Mark Buehrle - An Everyman's Favorite
By Nick Shepkowski: @Shep670
Has there ever been an easier Chicago athlete to root for than Mark Buehrle?
I ask that because he was not only a damn good pitcher, fully worthy of this weekend's celebration but was just about as easy of guy as you'll ever find to root for in any sport, on any team.
His list of accomplishments is plenty long with a World Series to his name as well as a "Perfecto" and another no-hitter. But it wasn't just those things that made Buehrle so easy to pull full whether you were a White Sox fan or not during the first part of this millennium.
His tarp slides whenever it'd rain on the South Side helped endear him to fans but the fact any of us even know Mark Buehrle's name comes a surprise.
The guy who would end up with the 8th most wins in White Sox history was taken as the 1139th overall pick in June of 1998. Forget being overlooked by the rest of baseball, the White Sox themselves even drafted 24 different pitchers before finally calling his name that year.
Don't believe me? I did the legwork so you don't have to.
Kip Wells, Gary Majewski, Josh Fogg, Dan Mozingo, Johnny Santamaria, Steve Kelly, John Borne, Eric Fischer, Mitch Wylie, Mike Williams, Kai Freeman, Soloman Johnson, Nate Robertson, Brannon Whatley, Jason Stovall, Erik Lohse, Andre Simpson, Todd Johannes, Caleb Reger, Edwin Almonte, Nelson Lopez, Todd Earnes, Paul Reaver and Jay Bernard.
All pitchers, all taken by the White Sox before Buehrle in 1998 and almost all, entirely forgotten about by now.
So there is the underdog side of Buehrle that was easy to pull for, because let's face it, the world loves a good underdog story.
Buehrle didn't take long to turn heads in the White Sox organization, making only 36 appearances in the minors before being promoted full-time to the big league roster. From there he'd go on to have a career that won't end up in Cooperstown but won't soon be forgotten by anyone who had the chance to watch him pitch.
It's easy to forget how damn good of a pitcher Mark Buehrle was. In the day we live in now with so much being about velocity and strikeouts, he was a guy who wasn't ever going to throw 97 by a hitter, but instead make the hitter get themselves out.
Kyle Hendricks with the Cubs gets plenty of press about "being the next Greg Maddux". No, Buehrle wasn't anywhere near the same ballpark as Maddux (nor has Hendricks been for that matter), but Buehrle was essentially a left-handed Maddux in the way he'd annually induce weak contact and eat innings year after year after year.
From his first full year in the rotation in 2001 through 2014 he would eat more than 200 innings every season, a record matched only by Maddux, Phil Niekro and Christy Mattehewson. Oh, and he was only 5 outs from adding another season to that streak, his final in 2015 with Toronto.
Looking back at his stat line a few things jump out to me with Buehrle. From 2002-2005 he pitched a combined 951 regular season innings, twice leading the league in innings pitched, both in '04 and '05. In that four year run he averaged 237.2 innings pitched per season. For comparisons sake to today, we haven't seen a pitcher throw 237 innings in a single year alone the last two years and it doesn't appear any will this year, either.
When I think of Buehrle's career the obvious memories come to mind: '05 World Series, no-hitter versus Texas and the perfect game against the Rays. It's also easy to forget that his next start after perfection, he retired the first 17 Minnesota Twins he saw, which set a record for most consecutive outs recorded by a pitcher.
But one other memory for me sticks out as well, that is probably forgotten by just about everyone else.
It was August of 2009 and the White Sox were pretty average, but plenty alive in what was a very mediocre AL Central. Buehrle was on the mound on a Sunday against a horrendous Baltimore team and the Sox were looking to pick up ground in their playoff chase.
Long story short, Buehrle allows 11 hits and 5 runs and the White Sox lose.
Not a massive story by any means, but I had just been in a big-league clubhouse for the first time ever, covering my first ever major sporting event. Buehrle getting roughed up was the story of the day and I'll never forget his first comments to the assembled media afterwards.
"Pitched like sh-- again, don't know what else to say".
Nor did he have to. He was in a rough stretch of the year, getting hit around like he had been for a couple of starts in a row and wasn't looking for any hint of an excuse, instead fully taking the blame and not being a jerk about any of it.
It was otherwise forgettable and for me probably would be had it not been my first time in a Major League clubhouse, but looking back on Buehrle's career this week I can't help but think back to that and how it got me to like him more.
Guy that doesn't look for an excuse, just for a solution when things don't go right. Who can't get behind someone like that?
His fast pitched games, and getting the ball back and quickly throwing another pitch were an extreme rarity as well. In a world of 3+ hour games his were well-known for lasting right around 2 and had he wanted he could have made "A Buehrle" into a thing.
5 minutes in and out at the grocery store? A Buehrle.
Quick trip to the bank? A Buehrle.
A fast bathroom break when you're used to it taking much longer? You guessed it.
A Buehrle.
Besides the World Series win or the perfect game, he was just a regular dude who happened to be a damn good pitcher.
Hell, during the World Series itself he even cracked open a few beers and sat back to watch just like most of us do each October, it just happened that he would later have to enter that same game to record a save. Unless you're an Astros fan how can't one love that?
Mark Buehrle, a guy who'd rather spend a week alone in a deer stand than spend a second in front of a camera, and whose fastball would have trouble breaking glass even in it's best day, was as easy of baseball player to pull for in this town that I can remember.
Enjoy the ceremony today, Sox fans.
Has there ever been an easier Chicago athlete to root for than Mark Buehrle?
I ask that because he was not only a damn good pitcher, fully worthy of this weekend's celebration but was just about as easy of guy as you'll ever find to root for in any sport, on any team.
His list of accomplishments is plenty long with a World Series to his name as well as a "Perfecto" and another no-hitter. But it wasn't just those things that made Buehrle so easy to pull full whether you were a White Sox fan or not during the first part of this millennium.
His tarp slides whenever it'd rain on the South Side helped endear him to fans but the fact any of us even know Mark Buehrle's name comes a surprise.
Don't believe me? I did the legwork so you don't have to.
Kip Wells, Gary Majewski, Josh Fogg, Dan Mozingo, Johnny Santamaria, Steve Kelly, John Borne, Eric Fischer, Mitch Wylie, Mike Williams, Kai Freeman, Soloman Johnson, Nate Robertson, Brannon Whatley, Jason Stovall, Erik Lohse, Andre Simpson, Todd Johannes, Caleb Reger, Edwin Almonte, Nelson Lopez, Todd Earnes, Paul Reaver and Jay Bernard.
All pitchers, all taken by the White Sox before Buehrle in 1998 and almost all, entirely forgotten about by now.
So there is the underdog side of Buehrle that was easy to pull for, because let's face it, the world loves a good underdog story.
Buehrle didn't take long to turn heads in the White Sox organization, making only 36 appearances in the minors before being promoted full-time to the big league roster. From there he'd go on to have a career that won't end up in Cooperstown but won't soon be forgotten by anyone who had the chance to watch him pitch.
It's easy to forget how damn good of a pitcher Mark Buehrle was. In the day we live in now with so much being about velocity and strikeouts, he was a guy who wasn't ever going to throw 97 by a hitter, but instead make the hitter get themselves out.
Kyle Hendricks with the Cubs gets plenty of press about "being the next Greg Maddux". No, Buehrle wasn't anywhere near the same ballpark as Maddux (nor has Hendricks been for that matter), but Buehrle was essentially a left-handed Maddux in the way he'd annually induce weak contact and eat innings year after year after year.
From his first full year in the rotation in 2001 through 2014 he would eat more than 200 innings every season, a record matched only by Maddux, Phil Niekro and Christy Mattehewson. Oh, and he was only 5 outs from adding another season to that streak, his final in 2015 with Toronto.
Looking back at his stat line a few things jump out to me with Buehrle. From 2002-2005 he pitched a combined 951 regular season innings, twice leading the league in innings pitched, both in '04 and '05. In that four year run he averaged 237.2 innings pitched per season. For comparisons sake to today, we haven't seen a pitcher throw 237 innings in a single year alone the last two years and it doesn't appear any will this year, either.
When I think of Buehrle's career the obvious memories come to mind: '05 World Series, no-hitter versus Texas and the perfect game against the Rays. It's also easy to forget that his next start after perfection, he retired the first 17 Minnesota Twins he saw, which set a record for most consecutive outs recorded by a pitcher.
But one other memory for me sticks out as well, that is probably forgotten by just about everyone else.
It was August of 2009 and the White Sox were pretty average, but plenty alive in what was a very mediocre AL Central. Buehrle was on the mound on a Sunday against a horrendous Baltimore team and the Sox were looking to pick up ground in their playoff chase.
Long story short, Buehrle allows 11 hits and 5 runs and the White Sox lose.
Not a massive story by any means, but I had just been in a big-league clubhouse for the first time ever, covering my first ever major sporting event. Buehrle getting roughed up was the story of the day and I'll never forget his first comments to the assembled media afterwards.
"Pitched like sh-- again, don't know what else to say".
Nor did he have to. He was in a rough stretch of the year, getting hit around like he had been for a couple of starts in a row and wasn't looking for any hint of an excuse, instead fully taking the blame and not being a jerk about any of it.
It was otherwise forgettable and for me probably would be had it not been my first time in a Major League clubhouse, but looking back on Buehrle's career this week I can't help but think back to that and how it got me to like him more.
Guy that doesn't look for an excuse, just for a solution when things don't go right. Who can't get behind someone like that?
His fast pitched games, and getting the ball back and quickly throwing another pitch were an extreme rarity as well. In a world of 3+ hour games his were well-known for lasting right around 2 and had he wanted he could have made "A Buehrle" into a thing.
5 minutes in and out at the grocery store? A Buehrle.
Quick trip to the bank? A Buehrle.
A fast bathroom break when you're used to it taking much longer? You guessed it.
A Buehrle.
Besides the World Series win or the perfect game, he was just a regular dude who happened to be a damn good pitcher.
Hell, during the World Series itself he even cracked open a few beers and sat back to watch just like most of us do each October, it just happened that he would later have to enter that same game to record a save. Unless you're an Astros fan how can't one love that?
Mark Buehrle, a guy who'd rather spend a week alone in a deer stand than spend a second in front of a camera, and whose fastball would have trouble breaking glass even in it's best day, was as easy of baseball player to pull for in this town that I can remember.
Enjoy the ceremony today, Sox fans.
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