founded Pastime Training Center in Frisco, which 10 years later now includes seven indoor batting cages, two pitching mounds and a 17,000-square-foot outdoor turf field with two bullpens and serves as home of the Dallas Tigers North select baseball program.
"Even if I'm coaching a 14-year-old team, and we're playing some pool game in a tournament, I'm just super-competitive," said Jennings, who coached his older son, Braden, through high school. "At the same time, I'm realistic. My main goal for kids is when they're 42 years old, they can look back and be pleased or have great memories of their 14-U or 15-U or 9-U season. And not look back and go, 'Oh man, our coaches were crazy! They did anything to win that plastic trophy and that $3 ring.'''
Jason and his wife, Kelly, have two sons, Braden and Keathan, and one daughter, Bailee.
Previous:
Brittney Griner, Women's Basketball (2009-13)
Robert Griffin III, Football (2008-11)
Dawn Greathouse Siergij, Soccer (1997-2000)
Benedikt Dorsch, Men's Tennis (2002-05)
Corey Coleman, Football (2013-15)
Whitney Canion Reichenstein, Softball (2009-14)
Trayvon Bromell, Men's T&F (2014-15)
Stacey Bowers-Smith, Women's T&F (1996-99)
Andrew Billings, Football (2013-15)
Benjamin Becker, Men's Tennis (2001-05)
