Fans on Monday added flowers and messages of remembrance for “Big Bad No. 45” to a growing memorial atop the 2005 World Series monument at 35th and Shields for beloved former White Sox closer Bobby Jenks, who died last week at 44.
“When he came out, you knew everything was going to be OK,” Sox fan Pat Reisinger of La Grange said outside Rate Field, imitating former Sox manager Ozzie Guillen’s signature “wide” gesture that would summon the hefty Jenks from the left-field bullpen. “I get chills thinking about those moments.”
The Sox will honor the big man, who was at the center of a slew of the biggest moments in franchise history, by adding “45” patches to players’ uniforms for the rest of the season, team officials said.
A moment of silence for Jenks was held before Monday night’s series opener against the Blue Jays, and the tributes are sure to keep pouring in throughout the Sox’ ’05 reunion weekend, which starts Friday and which Jenks had hoped to attend.
“You can pick up the theme when everyone talks about Bobby and what a great teammate he was — just a big heart,” said general manager Chris Getz, a former Sox infielder who played with Jenks in 2008-09. “He was just this fun-loving kid, and obviously a tremendous competitor on the mound.”
The two-time All-Star best known for locking down the Sox’ World Series sweep of the Astros died Friday in Portugal, where he had been undergoing treatment for a form of stomach cancer.
Sunday marked the 20th anniversary of Jenks’ major-league debut, when the fireballer seemingly came out of nowhere to anchor a bullpen in desperate need of a lockdown closer on the Sox’ way to postseason dominance. Throwing 100 mph at a time when hitters weren’t used to it, Jenks tied a then-major-league record by retiring 41 consecutive batters in 2007. He closed out the Sox’ famed “Blackout Game” — the tie-breaking 163rd game of the 2008 season against the despised Twins — to seal the American League Central title.
Jenks notched 173 saves with the Sox through 2010, powered by that fastball, a devastating curveball and a knee-bending slider that added up to 334 strikeouts.
“He really was a unicorn,” said Getz, who also lamented the loss of another former Sox teammate, reliever Octavio Dotel, who died in April when the roof collapsed at a nightclub in the Dominican Republic.
“I tell players all the time, you’re gonna look back at your careers, and it’s not going to be, ‘Well, I played with this All-Star,’ ” Getz said. “It’s the relationships that you have with your teammates. It’s the most important thing.”
MLB Network will air Game 4 of the 2005 World Series at noon Tuesday as a tribute to Jenks.
Coming and going
The Sox put first baseman and Fox Lake product Ryan Noda (.088, one home run) on the 10-day injured list with a strained quadriceps and called up infielder Tristan Gray, who has hit .280 with nine home runs while splitting time at second base, third and shortstop at Triple-A Charlotte.
Miguel Vargas will get most of the time at first, manager Will Venable said, and center fielder Luis Robert Jr. will return to the lineup “in the next couple days” as he recovers from a hamstring injury.
