The 2005 World Series champion Bobby Jenks took his last breath on Friday, July 4. After a brave battle with stage 4 cancer, the former Chicago White Sox star passed away at the age of 44. He devoted his life wholeheartedly to baseball, even after his retirement. He has left behind more than just a legacy. Once the elite closer who had the stadiums roaring with his presence on the mound, spent his last years fighting for life.

Back in October last year, Bobby Jenks—a Mission Hills, California, native—was battling with pulmonary embolisms. He couldn’t get his strength back for months and was eventually hospitalized for jaundice. Then came the devastating news—the stage 4 adenocarcinoma diagnosis, a stomach cancer. Unfortunately, soon enough the cancer started spreading to his other body parts as well.

It’s a terminal illness that apparently has no cure, just management for a while. When the news of the diagnosis was broken to her wife in February, she left the hospital room in tears. The baseball world and beyond were utterly shocked. And now, his passing has left the world mourning.

Who was Bobby Jenks? What happened to him? All to know

The news of his passing was confirmed on July 5. Bobby Jenks was a former pitcher for the Chicago White Sox. He was referred to as an “iconic member” of the White Sox nation.

The highlight of his career was his performance in the team’s 2005 World Series win. He saved four games in the playoffs and was an All-Star consecutively in 2006 and 2007. He had 41 and 40 saves respectively during those seasons.

In 2011, Bobby Jenks retired from his seven-year-long major league career. His retirement plan was to become a coach. And he did. He was the pitching coach of the Grand Junction Rockies in 2021. Soon, he became a manager there, earning the title of ‘Manager of the Year.’ After all, he led the team to the championship. Later, he also coached the WhistlePigs and ThunderBolts.

Jenks leaves behind Eleni—his spouse—and their two kids, Kate and Zeno, and four other kids from his previous marriage—Jackson, Nolan, Rylan, and Cuma.

For someone who had devoted his life to the game even after retirement, this loss has left a deep void.

When his diagnosis was out, his closed ones stayed strong and hopeful that he’d make it through. In fact, he believed in himself that he’d beat the illness. During a telephonic interview with The Athletic back in April, he told them, “What gets me through this is my faith.”

But the reality of adenocarcinoma took away the baseball legend.

What was the reason for his death? Know more about adenocarcinoma

Adenocarcinoma—the terminal illness is a severe stomach cancer. It is a malignant tumor formed from glandular structures in epithelial tissue. If it cannot be diagnosed early enough, it can be fatal. And that’s what happened to our beloved White Sox closer.

For Bobby Jenks, it was even more concerning because he was at stage four gastric adenocarcinoma. First, it started in the inner lining of his stomach and rapidly spread to other organs as well.

This disease changed everything for him and his family. In recent years, Bobby Jenks had been in Sintra, Portugal, to stay closer to his in-laws. That’s where he was being treated as of late.

Since he had to give up on his work, he had to use all his savings. Once that was out, he had to sign and sell baseballs to continue the treatment. It’s because the Jenks family gave up their health insurance long ago because they found it too expensive. The medical costs took a heavy toll on him. The family started facing major financial issues. All that Jenks could save would directly go to his children.

But here ends the battle of Bobby Jenks and his family. It’s heartbreaking to see our star leave at such a young age, even after fighting so hard. Condolences have been pouring in since Friday.