What a great moment in baseball history for fans everywhere and what an awesome moment for White Sox fans especially after the Chicago team’s ace pitcher Mark Buehrle threw a perfect game July 23.
The Sox, who were at home, went on to defeat the American League defending champions Tampa Bay Rays in a 5-0 victory.
Buehrle, 30, was just flawless with 27 batters up and 27 batters down. He’s a four-time All-Star and became the 18th pitcher to throw a perfect game in major league history.
Buehrle is the sixth pitcher in big-league history to throw a perfect game and a second no-hitter. He pitched a no-hitter against Texas back in 2007 and he hit a home run last month against Milwaukee.
“I’d never thought I’d throw a no-hitter, never thought I’d throw a perfect game and I never thought I’d hit a home run,” Buehrle told the Chicago Tribune.
Buehrle’s remarkable pitching marked the 17th no-hitter and the only the second perfect game in Sox history. Charles Robertson made history pitching a perfect game against Detroit back in 1922. Buehrle with an 11-3 record this year joined Frank Smith (1905, 1908) as the only Sox pitchers to throw two no-hitters.
It was in the ninth inning when Buehrle’s genius throwing arm made history after Sox shortstop Alexi Ramirez threw out Jason Bartlett in the final ground out of the game.
But it was Dewyane Wise that made an incredible defensive catch stealing a home run from Gabe Kapler in the last innings first at bat. Wise arguably made the best catch of his career preserving Buehrle’s masterful performance. Wise was inserted in center field specifically for that last inning. And man did he come through, big time.
Wise told the Tribune he played in because he didn’t want Buehrle to lose his perfect bid on a bloop hit or broken-bat single.
“Right away, I took my eyes off it because I wanted to make up some ground,” said Wise. “But I looked up and said, ‘Wow, this might be one of those plays where I have to run through the wall to catch it or try to rob a home run.” And he did remarkably.
Wise ran back toward the wall and leaped in the air hitting the home run wall and made a perfect game saving play. As he came down he juggled the ball but quickly grabbed it with his bare hands as he fell to the ground.
“I couldn’t really feel it going into my glove, so I thought it was falling,” said Wise. “I saw it slowly rolling out of my glove, and that’s when I struck my left hand out there and caught it.”
Earlier in the game first baseman Josh Fields helped put the Sox on the board after hitting a grand slam in the second inning.
The Sox are now tied in first place in the American League Central division with the Detroit Tigers. A four game series begins against Detroit July 24.
Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said Buehrle’s win was one of the most exciting moments he has ever witnessed. Guillen said he began to get stomach butterflies after the end of the seventh inning. “It was fun to watch and be a part of history,” he told sportscasters on the radio the day after the game. “Hopefully we can continue to play like we have,” he said.
Meanwhile the Sox’s first fan and Chicago native President Barack Obama called Buehrle to congratulate him in his history making game.
Speaking in Chicago the same day Obama said, “And I have to say I guess everybody is a White Sox fan. I was up on the north side and all these Cubs fans were all, like, what about Buehrle? I said, that’s right. That was extraordinary.”
Obama continued, “I spoke to Buehrle on the phone, on Air Force One – that’s one of the privileges of the presidency. See, you can call up a guy after he pitches a perfect game. I told him that he had to buy a big steak dinner for that centerfielder, Wise, because he saved that perfect game. That was exciting.”
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