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Former Major League Baseball closer Bobby Jenks, who was a member of the Chicago White Sox's 2005 World Series championship team, has died at the age of 44 following a battle with stomach cancer, the team announced on its X account Saturday (July 5).
"Former Chicago White Sox All-Star pitcher and 2005 World Series Champion Bobby Jenks passed away yesterday, July 4, in Sintra, Portugal, where he had been battling adenocarcinoma, a form of stomach cancer. He was 44 years old," the White Sox wrote.
Jenks revealed his stomach cancer diagnosis to MLB.com in February.
“You know, the s**t I was doing in my 20s and early 30s, no normal person would have survived,” said Jenks, mincing no words as is his custom. “So, in one way, I’m grateful to be alive. In another way, I’m not surprised this happened. It goes to show you have to take care of yourself from top to bottom with nutrition and exercise and having a good daily plan.
“I’m not saying you need to turn yourself into a Greek god, but you need to watch what you put into your body. Unfortunately, in my 20s, it was the last thing on my mind, being worried about what was going in. I’m not saying that’s 100 percent the factor of what happened here.”
Jenks, a father of six, spent six of his seven MLB seasons with the White Sox, as well as one with the Boston Red Sox, which included serving as the team's closer during his rookie season, which coincided with the franchise's first World Series victory in 88 years. The California native was a two-time All-Star with a 16-20 career record, 3.53 EA, 351 strikeouts and 173 saves.