Inductees
Mark Buehrle
Born: March 23, 1979
On the day he threw the 18th perfect game in Major League Baseball history, Mark Buehrle was as surprised as anyone.
“I 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 that day, July 23, 2009. “Never say never in this game because crazy stuff can happen.”
Crazy stuff indeed. He was the St. Louis kid who dreamed the dream. Of growing up to become a big-leaguer. Of getting all the way to the top. Of doing it all.
And he did – despite initially taking the scenic route – and his success has led the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame proudly inducted Buehrle with the Class of 2018.
A 1997 graduate of Francis Howell North High School in Saint Charles, Buehrle became one of Major League Baseball’s most successful pitchers after the turn of the century.
A left-hander, he was a five-time All-Star, four-time Gold Glove winner and a 2005 World Series winner during a MLB career that spanned 16 seasons (2000 to 2015).
He threw a no-hitter in 2007 against the Texas Rangers and a perfect game against the Tampa Bay Rays in 2009, making Buehrle only the sixth player in big-league history to do both. His perfect game came a month after he hit a home run against Milwaukee.
Along the way, he pitched at least 200 innings in 14 consecutive seasons, tying Baseball Hall of Famers Greg Maddux, Phil Niekro and Christy Matthewson.
In addition, Buehrle started every Opening Day for the White Sox from 2002 to 2006 and again from 2008 to 2011. He later pitched one season for the Marlins and three for the Blue Jays, helping the 2014 Blue Jays reach the playoffs.
Overall, he was 214-160 with a 3.81 earned run average in nearly 3,300 innings. The White Sox have since retired his jersey No. 56.
This for a pitcher who had to fight his way to get noticed back in high school. You see, he was cut from Francis Howell North’s baseball team before his freshman and sophomore seasons.
“After I got cut those first two years, I pretty much decided I was done,” Buehrle was quoted as saying in an online story. “I just felt like getting cut, not being able to make your freshman and sophomore teams, then there was going to be no way I’d make the varsity team. I basically just decided that I was done, baseball wasn’t going to be my thing and I should move on.”
Encouraged by his parents to give it one more try, Buehrle made the varsity squad the next year. After graduation, he went on to Jefferson Community College in Hillsboro – the first school to recruit him.
It was after a tournament in Springfield that scouts began approaching him.
“The next thing I knew, there were a few scouts handing me index cards, asking me to fill out information on myself,” Buehrle said. “At first, I thought someone was playing a joke on me.”
Buehrle pitched two seasons for JeffCo – he was drafted by the White Sox in the 38th round in 1998 – and signed with Chicago just ahead of the 1999 draft.
Turned out, he made his big-league debut a little more than a year later, on July 16, 2000, kick-starting one of the most impressive runs ever for a big-league pitcher – and especially for a lefty.
His 214 wins rank 90th among career big-league pitchers, and 23rd among all left-handers.
In the 2005 playoffs, Buehrle won a game in the American League Division Series against the Boston Red Sox, another in the AL Championship Series against the Los Angeles Angels and made two starts – and earned a save – in the World Series sweep of the Houston Astros.
His final-out save came in Game 3 of the World Series as the White Sox eked out a 7-5 victory in 14 innings.
What an incredible career it was for Buehrle, who was only the sixth pitcher in big-league history to throw a no-hitter and perfect game.
“Don’t ever give up on your dream,” said Buehrle, who is married to Jamie. They are parents to Braden and Brooklyn. “Keep trying. Listen to your coaches and elders, learn what they’re teaching you. I wasn’t the biggest kid, but I learned about what I needed to do, learned how to work out and just stayed focused on getting to where I wanted to be.”
