As he dined with his wife, two young children and in-laws, the Chicago White Sox closer got a wave and the thumbs-up sign from a guy on the sidewalk.
"That's just something that I wasn't expecting at the time," Jenks said Monday. "It's just nice knowing that everyone's got the support here, and (the fans) are showing the kind of recognition for the ballclub we have."
It's hard to ignore Jenks, the 6-foot-3, 270-pound right-hander with a 100-mph fastball and a shoulder-to-knees curve. The same goes for the White Sox, who will open the AL championship series at home Tuesday against the Los Angeles Angels. The Angels beat the New York Yankees 5-3 late Monday to win their series in five games.
Claimed off waivers from the Los Angeles Angels in December, Jenks came to Chicago with a golden arm and a checkered reputation, yet the White Sox are counting on him. And they're comfortable doing so.
Jenks, 24, began the season at Double-A Birmingham, jumped to the majors in July and became the closer after Dustin Hermanson's back acted up late in the regular season. A starter in the Angels organization, he had six saves in eight opportunities, then closed two games against Boston in the division series.
They did so after five less-than-smooth minor league seasons that included disciplinary issues and elbow problems to go with the blazing fastball and knee-bending curve.
"Everybody saw the plus-stuff; we didn't pull off any kind of heist or anything," general manager Ken Williams said. "We took a chance on a guy who was coming off of surgery, who had a steel rod in his arm, and got lucky."
His arm is fine and he's more mature than he was a few years ago. He also said the off-the-field issues really weren't that serious; they were just magnified because of his occupation.
The first sign that Jenks and the White Sox were a good fit came on the first day of spring training, when Williams asked the right-hander what he thought was the quickest route to the majors. Jenks said it was in relief, which was exactly what the general manager wanted to hear.
"I told him to go to Birmingham, show me he can throw every one of his pitches over the plate and I'd see him in Chicago at some point this summer. End of story," Williams said.
"He's got toughness, heart and he's pretty calm," Cooper said. "He's been in some pretty big moments for a 24-year-old guy coming up from Double-A. And he's really handled it."
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