Thursday, July 23, 2009

Congratulations, Mark Buehrle

Only the 16th perfect game in modern history. Unbelievable.

CHICAGO -- Pitching with his usual finesse and fast pace, Mark Buehrle tossed the 18th perfect game in history Thursday afternoon at U.S. Cellular Field, leading the White Sox to a 5-0 win over the Rays.

It was the second no-hitter of Buehrle's career, the last occurring on April 18, 2007, against the Rangers. He is the first player since Randy Johnson to throw multiple no-hitters, and the first to throw a perfect game since Johnson did it on May 18, 2004.

The Rays were barely able to make hard contact against Buehrle. Only three batters lined out, while the rest sprayed weak popups and fly balls to the outfield. Gabe Kapler led off the ninth inning and lined Buehrle's pitch to deep center field, but Dewayne Wise leaped at the wall to make the catch and preserve the left-hander's perfection.

Lots of credit to the SoSG commenters who flagged this. And if you haven't seen the Dewayne Wise catch in the ninth to rob a home run and save the perfect game, click through on the video. WOW, indeed.

How cool is Buerhle? Check out his reaction to a congratulatory call from President Barack Obama:

"It was hard to tell," Buehrle said. "Obviously he's got a lot of stuff going on and I think I was more nervous talking to him and trying on my end not to say something stupid. But I was just sitting there in the press conference and somebody says, 'Hey, the president wants to talk to you.' I got goosebumps. Obviously that's never happened before and hopefully it happens again."

Underlining the importance of the day, Buehrle said, "Yeah, we joked around, a 30-second phone call, and I'm like, 'What? That's all he's got for me?' Obviously I know he's got more important things to do but it's just an honor that he took a couple seconds out of his day to call me."

I mean, come on, Barack. Buehrle is a busy, busy man!

3 comments:

JL said...

it must really really really suck to be a Cubs fan

congrats to Buehrle. awesome game, awesome pitcher

rbnlaw said...

The South Side of Chicago has now seen two perfect games, 101 years apart.

Dusto_Magnifico said...

if you heard the call, it really really really gives a GREAT appreciation for Vin.