In the social media age, grief is often shared in real time. Sometimes that opens the door for tension — and that is exactly what happened after ESPN tweeted about the death of Bobby Jenks.
Jenks, the hard-throwing closer who helped the Chicago White Sox win the 2005 World Series, died Friday at 44 following a battle with stomach cancer.
While much of the baseball world expressed shock and sadness over the loss, former teammate Doug Mientkiewicz took exception to how ESPN framed the news.
“ESPN should be ashamed and embarrassed for writing something like this!” Mientkiewicz posted on X. “‘Was on the roster’? He was THE CLOSER on a championship winning team. Do some research before you release something. Have some respect!”
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The ESPN tweet in question read: “Bobby Jenks, a two-time All-Star pitcher for the Chicago White Sox, who was on the roster when the franchise won the 2005 World Series, died on Friday in Sintra, Portugal, the team announced.”
Mientkiewicz and Jenks were briefly teammates in 2007, when both were on the White Sox roster down the stretch. Although they also wore Red Sox uniforms during their careers, their time in Boston did not overlap.
Jenks’ on-field résumé tells a far more impressive story. He saved four games during the 2005 postseason— two of which came in the World Series — including the clinching Game 4 win that secured the White Sox’s championship.
During his career, he was selected to two All-Star Games, recording 173 saves across six seasons with Chicago. He later made 19 relief appearances for the Boston Red Sox in 2011 before health complications ended his career.
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Despite the social media dissonance, thoughts and memories of Jenks poured out from former teammates and colleagues from across MLB.
A statement from White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf remembered him as “a husband, father, friend and teammate” who “will forever hold a special place in all our hearts,” as transcribed by ABC News.
