Chicago White Sox Closer Liam Hendriks Makes Awesome Speech While Receiving the Jimmy V Award at the ESPYs

Chicago White Sox closer Liam Hendriks received the Jim Valvano Award for perseverance on Wednesday night at the 2023 ESPY Awards. Here is his great speech in which he thanked his wife, the White Sox and his doctors.
Chicago White Sox Closer Liam Hendriks Makes Awesome Speech While Receiving the Jimmy V Award at the ESPYs
Chicago White Sox Closer Liam Hendriks Makes Awesome Speech While Receiving the Jimmy V Award at the ESPYs /
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In one of the best moments of the 2023 ESPY Awards, Chicago White Sox closer Liam Hendriks received the Jim Valvano Award for Perserverance.

Hendriks, who overcame his battle with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma this offseason, received the award 30 years after Valvano's memorable "Don't give up, don't ever give up" speech.

In a video that played before Hendriks took the stage, it was revealed that Hendriks likely pitched all of 2022, and part of 2021, with cancer.

Hendriks then took the stage in an emotional speech and thanked his support system, namely his wife Kristi, and delivered some powerful words.

You can watch his speech below:

Hendriks reminded people to check on other people and discussed the power of positive thinking and positive attitudes.

He's currently on the injured list for the White Sox with an elbow issue but should be returning to action soon.

Hendriks is one of the top closers in the league, having wrapped up 115 career saves, nearly all of which have come since 2019. He led the league in 2021 in saves with 38 for the White Sox.

Hendriks will be entering his 13th major league season and has spent time with the Twins, Royals, Blue Jays, Athletics and White Sox. He's a three-time All-Star (2019, 2021-2022)

As for the White Sox currently, they will open up the second half of the season on Friday when they take on the Atlanta Braves, who are the best team in baseball.

The White Sox are 38-54 and in fourth place in the American League Central.

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady.