Showing posts with label Bobby Jenks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bobby Jenks. Show all posts

Tuesday, July 15, 2025

Mark Buehrle statue unveiling: Some photos from July 11

It might be the only baseball game I attend all season. The White Sox honored 2005 World Series hero Mark Buehrle with a statue on the right field concourse before the July 11 game against the Cleveland Guardians, won 5-4 by the Sox in 11 innings.

Here are some photos, all snapped by my girlfriend Jen Bubis:

Buehrle mimics the statue for the cameras.

Buehrle delivers his speech Friday night.

 
The scoreboard highlights some of Buehrle's career accomplishments.

 
Buehrle with his wife during the ceremony.
 
 
Several former teammates were there to support Buehrle, including World Series MVP Jermaine Dye.

 
And relief pitcher Neal Cotts, who hasn't changed in 20 years.

 
Pitcher Freddy Garcia (center) and utility player Pablo Ozuna with the dreads
                                    

 
Buehrle's longtime teammate in the starting rotation, Jon Garland

 
All the way from Japan, second baseman Tadahito Iguchi (with photo bomb from reliever Luis Vizcaino, with earring)   

Relief pitcher Cliff Politte

We will never forget our closer, Bobby Jenks. RIP.  

Jenks is memorialized at the World Series monument. 

A closer look at the Jenks memorial.  

Former players stand with Buehrle after the statue unveiling.

Sunday, July 6, 2025

Bobby Jenks, World Series champion closer, dies at 44

My uncle and I were in attendance at U.S. Cellular Field when Bobby Jenks made his major league debut. It was July 6, 2005, against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Ninth inning, White Sox leading 7-2.

Jenks walked the first batter he faced on four pitches.

However, his fastball was lighting up the stadium radar gun at 98-99 mph. I remember telling my uncle, "If this guy can put that pitch in the strike zone, he's going to be fine."

Three batters later, Jenks had two strikeouts and three outs, and the Sox had a stress-free victory. Little did we know how significant the addition of Jenks to the roster would be.

A little more than three months later, the then-24-year-old right-hander was on the mound in a much more stressful situation.

It was the ninth inning of Game 4 of the World Series. The Sox were leading the Houston Astros 1-0, looking for a sweep and their first championship since 1917. Tying run on second base, two outs. 

Jenks got the out he needed for the Sox, getting Orlando Palmeiro to bounce out to shortstop Juan Uribe. The Sox were champions! It was one of the happiest moments of my life.

On Saturday at my mom's house, my uncle and I were discussing our memories of Jenks' big-league debut, which happened 20 years ago today. Our family gathered this weekend to mark the Fourth of July and my 49th birthday, which is Monday. During our celebration, we got the bad news that Jenks died Friday at age 44, after a battle with adenocarcinoma, a form of stomach cancer.

This is a sad time for everyone who is part of the White Sox community. There is only one Sox pitcher to record the last out of the World Series in the past 108 years. That player is Jenks, and that moment will live forever, even though the man who created it is now gone.

Jenks also closed out the division-clinching game in 2005 against the Detroit Tigers, and the clinching game of the American League Division Series against the Boston Red Sox. He appeared in all four games of the 2005 World Series, earning two saves.

By 2011, Jenks was out of baseball -- a back injury ending his time in the majors. It was not a long career, but it was a successful one. Here are some of his other accolades:

  • 173 saves, second-most in Sox history
  • consecutive 40-save seasons (2006-07)
  • consecutive All-Star selections (2006-07)
  • five saves and a 2.00 ERA in seven postseason appearances
  • retired a team-record 41 batters in 2007 (a record later broken by teammate Mark Buehrle)
  • had the fifth-most saves in baseball from 2006 to 2010

Jenks was a pitcher ahead of his time. In today's baseball, nearly every team in the league has a stable of relief pitchers who rush the ball up to home plate at 95 mph or more. But in 2005, there were only a handful of guys in the league like that. It got your attention when someone was hitting 98 to 102 mph with consistency. 

Jenks' fastball had both high-end velocity and a late cut that made him very difficult to square up. He also had a 12-to-6 breaking ball that he could throw for strikes with consistency. That's a good recipe for a strong closer in any era, but especially in that era, where 98 mph on the gun was uncommon.

Unfortunately, Jenks' death comes a week before the Sox are set to honor the 20th anniversary of the 2005 World Series championship. Events are scheduled throughout next week's home series against the Cleveland Guardians (July 10-13). All Sox fans had hoped Jenks would be well enough to attend those ceremonies. Sadly, that is not the case.

Fortunately, Jenks was in Chicago for SoxFest in 2015, and my girlfriend was able to get his autograph in her 2005 scrapbook (see picture). That signature has always been valuable, but it's a little more cherished right now.

Here's how I would sum up Bobby Jenks: If I had to pick one White Sox relief pitcher from my nearly 50 years of fandom to get three outs in the ninth inning, Jenks is the guy I'd want on the mound.

With all due respect to Bobby Thigpen, Roberto Hernandez and Liam Hendriks, Jenks is the best closer I've had the privilege of rooting for on the South Side of Chicago.

RIP, Bobby Jenks.

Monday, January 29, 2024

SoxFest to return in 2025

Get your pitchforks and torches ready, White Sox fans!

SoxFest will return Jan. 24-25, 2025, according to a news release from the team. Sure, the event is almost a full year away, but this will be the first time since 2020 that fans will get to meet with and question team brass.

In the four years since, the team has been making excuses for not holding SoxFest. They've hidden behind the COVID-19 pandemic, even in 2022 when the overwhelming majority of the American public no longer cared about the virus. 

In 2023, they canceled SoxFest, citing "multiple factors," without elaborating on what those factors were. This year? They didn't even bother to make announcement.

One can only assume the Sox weren't eager to face their fans after a 61-101 season in 2023. Early predictions for 2024 are calling for a similar season -- the current Las Vegas over/under for the Sox win total is 63.5.

So why would the team pick now to bring back this event? Well, for starters, 2025 is the 20th anniversary of the 2005 World Series championship team. It is also the 125th anniversary of the franchise.

The venue, activities and guests for SoxFest will be announced at a (likely much) later time, but expect to see a lot of the 2005 heroes at this event. I won't be surprised if Paul Konerko, Mark Buehrle, Jose Contreras, Jermaine Dye, A.J. Pierzynski, Joe Crede, Aaron Rowand, Bobby Jenks and the rest of the gang are brought back to keep the booing to a minimum.

Less cynically and more optimistically, the Sox have a lot of money coming off the books after the 2024 season. Perhaps next offseason, they might actually make some moves to reshape the roster and give fans hope for the 2025 season. Right now, hope is in short supply for 2024.

Either way, the move to bring back SoxFest is long overdue. Congratulations, team, on finally doing something right.

Tuesday, September 6, 2022

Lance Lynn, Elvis Andrus help White Sox win opener in Seattle

The White Sox offense still has trouble generating runs consistently, but it does seem as though veteran right-hander Lance Lynn has regained his form.

Entering Monday's series opener at Seattle, Lynn had allowed only five earned runs over 24.2 innings over his past four starts -- two wins and two no-decisions. Over that same span, he struck out 29 batters while walking only two.

Against the Mariners, Lynn (5-5) came up with his best outing of the season. He went seven innings, allowing an unearned run on three hits in a 3-2 Sox victory.

Lynn struck out 11 and walked only one, while generating 25 swings-and-misses on 89 pitches -- 63 of them for strikes. There were some pretty nasty shadows on the field with the game starting at 3:40 p.m. Pacific time, and that made conditions rough for batters.

Nevertheless, we have to say Lynn's stuff was sharp given that he retired the last 17 men he faced, and very little contact was made against him.

The Sox scored their three runs early off Seattle starter Marco Gonzales (10-13). In the second inning, AJ Pollock hit his 11th home run of the season. Elvis Andrus also hit his 11th homer (and third since joining the Sox) -- a two-run shot in the top of the third.

Andrus added a double and went 2 for 4. For whatever reason, he swings the bat really well in Seattle. At T-Mobile Park this season, dating back to his time with Oakland, he's 10 for 24 with five of his 11 home runs.

The Sox bullpen closed it out, although in dramatic fashion. Kendall Graveman worked around a two-out single to post a scoreless eighth. Liam Hendriks gave up a run on a walk and two singles in the ninth. The Mariners had the tying run at third and the winning run at second when Hendriks fanned Adam Frazier on three pitches to record his 30th save of the season.

Hendriks becomes the sixth Sox closer to record 30 or more saves in back-to-back seasons. The others are Bobby Thigpen, Roberto Hernandez, Keith Foulke, Bobby Jenks and David Robertson.

The Sox are 68-67.

Sunday, December 8, 2019

Worthwhile read on former White Sox closer Bobby Jenks

Bobby Jenks
Former White Sox closer Bobby Jenks lost his career, his marriage and almost lost his life to a botched back surgery and an addiction to painkillers.

Jenks talked about his troubles, which occurred in 2011-12 when he was a member of the Boston Red Sox, in a first-person article this week for The Players' Tribune.

It appears that things are much better for Jenks now, as he received a $5.1 million settlement from the hospital that botched his back surgery.

Jenks has been sober for more than seven years, but that will be an ongoing battle for him for the rest of his days. He's also speaking out to draw attention to the practice of concurrent surgeries, which he says led to his doctor screwing up his back.

The article is lengthy, but it's worth your time, when you have the time. I found it to be a nice break from reading about offseason free agency rumors.

Friday, August 29, 2014

Yusmeiro Petit breaks Mark Buehrle's record

San Francisco Giants right-hander Yusmeiro Petit on Thursday became the first pitcher in major league history to retire 46 consecutive batters.

Petit entered Thursday's action having set down 38 straight hitters over his seven previous appearances (six of them in relief). He was given an opportunity to start in place of the struggling Tim Lincecum and retired the first eight men he faced against the Colorado Rockies in a 4-1 San Francisco win.

Oddly enough, opposing pitcher Jordan Lyles ended the streak with a two-out double in the top of the third inning.

Petit's accomplishment breaks the previous record of 45 consecutive batters retired, which was held by Mark Buehrle. The former White Sox ace tossed a perfect game against the Tampa Bay Rays on July 23, 2009, and followed that up by retiring the first 17 hitters in his next start against the Minnesota Twins.

The four longest such streaks were all recorded by members of either the White Sox or the Giants. Sox fans will recall that former closer Bobby Jenks had a similar streak in 2007.

Most batters retired consecutively:
1. Petit, Giants, 46 in 2014
2. Buehrle, White Sox, 45 in 2009
3 (t). Jim Barr, Giants, 41 in 1972
3 (t). Jenks, White Sox, 41 in 2007