A.J. Pierzynski Calls Out ESPN For Disrespect Toward Chicago White Sox

While in Chicago for the 20th reunion of the 2005 White Sox World Series team, A.J. Pierzynski spoke about ESPN's characterization of Bobby Jenks.

Chicago White Sox closer Bobby Jenks (right) celebrates with catcher A.J. Pierzynski after recording the final out against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. | Jerry Lai-Imagn Images

CHICAGO –– During their 20th reunion over the weekend at Rate Field, members of the 2005 White Sox World Series team frequently took questions about whether they feel their team is underappreciated compared to other champions.

Some didn't seem to care about that narrative, including ace pitcher Mark Buehrle, whose statue was unveiled as part of the weekend's festivities.

"It doesn't matter to me what people recognize us on," Buehrle said. "I know what we did, and you can't take that away from me. I don't care."

But others, like catcher A.J. Pierzynski, were more passionate about the topic. The weekend was bittersweet for some, given that their friend and teammate, Bobby Jenks, passed away from stomach cancer about a week before the the reunion at age 44. Pierzynski was irked by a social media post by ESPN that featured a lazy characterization of Jenks.

"They wrote Bobby Jenks was, 'on the roster.' Well, I mean, he closed out the World Series and pitched in all four games," Pierzynski said Friday in Chicago. "So he did a little more than that for the whole season. So yeah, but that kind of just sums it up."

He did a whole lot more than just be on the roster! He closed out the World Series!! #RIPBobbyJenks #2005forever https://t.co/PkhUGr58AL

— A.J. Pierzynski (@ajpierzynski12) July 6, 2025

It didn't stop there. During the 2025 MLB Draft on Sunday, ESPN displayed a graphic under Chris Burke's name that read, "2005 World Series Champion (Astros)." Of course, the White Sox swept the Astros in four games.

This has to be a joke at this point? Be better @espn they didn’t win a game in that series https://t.co/Rwqq9dZeaE

— A.J. Pierzynski (@ajpierzynski12) July 14, 2025

Pierzynski had more to say about why the White Sox may get overlooked.

"I think it's just easy to swipe it under the rug because, 'Oh, the White Sox, cute story. Well, move on, back to the Yankees and Red Sox, whatever,'" Pierzynski said. "At the time, I just think people forget because people don't do their job like they're supposed to and they don't look into the history. I just said, I'll take that team against pretty much anybody."

"11-1 in the postseason. Four complete games in the ALCS, you'll never see that again. Wire-to-wire, 99 wins. Beat the Red Sox. Beat the Angels ... They had the Cy Young that year. Beat the Astros, they had Hall of Famers all in that roster. So I think that team was great, and we just had something. I think people overlook that sometimes because we didn't have a Hall of Famer on the team, but we had a lot of really, really good baseball players."

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