In the midst of Saturday’s pregame celebrations of the White Sox‘ 2005 World Series championship team, there was a palpable absence among the player alumni. A name that came up frequently.
Bobby Jenks bookended the 2005 World Series, earning the save in Game 1 and Game 4. He passed away on July 4 in Portugal after battling adenocarcinoma, a type of stomach cancer. During the team reunion ceremony prior to Saturday’s game against the Guardians, multiple teammates mentioned his name, and Mark Buerhle — whose statue was unveiled on Friday — brought out a bucket of beers for his teammates to toast on the field in Jenks’ memory.
Though former sox catcher Toby Hall was not on the 2005 team, he accompanied Jenks’ wife and children on the field, something Jenks requested of him in his final days. The two became friends when they were Sox teammates in 2007 and 2008, and they worked together for the Windy City Thunderbolts, a Frontier League team based in suburban Crestwood.
“He wasn’t just a great player, he wasn’t just an ‘05 champ, he just was an amazing person and he would have been a big-league manager,” Hall said. “We always talked about let’s get back to the big leagues, let’s go coach. He put a stamp on a lot of good people and a lot of good kids and he made me better.”
In his post-playing days since retiring after the 2011 season, Jenks earned a reputation as an excellent manager of the Thunderbolts. His colleagues and the guys who played under him are universal in their praise for the man Jenks was, both as a human being and as a manager.
“[He’s] a great coach and a great influencer to the next generation because that’s what he got,” Hall said. “That’s why he won a World Series here in Chicago, is because how he was taught, how he was mentored. All I can say about it is just I want people to remember him, not just as the ’05 champ. I want them to remember him as an amazing person.”
Jenks big-league career merits attention alongside his character. He tallied 173 career saves and was a two-time All Star, in 2006 and 2007. When he debuted, his triple-digit fastball was something of an anomaly, so much so that Jenks could be considered ahead of his time.
“Bobby is one of those guys you could have picked up in 2004, 05, 06 and dropped him into this game today and he fits right away,” Paul Konerko said. “Bobby was again ahead of his time for what he was featuring back then.
“It was almost alien like how hard he threw and with his curve, that was the thing. No one had seen that type of mix, I don’t think.”
The Sox will wear a commemorative patch on their uniform sleeves with Jenks’ number 45 for the rest of the season, and his number is behind the pitching rubber on the mound at Rate Field.
This weekend’s reunion was a part of a season-long celebration of the 2005 team, one that broke an 88-year championship drought for the White Sox, stretching back to their 1917 title. The ’05 team still garners a lot of excitement for Sox fans, even two decades later. Pope Leo XIV’s Sox fandom has been well-documented already, including his appearance in the television broadcast of Game 1 of the World Series, and on Saturday he added to that, sending a signed custom jersey for Konerko that was presented to the former first baseman.
The importance of the 2005 team is not lost on the current squad, even as they work through an organizational rebuild. Saturday’s 6-2 loss to Cleveland was a sloppy one, and it was emblematic of the problems the current White Sox are facing as they try to take steps toward being something close to their counterparts of 20 years ago.
Still, the experience of having the ’05 team around is a positive one for the current group, including manager Will Venable, whose playing career overlapped with a few members of the Sox’ last championship team.
“From the very first event that I had in the offseason I’ve been around these guys and have heard stories and certainly understand why they are celebrated and why that group is special. To continue to be part of the celebration is awesome and I feel fortunate to be part of it,” Venable said.
Forging a connection with the organization’s past means something to Venable, even though his playing and coaching career had several other stops before coming to Chicago. He wants the same for his players.
“It’s important to understand the White Sox family and history a little bit,” Venable said. “And these guys, the guys that are around us wore the same jersey and it’s important to understand their path and connection and also to be around these guys and see how special that connection was and it was so special that it resulted in a World Series championship.
“And we know how much that means. To be around these guys at all is something we can learn from.”
Though Jenks was not there on Saturday, his memory left an imprint. Like it did with his former teammates and the players he managed, Jenks’ memory will undoubtedly have an impact on the current White Sox team.
