Bobby Jenks

Over a seven-year big league career, 6-foot-4, 275-pound right-handed reliever Bobby Jenks compiled a 16-20 record with a 3.53 ERA and 173 saves. All of these saves were for the White Sox, putting Jenks second on the team’s all-time saves list. He pitched for the White Sox from 2005 to 2010, then spent 2011 with the Boston Red Sox before his career was brought to a premature end by injuries. Jenks was a two-time All-Star and a 2005 World Series champion, and he once tied a major-league record with 41 consecutive batters retired. He overcame significant off-field adversity at both the beginning and end of his unique career, staying in baseball and ultimately moving into his position in 2024 as manager of the Frontier League’s Windy City ThunderBolts.

Robert Scott Jenks was born on March 14, 1981, in Mission Hills, California, a Los Angeles neighborhood located in the San Fernando Valley. His family later moved to Idaho, where he attended Lakeland High School. His father, also named Robert, worked in the roofing business while his mother, Carla, worked as a checkout clerk at a store. They lived in a cabin in the woods and often struggled to make ends meet. Jenks played one year of baseball at Lakeland, dominating both on the mound and at the plate during the 1998 season. However, the teenage Jenks had a difficult time academically.

“We knew he struggled in the classroom, and I think he has some learning difficulties and I think he got frustrated,” said Ken Busch, his former high-school coach. “As we went through practices, we saw that he could play.”1 Lakeland was eventually split into separate schools, and Jenks was not eligible to play at his new school, Timberlake, due to poor grades. Still, he was able to make a name for himself playing American Legion summer ball, where scouts noticed his electric fastball. Along with this heat came a reputation for wildness, with one account claiming that Jenks’ first fastball at a showcase sailed six feet over the catcher’s head and nearly struck a scout. After dropping out of Timberlake and transferring to Inglemoor High School in Kenmore, Washington, and graduating, Jenks was selected by the Anaheim Angels in the fifth round of the 2000 free-agent draft.

Jenks began his minor-league career as a starting pitcher. Despite struggling in 2000 with the rookie-league Butte Copper Kings and in 2001 with the Class-A Cedar Rapids Kernels, Jenks was promoted to the Double-A Arkansas Travelers, where he pitched to a 3.60 ERA over two starts. In 2002 he scuffled again, posting a 4.74 ERA while splitting time between the Travelers and the High-A Rancho Cucamonga Quakes. During this season, he unfortunately gained a reputation as an immature, troubled young man who was squandering his talent, often drinking heavily and getting into trouble. A 2003 ESPN The Magazine article took aim at Jenks, calling him “a boy who can throw heat ass and do little else” and “a boy who won’t stop drinking, won’t stop cussing and won’t pay his own bills.”2 Jenks was alleged to have started numerous drunken conflicts with teammates and coaches, referred to his agent using an ethnic slur, and burned his pitching hand with a lighter. In his 2009 memoir Odd Man Out: A Year on the Mound with a Minor League Misfit, former Angels minor leaguer Matt McCarthy claimed that Jenks faked an injury and threatened to kill his manager.3 The credibility of McCarthy’s book has been widely challenged, with a New York Times article claiming many of its statements to be false.4 McCarthy spent 2002 with the rookie-league Provo Angels and was never actually teammates with Jenks, who has vehemently denied the accusations.

“You know what? My friends and family that know me, they know the truth,” Jenks told reporters after McCarthy’s book was released. “They know none of it is true.”5

Jenks made up for any off-field distractions during the 2003 minor-league season as a starting pitcher, working to a 7-2 record and a 2.38 ERA as he spent most of the year with the Double-A Arkansas Travelers. However, because of elbow injuries, Jenks pitched in only 17 games. His fortunes worsened in 2004, as he started only five games at three different levels and struggled to a 10.24 ERA before suffering another injury. Jenks underwent season-ending elbow surgery, and the Angels placed him on waivers at the end of the year.

It was the White Sox who decided to give the troubled young pitcher a second chance, claiming Jenks on waivers and putting him in the Double-A Birmingham Barons’ bullpen to start 2005. He pitched to a 2.85 ERA and saved 19 games in 21 opportunities with Birmingham. The White Sox called him up on July 5, as Jenks skipped the Triple-A level and finally made his big-league debut. Against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays on July 6, 2005, he pitched a scoreless, hitless ninth inning with two strikeouts to close out a 7-2 Chicago win.

With the White Sox leading the American League Central Division and incumbent closer Dustin Hermanson battling injuries, Jenks began to assume a larger role in the bullpen as his team pushed for the playoffs. He earned his first major-league save on August 25 against the Minnesota Twins and settled into the closer’s job, finishing the year with a 1-1 record, 6 saves, and a 2.75 ERA in the majors. After cruising for most of the season but running into a September swoon, the White Sox finished strong and won the AL Central Division comfortably with a 99-63 record, six games ahead of the second-place Cleveland Indians. On to the playoffs they went, facing the defending champion Boston Red Sox in the Division Series.

Jenks saw his first playoff action in Game Two against Boston, throwing two scoreless innings to lock down the save in a 5-4 win. The White Sox went to Boston leading the series two games to none, and with a 5-3 lead in Game Three at Fenway Park, Jenks pitched a scoreless ninth inning for another save. The rookie whose career had been in jeopardy a year before had closed out the defending champs on their home turf, and the White Sox were going to the AL Championship Series.

Surprisingly, Jenks was not needed in the ALCS against his former organization, now called the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. For that matter, neither was the majority of the White Sox bullpen. Chicago starters worked all but two-thirds of an inning in the series, as Mark Buehrle, Jon Garland, Freddy Garcia, and José Contreras threw four consecutive complete-game victories in Games Two through Five to win the pennant. As of 2024, they were the only starting staff to accomplish this feat in the postseason since the 1928 New York Yankees.6 For the first time since 1959, the White Sox went to the World Series, and they faced the National League champion Houston Astros, who were making their first Series appearance in franchise history.

The World Series was Jenks’ time to shine. In Game One, at US Cellular Field in Chicago, the White Sox led the Astros 4-3 in the eighth inning, but Houston threatened by putting runners at first and third with no outs. After reliever Neal Cotts struck out Morgan Ensberg and Mike Lamb, Chicago manager Ozzie Guillén went back to his bullpen. As Guillén walked to the mound, he did not make the traditional signal with his right arm to call for Jenks. Instead, he held out his arms high and wide to signal for, as Fox announcer Joe Buck put it, “the wide, tall guy,” providing a memorable moment of comic relief.7 Less than a year after the Angels had unceremoniously released him, Jenks was pitching in a crucial spot in the World Series, facing veteran slugger and future Hall of Famer Jeff Bagwell with the game on the line.

In a six-pitch battle, throwing nothing but fastballs, the rookie blew away the veteran for a huge strikeout, finishing him off with a 99-mph fastball that had wicked lateral movement. The wide, tall guy pumped his arms in celebration as he walked off the mound. After Chicago added a run in the bottom of the eighth to make it 5-3, Jenks returned to the mound for the ninth and set down the Astros in order with two more strikeouts. In the biggest game of his life, Jenks had mowed through four straight batters for a well-deserved save, putting Chicago up 1-0 in the series.

Game Two, however, did not go as smoothly for the big right-hander. Given a clean slate this time with a 6-4 lead to start the ninth inning, Jenks allowed a two-out, two-run single to pinch-hitter José Vizcaino that tied the game, 6-6. Jenks’ blown save proved to be inconsequential, however, as it only set his team up for a more dramatic win. In the bottom of the ninth, White Sox outfielder Scott Podsednik – who had not homered for the entire regular season – drilled a fastball from Houston closer Brad Lidge to right-center field for a walk-off blast. It was Podsednik’s second homer of the postseason, giving Chicago a 7-6 victory and a 2-0 Series lead.

As the series shifted to Houston, another tight battle followed in Game Three, this time going to extra innings with the score tied, 5-5. Jenks did not pitch until the bottom of the 11th inning, but when he did, he made it count. He bounced back from his Game Two hiccup with two scoreless and hitless innings, walking one, hitting one batter, and striking out three. In the 14th inning, former Astro Geoff Blum, who had entered the game for Jenks as part of a double switch in the prior frame, drilled a two-out, go-ahead home run off Ezequiel Astacio to put his old team in a hole. The White Sox added another run in the inning and won 7-5, taking a 3 games to none stranglehold in the Series.

Game Four was the potential clincher, with 88 years of history on the line for the White Sox, who hadn’t won it all since 1917. Starting pitchers Garcia of the White Sox and Brandon Backe of the Astros dueled for seven straight scoreless innings, then a Jermaine Dye RBI single off Lidge gave Chicago a 1-0 lead in the eighth. With the slimmest possible margin, Jenks came out of the bullpen for the bottom of the ninth, looking to nail down the final three outs.

Leading off the inning, Jason Lane blooped a single into center field to put the tying run on base. A sacrifice by Brad Ausmus moved Lane to second, then Chris Burke popped up into foul territory, close to the stands. There didn’t seem to be any chance for a White Sox defender to make the play, but shortstop Juan Uribe reached into the crowd and tumbled into the stands, making a spectacular catch for the second out. Up to the plate came pinch-hitter Orlando Palmeiro, Houston’s final hope.

Palmeiro hit a high chopper toward the middle of the infield on a 1-and-2 count. Uribe charged in and scooped the ball up, needing to make another fantastic play. His throw nailed Palmeiro at first by an eyelash. For the first time since 1917, the White Sox were World Series champions, and the man being mobbed in the middle of the diamond was 24-year-old Bobby Jenks. While the road he had taken there was already paved with challenges, what he went on to experience after this high would be perhaps the most difficult journey of any of the 2005 White Sox.

In 2006 Jenks continued his success. He was named an AL All-Star in his first full big-league season, finishing 3-4 with a 4.00 ERA and a career-high 41 saves. The White Sox finished with a 90-72 record, but their title defense fell short as they missed the playoffs. Jenks continued to make a name for himself in 2007, saving 40 more games and lowering his ERA to 2.77 as he was again named an All-Star. One historic accomplishment during Jenks’ 2007 season particularly stood out. Over a span of 15 appearances from July 17 to August 12, Jenks retired 41 consecutive hitters. When he entered for the ninth inning against the Seattle Mariners on August 12 and retired the side in order to reach 41, he tied Jim Barr of the 1972 San Francisco Giants for the major-league record. In Jenks’ next appearance, Joey Gathright of the Kansas City Royals singled to end the streak, denying Jenks a chance to stand alone with the major-league record.8 However, he still held the AL mark and shared the major-league record until his teammate Buehrle broke both in 2009 with 45 consecutive batters retired.9

The 2008 season saw Jenks battle the injury bug for the first time since his minor-league days, being placed on the disabled list in July with left scapula bursitis. Despite this interruption to his season, Jenks put up fine numbers yet again with 30 saves and a career-best 2.63 ERA. After consecutive years of missing the postseason, the White Sox finished 2008 tied with the Minnesota Twins atop the AL Central Division. In the tiebreaker game at US Cellular Field, Chicago held a 1-0 lead entering the ninth inning and Jenks entered to close it out. After recording the first two outs, he allowed a fly ball to shallow center field off the bat of Alexi Casilla. Chicago’s Brian Anderson laid out for a spectacular diving catch to give the White Sox the division title and Jenks the save. Chicago’s first playoff appearance since 2005 didn’t go as planned, as the ALDS saw them eliminated in four games by the upstart Tampa Bay Rays. Jenks did his part, however, nailing down the save in Chicago’s 5-3 Game Three victory, the team’s only win of the Series.

Despite a less dominant season in 2009, Jenks continued to hold down Chicago’s closer position, finishing with 29 saves and a 3.71 ERA on a sub-.500 team. In 2010 the going became tougher for Jenks. Guillén removed him from the closer role for a time after a number of difficult outings. He was ultimately reinstated, finishing the year with 27 saves and a 4.44 ERA. The White Sox finished with a winning record, but ultimately missed the postseason.

The 2010 season turned out to be Jenks’ final year on the South Side of Chicago, as the White Sox did not tender him a contract after the season. On December 21, 2010, Jenks signed a two-year, $12 million contract with the Boston Red Sox, and he exchanged some parting shots with his former manager Guillén on the way out the door. Jenks said he was “looking forward to playing for a manager who knows how to run a bullpen.”10 This led Guillén’s son Oney to bash Jenks in a series of social media posts, calling him “ungrateful” and a “punk.”11 Ozzie Guillén himself then spoke out, claiming that Jenks “did a lot of bad things last year” and that the White Sox had “lied for him.”12 Despite his longtime success in Chicago, it appeared a change of scenery would be beneficial for the reliever.

Pitching in a set-up role instead of the closer’s spot, Jenks got off to a strong start in Boston with four scoreless appearances, then began to struggle as some shaky outings drove up his ERA. He spent time on the disabled list with a biceps strain, then soon after his return, he suffered a back injury while pitching against the New York Yankees. Jenks later wrote in an article for The Players’ Tribune, “It’s almost like a spoon had been shoved into my back – like someone is trying to dig a hole in me, not with a knife, but with a spoon.”13 He went back on the shelf before returning to make four more appearances, which turned out to be his last games in the major leagues. His final major-league game was on July 7, 2011, when he fittingly pitched a scoreless ninth inning to close out a 10-4 win over the Baltimore Orioles. For the 2011 season, Jenks finished with a 2-2 record, a 6.32 ERA, and no saves in 19 appearances.

While his big-league career may have been over – unbeknownst to him – Jenks’ health struggles were just beginning. His back pain was caused by spurs in his spine that had to be removed via surgery. Prior to the operation, Jenks also suffered a pulmonary embolism and colitis, forcing it to be pushed back to December. Upon waking from the surgery, Jenks was told that everything had gone well. A few days later, however, he noticed that there was much more bandaging on his back than he had expected, and he had a much larger scar. Soon after this, his back began leaking large amounts of spinal fluid. After being taken to a hospital and getting emergency surgery, the 30-year-old Jenks was told by a doctor that he was lucky to be alive.

Jenks’ original back surgery, performed by Dr. Kirkham Wood at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, had been a concurrent surgery with the doctor operating on another patient at the same time as Jenks.14 During the procedure, Wood decompressed only one of the two levels of Jenks’ spine that he was supposed to decompress. In addition, he left a jagged spike in Jenks’ back that punctured the membrane around his spinal cord. This caused Jenks to develop an infection that traveled up through his body and nearly reached his brain before the emergency operation saved his life. He reported to 2012 Red Sox spring training in an effort to rehab his back, but at this point his pitching future was very uncertain.

Jenks’ problems did not end there. He had become addicted to painkillers, a problem that had initially surfaced before the surgery but was now worse, to the point where he was taking 50 to 60 pills a day. This caused his behavior to become erratic, often without his being aware of it. One day in spring training, an intoxicated Jenks removed all the food from his refrigerator, stabbed his television with a knife, and broke into a stranger’s car. He awoke the next day with no recollection of what had happened. On another occasion, he was charged with a DUI after driving recklessly while intoxicated. Jenks was severely depressed, and he fell into a downward spiral so pronounced that his family and counselors had to stage an intervention. Adding insult to injury, his first wife, Adele, filed for divorce. “2012, man … rough year,” Jenks wrote.15

Going through intense rehabilitation for both his painkiller problem and his back, Jenks was able to shake the addiction but not the injuries. His spine continued to weaken to the point where he was given two choices: He could continue to go through extremely painful rehab to someday pitch again, or he could have plates and screws added to his spine that would force him into retirement. Having been sober for 11 months and not wanting to relapse on painkillers, Jenks decided to get the operation that would end his playing days.

“I had the game taken away from me because of a botched back surgery in Boston that was supposed to be no big deal – because a level of care and professional expertise that I trusted to be present … was not there,” Jenks wrote.16

In his first years of retirement, Jenks spent time with his attorneys researching what had happened with his spine, eventually filing a malpractice lawsuit against the hospital and Dr. Wood. Upon gaining access to hospital records, Jenks discovered that the concurrent surgeries had likely caused the operation to be botched. In 2019 he was awarded a $5.1 million out-of-court settlement in the case. Jenks became an outspoken advocate against concurrent surgeries, looking to raise as much awareness as possible about the unethical practice.

“There are currently efforts in Massachusetts to sign a bill into law prohibiting concurrent surgeries,” Jenks wrote. “While these efforts are still in the early stages, it’s a start. And ideally Massachusetts can provide an example for those in other states to follow. Maybe you [the reader] can help lead that charge.”17

After the conclusion of the lawsuit, Jenks was able to find his way back into baseball. He worked as pitching coach of the independent Pioneer League’s Grand Junction Rockies in 2021, then was named the team’s manager for the 2022 season.18 Under Jenks, the Rockies rolled to a 62-33 record and took home the league championship. Prior to the 2024 season, Jenks was hired as manager of the Frontier League’s Windy City Thunderbolts. He is married to his second wife, Eleni Tzitzivacos, and has five children.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball-Reference.com for pertinent game information including box scores and play-by-plays. He also reviewed play-by-play information on ESPN.com.

Notes

1 J.D. Larson, “Jenks Comes Out Ahead at Last,” Spokane (Washington) Spokesman-Review, October 22, 2005, www.spokesman.com/stories/2005/oct/22/jenks-comes-out-ahead-at-last/.

2 Tom Friend, “Loaded Gun: Great Arm, but Jenks No Angel,” ESPN The Magazine, June 9, 2003.

3 Matt McCarthy, Odd Man Out: A Year on the Mound with a Minor League Misfit (New York: Penguin Group USA, 2010).

4 Benjamin Hill and Alan Schwarz, “Errors Cast Doubt on Matt McCarthy’s Baseball Memoir,” New York Times, March 2, 2009.

5 “Bobby Jenks Overcomes Early Adversity after Attitude, Drinking Problems Surface in 2003 ESPN the Magazine Feature,” NESN.Com, New England Sports Network, January 4, 2011, https://nesn.com/2011/01/bobby-jenks-overcomes-early-adversity-after-attitude-drinking-problems-surface-in-2003-espn-the-maga/.

6 Sox on 35th Contributors, “The 2005 White Sox Complete-Game Record Will Be Untouchable for Years,” Sox On 35th, October 17, 2018, www.soxon35th.com/the-2005-white-sox-complete-game-record-will-be-untouchable-for-years/#google_vignette.

7 “2005 World Series Game 1 Astros @ White Sox,” Edited by John Quinn, YouTube.com, May 16, 2020, www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArewsuEIzDk&t=9343s.

8 “Jenks Denied New Record for Retiring Batters,” Reuters, August 21, 2007, www.reuters.com/article/idUSB234931/.

9 Associated Press, “Buehrle Sets MLB Mark,” ESPN Internet Ventures, July 28, 2009, www.espn.com/mlb/news/story?id=4362558.

10 Aaron Gleeman, “Ozzie Guillen Fires Back at Bobby Jenks: ‘He Did a Lot of Bad Things … We Lied for Him, We Protected Him,’” NBC Sports, February 28, 2011, www.nbcsports.com/mlb/news/ozzie-guillen-fires-back-at-bobby-jenks-he-did-a-lot-of-bad-things-we-lied-for-him-we-protected-him.

11 Jon Bois, “Oney Guillen Flings 400 Words of Twitter Rage at Bobby Jenks,” SBNation.com, December 29, 2010, www.sbnation.com/mlb/2010/12/29/1902175/oney-guillen-twitter-bobby-jenks-rant-ozzie-white-sox.

12 Jon Bois.

13 Bobby Jenks. “Scar Tissue,” The Players’ Tribune, December 5, 2019, www.theplayerstribune.com/articles/bobby-jenks-baseball-scar-tissue.

14 Craig Calcaterra, “Former Closer Bobby Jenks Wins $5.1 Million Settlement over Botched Back Surgery,” NBC Sports, May 9, 2019, www.nbcsports.com/mlb/news/former-closer-bobby-jenks-wins-5-1-million-settlement-over-botched-back-surgery.

15 Bobby Jenks. “Scar Tissue.”

16 Bobby Jenks. “Scar Tissue.”

17 Bobby Jenks. “Scar Tissue.”

18 “Grand Junction Rockies Name Bobby Jenks Manager.” Milb.com, March 17, 2022, www.milb.com/news/aguilera-makes-history-as-northern-colorado-hailstorm-fc-and-owlz-team-president.