Mark Buehrle delivers during his perfect-game, 5-0 victory Thursday vs. Tampa Bay.
Mark Buehrle out-did himself Thursday, throwing the Sox' first perfect game since 1922 and the first in the majors in five years, shackling the Tampa Bay Rays 5-0. Buehrle, who pitched a no-hitter against Texas in April of 2007, threw 116 pitches and fanned six. The last Sox pitcher to throw a perfect game was Charlie Robertson in 1922.
Give a huge assist to Dewayne Wise, who was a somewhat controversial choice to remain on the roster over Brian Anderson when Carlos Quentin was activated this week. Wise climbed the center-field wall in the ninth inning to rob Gabe Kapler of a home run and preserve the perfecto.
Some might suspect that another assist should go to home-plate umpire Eric Cooper, who has been behind the plate for not only both of Buehrle's no-hitters, but also for Hideo Nomo's no-hitter against Baltimore in 2001. Coincidence? Apparently so. There's no evidence that Buehrle was getting an unusually big
strike zone Thursday. Only one of his six strikeout victims was caught looking, and there didn't seem to be any complaints coming from Rays batters. In fact, it was Sox fans who were groaning in the ninth when Cooper seemed to squeeze Buehrle on a couple of close pitches that were called balls. Give all the credit for this one to Buehrle and his defense.
If you were watching the game, when did you start to think Buehrle could pull it off? Buehrle said afterward that he felt good all day but it wasn't until the sixth or seventh inning that it began to sink in that he could do it. The fact he did it against a hard-hitting team such as Tampa makes the feat even more impressive. Also, hard to believe this is the same Mark Buehrle who got lit up and chased early by Minnesota in his last start before the All-Star break.
What a wild last 12 days for Buehrle. After getting shelled by the Twins on July 12, he worked a 1-2-3 inning in the All-Star Game and got to talk with President Obama. This past Saturday, he allowed only one run in 7 1/3 innings in a 4-3 victory over Baltimore. And then perfection (and another chat with Obama) on Thursday!
I had things to do, but had to put them all on hold just in case. Wow! Of course, this goes down as one of my all-time highlights as a sports fan. YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!
P.S. Give Dewayne Wise his props for that catch!
BUEHRLEEEEE!
Congratulations!
Feels like I hit the lotto!!!!
Great accomplishment!! One of the most difficult feats in baseball is a complete game. All props to Buehrle!! Too bad it's only 1 game...
So incredibly sweet.
Hell yeah!
A perfect game at the perfect time.
The White Sox go into Detroit tied with the Tigers for first place after taking 3 out of 4 from one of the hottest teams in baseball.
Sox become only the 3rd team in MLB history to have two pitchers throw a perfect game and Dewayne Wise comes up huge.
A nice start to my weekend.
I didn't see it myself, but I did want to give the Tampa Bay Rays props for collectively tipping their caps to Mark Buerhle so I've heard. Very classy.
Speaking of classy... it was incredibly refreshing for the world to see a bunch of highly-paid adult male athletes HONESTLY return to being delighted little boys in the celebration of a remarkable TEAM effort! Congrats SOX, and Buerhle, you rock!
All I can say is "WOW!!!"
Hat's off to Tampa for the class they showed in such a devastating defeat, and although I know that Wise bobbled that ball in the ninth, I'm sure that Mark will have a new Porsche sitting in the outfielder's driveway shortly.
Buehrle is an unselfish, classy guy from top to bottom. It's never been about the money with him, and it never will be.
If you go to Wikipedia, and type in the phrase "Down To Earth" I have a hunch that his name will be at the top of the selections.
Better than a championship!!
My wife was watching SportsCenter and called me in to watch the final 3 outs.
SOME CATCH BY D WISE!!!!! THAT WAS THE HIGHLIGHT WITHIN THE HIGHLIGHT!
How about the President! Talk about being on a roll! I just watched it again! Beautiful! Ozzie made the switch and Wise made the catch! Hawk called the game - AWESOME!!!
Thank goodness for the Cubs! Reindsorf would not have paid Buerhle if the Sox did not absolutely need him. Cubs have been providing leverage for the Sox. For the first time, I am really happy that Wrigley is packed!!! Here's to the Cubs. Without them Reinsdorf would run the Sox into the ground. He is a Cheap - expletive. The Sox need another starter to make a run, but his cheapness will not let him.
I am happy for the TEAM, Ozzie and Kenny. Jerry Reinstone can go look at his riches.
My congrats to Buerle and the sox and their fans. As Edgar pointed out that is probably THE most difficult achievement in all of sports and although the pitcher is credited for the perfect game it is a team effort which makes it that much more difficult to accomplish especially when the men behind the pitcher begin to realize what is about to happen and at any moment a miss play on their part could ruin that moment. Again congrats to Buerle, the Sox and their fans!
That's one way to keep Jenks from giving Ozzie ulcers! THE MAN!!!
Better than a championship??? Come on man - even Buehrle put this behind the 2005 feat.
Exciting...to say the least. Better than 2005 - nope.
From now on, Dewayne Wise's last name is now pronounced Wice (rhymes with 'ice' which is appropriate). The president has officially changed the pronunciation of his name. That's W-I-C-E which sounds quite nice.
I give Buehrle all the credit and im not a Sox fan what so ever. But his strike zone was a bit too big from the 6th inning on. Those strikes were either high or outside. Not to take anything away but I think any other ump and he would have had it spoiled in the 6th even before Wise's catch. Nice to see it happen to a good guy but thats a bit questionable? Anyone else agree?
Congrats to Mark Buehrle of the Chicago White throwing a perfect game. Good news is he's secured a spot in the Hall of Fame, Bad news is he'll never realize his dream of pitching for the Cardinals cuz Chicago will never let him go!
You know, I thought he should have thrown a 3-2 backdoor breaking ball to Burrell instead of a changeup. Other than that, I thought he did okay.
;-)
"Not to take anything away but I think any other ump and he would have had it spoiled in the 6th even before Wise's catch. Nice to see it happen to a good guy but thats a bit questionable? Anyone else agree?"
What game were u watching? Don't tell me...the Cubs?
Any pitcher with control like his (Maddux, Glavine, Eckersly, etc) gets the close ones. One of the few gifts was the strikeout in the 8th. Did you watch the guys in the 9th and 9th that he went to 3 balls on? Ump didn't do him any favors there.
Go back and watch ANY no-hitter or perfect game...u think they didn't get any close pitches?
Jason, I think you were trying to "take something away" or you wouldn't have said it. Why make such a statement after saying "I give Buehrle all the credit." It's incongruous. Regardless, as Tommy noted, there were some questionables the other way.
Maybe it's time to mention that many statisticians have gone over the stats of perfect game victims down through baseball history and found that this Tampa Bay Ray team to be the most potent hitting lineup of all of those victims. That's pretty impressive.
They lose both games today to the Tigers.
Damn.
Yeah, that's right Phil, no thanks to the ever-reliable Scott Linebrink-of-death. Matt Thornton couldn't bail him out this time around. Can we just give him to the Washington Nationals?
You guys can talk Linebrink down all you want, but Fatboy is the big money All-Star closer, and if it weren't for a couple of three run leads in some two-run stints, he'd stick out much bigger than he already does.
Actually, they're all stinking up the place right now. Instead of being three games behind Detroit, we should be at least one game up after these blown chances against the Tigers and Rays.
Bullpen schmullpen, wake up fellas!
Anthony, I'd have to agree with you to some extent after today. I'd written that about Linebrink yesterday. At least Jenks has been far more a positive for the Sox than Linebrink has been. But, losing three in a row when two should have been won against a the 1st Place team that had lost four of its five previous games 2-1 (not done by any team since 1945) really, really hurts.
Yeah Jenks has not been getting it done as of late but Linebrink has been missing since he got hurt last year.
He is not the same pitcher and it is time for them to look to someone else.
This weekend was set up for the Sox to make a huge move and they did not do it. They have a tough schedule ahead wite games against the Twins, Yankees ans Angles and this was the time to jump past the Tigers.
Blown opportunity.
It's Ozzies' job to see who's hot n who's not with these relief pitchers and work accordingly. I'm a firm believer in letting a guy pitch a second inning if he's pitching very well; take that chance that he won't be needed for the next game. Ozzie loves being cute for the lefty-lefty, righty-righty spots, but the next man in is more often than not the weak link.
The Wiz has his gut feelings on 'food mode' instead of the game.
Typical stubborn Latino!
Irronically I love the Sox as much as the Bulls. I never thought that would be, but it has. Love the Bears too. I trust Ozzie and Kenny. I also trust Jenks. Linebrinks is not the pitcher he was, they need to send him down. But believe it or not - I think Buerhle's Perfect Game affected the team and that snowballed on us. I don't think we got our mojo back until yesterday. I likened what happened to the Sox to Ring night in the NBA. Your focus is just not there and the other team suckerpunches you MMA style and before you know it, its over. It was just a bad time to be perfect. Now we are going to have to come back down to earth and refocus because believe it or not - we are right in the middle of winning or losing the Central. Tigers and Twins back to back was supposed to catapult us to the top of the division and through the Yankess and Angels. We MUST beat the Twins and get our mojo back.
Keith, I knew there wasn't a "snowball's chance" they'd win the first game on Friday. It was partly due to Verlander, but it was also the hangover effect as you've alluded. I thought there was simply no chance. The next two games should have been won and would have been won if not for bad relief pitching and, to be fair, some "seeing eye" luck on the part of Detroit hitters.
The schedule is tough much of August ending with the most murderous road trip I think I've ever seen: At Boston, New York, Minnesota, and then that one game left at Wrigley.
Gig you are absolutely correct. Its feast or famine in August. I think we need an arm to boost the squad's confidence.
I think what Buerhle did was absolutely astounding but did anyone see that he didn't have his usual "energy drink" that game like he usually had. I didn't know that you could drink that stuff without it being a performance enhancer. And if it was what does it say about it that he did better without it? Just saying, you know.
Um hurtin bad for my boys. Danks and Alexi did us in last night with those errors. This is a huge series. AJ snapped and I can't blame him. And Danks was not smart with Cuddyer. Sometimes you have to walk a guy. Dude is hitting like 500 vs Danks. And now they have momentum. Not good at all.
I keep rooting for the Sox to possibly take the division, but only because nobody's running away with it and shouldn't because nobody's that good.
Still, before I get too exasperated that the Sox seem steeped in mediocrity this season, I have to return to how I've looked at this season as one of transition. With the ominous schedule ahead combined with the fact that we're terrible defensively (which makes Buehrle's perfecto all that more astounding), I admit that it's not much longer before my hopes shall drop another notch.
I've been thinking about this continuing Dome Doom. Yes, the Minnesota Twins are masters at drafting and training players who are virtually mistake-free and fundamentally-sound. Yes, they also draft and train pitchers who pound the strike zone with movement. Their pitchers are usually ahead in the count. Deep down I'm jealous of them. That's closer to the type of baseball that I prefer and I've hated them primarily because of their incredibly hokey stadium with those ridiculous trash can liners for fences.
Nevertheless, can't we start to own them there before they move outdoors next year?
I like Ozzie overall as a manager, but I think he plays into the Dome Doom by giving the Twins too much credit as the "Piranhas" and so forth. I understand giving the other team their due, but it's as though the Sox can't do anything about it. After thinking about it, that really upsets me. It needs to be a challenge that needs to be met. You go out to the Dome as though you expect to win there. Don't think his attitude doesn't rub off on the players. You don't go thinking "Well, maybe if..." That's self-defeating. Ozzie, I think you have had a hand in exacerbating the Dome Doom issue over the years.
I think at some deep-down level, AJ, the former Twin, is feeling this, had enough, and lashed out at the one player whom befits the term "anti-Twin" more than any other. Really, can anyone imagine Alexei a Twin?
I almost can't watch these guys anymore!!! Damn! I swear, the Sox lead the league in bullet holes in their feet, hands down.
I can almost live with this young infield making mistakes, but when a pitcher (you know, the guy who throws the ball in a 10" by 10" frame) can't throw the ball to first base, it just blows me away. AJ shouldn't talk; that passed ball was critical. It changed time. Yes, Denks made a mistake with Cuddyer, but that should have never have been a situation where a homer would have hurt us in the first place.
I'll tell you, these guys ever get their heads out of their 'Wisconsin Breezes', they'll be tough. It won't even take all cylinders hitting at the same time to win the Central.
But for crying out loud, at least shoot straight!
I watched Beurhle do it AGAIN! The guy is amazing. I tore my heart out to see Span get that hit in the 6th. I thought he should have thrown that strike to Casilia because he wasnt going to swing and we would have gotten out of the inning. Buerhle could have done it again. Then Posednik dropped that fly ball to ruin the shut-out and I really was angry. And then we LOST the game adding injury to insult. That was a huge loss. Both games were because they were given away. And the Tigers lost their last two - whom the Sox also gave two away to.
Navarro - your assessment is correct. But I am not ready to put up that white flag. Thats what I love about Ozzie and Kenny. They play to win until its over and they are out of it.
GLAD we are out of Minnesota! I think overall we had a fine competitive series up there because of the pitching. Horse-say Contreras pitched good enough to win and that was a great sign. If Freddy has anything left in that arm we will be ok. I like the new guy, he hit the ball hard and things just didnt work out. The Sox are going to focus and get back in it. Minnesota will fall back to the earth and the Tigers will be the team to beat for the Central.
KENNY WILLIAMS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
AKA - PHIL IVEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!
NOW THE BOYZ ARE BAAAACK IN TOWN!!
AND WHEN THE BOYZ ARE BACK -
THERE AINT NO FOOLIN AROUUUUUUND!!
July 31, 2009
WHITE SOX ACQUIRE RHP JAKE PEAVY
The Chicago White Sox acquired right-handed pitcher Jake Peavy, a two-time All-Star and the 2007 National League Cy Young Award winner, from the San Diego Padres in exchange for left-handers Aaron Poreda and Clayton Richard and right-handers Dexter Carter and Adam Russell.