Buehrle gem proves game can't be beat

Mark Buehrle demonstrated Thursday why baseball is indestructible.

The day started with former White Sox pitcher Jim Parque writing in a Chicago newspaper that he used HGH while pitching for Tampa Bay.

Sheesh, another story about performance enhancers - another mark against the game - another reason to put hands over eyes.

Then mere hours later Buehrle, a former Sox teammate of Parque, pitched a perfect game in Comiskey Park.

Every time you try to get out, the game pulls you back in.

Amazing things happen here, like one of the last all-star pitchers you would expect to throw a no-hitter throwing one.

Buehrle has two now, one perfect, which is why fans chanted his name in the ninth inning and President Obama phoned to offer congratulations.

Everything started and ended with Buehrle on this day, but other Sox players contributed to the shock and awe.

Josh Fields, of all people, staked Buehrle to a comfortable lead in the second inning with a grand-slam home run, of all things.

That's the same Josh Fields who is batting .223 and has been booed lately. Sox fans wanted him traded, sent to the minor leagues or unceremoniously released.

Then there was Dewayne Wise, whom Sox manager Ozzie Guillen had in center field in the ninth inning for defensive purposes.

Earlier this week some Sox fans went as far as calling Guillen a racist for keeping the black Wise was on the roster at the expense of the white Brian Anderson.

Wise made a terrific catch to save a home run, the no-hitter and the perfect game, juggling the ball as he banged off the wall and fell to the ground.

"We have him for a reason," Guillen said. "We keep him for a reason."

Buehrle said when asked whether he would buy Wise a steak, "I owe him a little more than that."

Still, even more befuddling than Fields hitting a grand slam and Wise being around to save the day - well, even more befuddling was Buehrle doing what he did.

We're talking about an outstanding pitcher who is compared in style to Greg Maddux, an even better pitcher who never threw a no-hitter during more than two decades in the major leagues.

Now Buehrle has two, including a perfect game, even though he pitches to contact and has yielded more than a hit per inning during his career.

"His game plan is to put the ball in play," Guillen said, "and get the quickest out he can."

Buehrle generally accomplishes that and what he accomplished Thursday, as 27 Rays came up and went down.

Buehrle is one of those pitchers who is a great athlete but doesn't look it. For example, he threw almost all curveballs and change-ups at the Rays and rarely if ever hit 90 mph on the radar gun.

No, this isn't somebody expected to hold an opponent hitless.

"I still can't (believe it)," the self-effacing Buehrle said. "I don't know how to explain it."

Don't even try, other than to point out that this is baseball.

"Never say never in this game," Buehrle said, "because crazy things happen."

That's why despite itself, baseball keeps pulling people back in.

mimrem@dailyherald.com