For pitcher Bobby Jenks, signing with the Red Sox after the 2010 season represented a good chance at a change. He’d bolted through the White Sox organization as a big, affable closer who could hit 102 mph on the radar gun and helped the South Siders to the 2005 World Series title. But after an injury-riddled 2010, he was in need of a fresh start and there was speculation that the Red Sox would be soon replacing star Jonathan Papelbon.
Jenks was seen as a viable alternative, to the point where there was much public discussion about whether he could co-exist with Papelbon, who acknowledged the fit would be awkward.
“I didn’t come here to step on anybody’s toes,” Jenks said. “I know what my role is coming here. We’ve been friends, shoot, for many years. I don’t think that’s going to be a problem at all.”
Red Sox Challenger to Jonathan Papelbon?
It wasn’t a problem, but mostly because the elbow injuries that torpedoed Jenks’ 2010 season wound up following him to Boston, and he did not make the impact the team had hoped. Papelbon remained the closer for 2011, then left in free agency to join the Phillies in 2012, where he remained an All-Star.
Jenks, meanwhile, was seen in only 19 games in 2011, and went 2-2 with a 6.32 ERA. He was released the following year after suffering blood clots. Jenks finished his major league career with a 16-20 record, 3.53 ERA and 173 saves.
His performance on the mound was not quite memorable, then, but Jenks handled himself with the kind of aw-shucks professionalism that defined his relationships within the game. That is, in part, why there was an outpouring of sadness when it was reported on Saturday that Jenks had died after a tough year with a stomach cancer known as adenocarcinoma.
Jenks was just 44, and leaves behind four children with his first wife. He had remarried and was living in Portugal at the time of his death.
Bobby Jenks Well-Remembered
The Red Sox marked Jenks’ death with a message: “Our hearts are with the Jenks family and so many around baseball who knew Bobby as a teammate and friend.”
Around baseball, and in Boston, the news was hard to take–Jenks was just 44 years old.
One fan commented under the Red Sox’s message: “He spent a year here. He was one of us. RIP.”
“Way too young. :(” another added.
Wrote another: “Such a heartbreaking loss. Bobby Jenks was a legend on the mound and clearly loved by so many. Thoughts are with his family, friends, and the whole baseball community. And yeah, @Michael_ReedSEA’s right—markets aside, some things are bigger than the game. RIP.”
White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf said in a statement: “We have lost an iconic member of the White Sox family today. None of us will ever forget that ninth inning of Game 4 in Houston, all that Bobby did for the 2005 World Series champions and for the entire Sox organization during his time in Chicago. He and his family knew cancer would be his toughest battle, and he will be missed as a husband, father, friend and teammate. He will forever hold a special place in all our hearts.”
Fans Saddened by Announcement of Ex-Red Sox Pitcher’s Death