Mark Buehrle did what now?
by oiler on Thursday, April 19th, 2007 at 02:52pm
There have been just 10 no-hitters thrown in the major leagues over the past 10 years.
A.J. Burnett, Kevin Millwood, Randy Johnson, David Cone, Kevin Brown. Good pitchers all. Then there’s Bud Smith. There’s Jose Jimenez. Francisco Cordova? When Anibal Sanchez threw his no-no last year, I know more than a few active followers of professional baseball said, “who?”
That’s why Mark Buehrle’s no-hitter – almost perfect game on Wednesday really surprises me. He’s somewhere in the middle of that list of players who one would expect to toss a no-no. Since 2001, Buehrle has been a good pitcher for the White Sox, winning as many as 19 games in 2002 and as few as 12 games last season. He’s a high-3’s ERA guy who won’t walk or strike out too many batters. It’s as if his consistency had relegated Buehrle to mediocrity.
Coming off a career worst season and another rough spring, Buehrle began his 2007 campaign with an almost season-ending start after getting hit in the second inning on the left forearm, his pitching arm, with a line drive.
He’s struggled terrbily in first inning of games recently and isn’t even listed in ESPN’s top 65 starting pitchers taken in fantasy leagues this season. It’s like people forgot that he’s just 28, that he led Chicago to a World Championship in 2005. I sure did. So congrats, Mark Buehrle. And welcome back to baseball. Even though I guess you never left.