Phone call from the President 'an honor'

For the second time in two weeks, White Sox starter Mark Buehrle chatted with his new friend.

As he met with the media after pitching a perfect game against the Tampa Bay Rays at U.S. Cellular Field on Thursday, Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf's cell phone started ringing.

It was the White House calling, and President Barack Obama wanted to speak with Buehrle.

The left-handed pitcher and President Obama, a huge White Sox fan, also talked at last week's All-Star Game in St. Louis.

"He said he was taking a little bit of credit because he wore the White Sox jacket at the All-Star Game, and I told him how surprised I was that he actually did it," Buehrle said. "He said congratulations, and it's an honor. A lot of people are going to remember this forever."

Buehrle said he received 54 text messages and eight other phone calls after his gem, but he clearly enjoyed talking to the President again.

"He's almost like a buddy," Buehrle said after the brief call. "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.

"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."

Grand afternoon: Remember the grand slam Josh Fields hit in the second inning Thursday? Join the club.

"I finally didn't miss a pitch," said Fields, who started at first base. "I've been missing a lot of pitches lately. And I put a good swing on it.

"The ultimate thing was being a part of (Mark) Buehrle's perfect game. That's the coolest. I don't care if my grand slam gets talked about or not. The best part of my day was catching that last ball and tackling him."

Parque come clean: Jim Parque, a starting pitcher for the White Sox from 1998-2002, admitted in the Chicago Sun-Times he used human growth hormones when he played for the Tampa Bay Rays in 2003.

"I didn't read the article," said Sox general manager Kenny Williams. "If that is in fact what he said, he has come out at a time when he doesn't have to say it, and he doesn't have to expose himself like that. That was a tremendous amount of courage and character. Whatever he's done in the past, these are things he and others like him will have to live with. Good for him. He's probably washed away a lot that has been on his conscience."

Paul Konerko and Mark Buehrle were the only current players around when Parque was on the South Side.

"First, Jim hasn't been here in so long," Konerko said. "He hasn't been in the big leagues forever. Jim was a good guy, a good teammate. I always liked Jim. He was a funny guy with a funny sense of humor. But he hasn't been around the big leagues or anywhere for years, so this is kind of meaningless to me and anyone else around here."

Konerko couldn't resist taking a shot at the diminutive Parque.

"I guess he didn't take the ones that make you bigger," Konerko said.