Although he was born in Kentucky, he grew up in Cincinnati, and worked in various trades during times that didn't involve baseball games.

When he left baseball, he began an owner operated roasted corn business in Cincinnati, that was later expanded into Kentucky.

Alfred Gorden Jennings was born in Newport, Kentucky on November 30, 1850,[1] but grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio.

[2][3] Jennings began playing for local baseball clubs in 1868, first for the Red Oaks, and later for the Cincinnati Buckeyes.

In 1878, he was managing a baseball club in Delaware, Ohio, when the Milwaukee Grays of the National League visited the Cincinnati Reds on August 15.

The Grays had a tough time filling all their playing positions due to multiple injuries, and enlisted Jennings to catch pitcher Mike Golden.

[8][9] On why Jennings, with little to no playing experience, was called upon to catch the hard-throwing Golden, Caylor stated: He looked so large and handsome, so very like a catcher...that Manager Chapman was mashed, and straightway engaged him, and clinched the bargain with a dinner.

[10] He endured his nickname for the remainder of his career, and sportswriters exaggerated his dismal performance more in the years afterward.

[10]The first game Jennings worked occurred in minor league baseball, when, in 1878, he was unable to play due to a broken thumb.

[16] He was still listed as a police officer through 1891, and living at both 458 and 562 Main St.[17][18] It was during this period of his life that he owned a roasted corn delivery business, first in Cincinnati, and quickly expanded it into Covington, Kentucky, and his birth city of Newport.