Bobby Jenks announces stomach cancer diagnosis

Former MLB closer and World Series champion Bobby Jenks announced on Saturday that he is battling stomach cancer.

Jenks, 43, shared his current condition from a Portugal hospital bed during an interview with MLB.com Saturday morning.

“You know, the s— I was doing in my 20s and early 30s, no normal person would have survived,” Jenks told MLB.com. “So, in one way, I’m grateful to be alive. In another way, I’m not surprised this happened. It goes to show you have to take care of yourself from top to bottom with nutrition and exercise and having a good daily plan.”

Jenks added, “I’m not saying you need to turn yourself into a Greek god, but you need to watch what you put into your body. Unfortunately, in my 20s, it was the last thing on my mind, being worried about what was going in. I’m not saying that’s 100 percent the factor of what happened here.”

The 43-year-old spent the majority of his seven-year MLB career with the White Sox, where he was a member of the 2005 World Series championship team.

The two-time All Star finished his career with 173 saves, the second most in White Sox history. He also retired 41 consecutive batters in 2007, tying a record for a reliever.

Jenks has taking up coaching since retiring from the MLB in 2011, and is currently the manager of the Windy City ThunderBolts of the Frontier League.

Jenks said he hopes to recover well enough to return for his second season of managing the ThunderBolts.

“Now it’s time to do what I got to do to get myself better and get myself more time, however you want to look at it,” Jenks told MLB.com. “I’ll tell you one thing: I’m not going to die here in Portugal.”

Jenks and his family recently moved to Portugal to be closer to his wife’s family.

To further add to his distress, the Mission Hills, CA native said that he lost nearly everything in the Palisades Fire, with just one suitcase to his person.