I can somewhat justify writing an article about the White Sox on Missourinet.com because I have the local angle, but to say what happened on Thursday July 23rd, 2009 is a rare event is a severe understatement.  St. Charles, MO native Mark Buerhle pitched just the 18 th perfect game in major league baseball history.

The perfect game was preserved in the ninth when defensive replacement Dwyane Wise saved everything. The perfect game, the no-hitter, and the shut out, when he robbed Tampa Bay’s Gabe Kapler of a home run.  The 2-2 pitched was driven deep to center field.  Wise running at full speed timed his jump and caught the ball over the top of the wall, while hitting the wall at the same time.  As Wise landed, the ball popped out of his glove, but he brought it back in with his bare hand for the first out of the ninth.  Welcome Back Kapler.

Buerhle, who also threw a no-hitter in 2007, threw 116 total pitches and as you’ll hear from his comments below, he kept Rays’ hitters off balance with a lot of change ups and curveballs.  The White Sox won the game 5-0 and afterwards, Buerhle had to cut short his press conference when he got a phone call from President Obama who is a huge Sox fan.

Here is the list of all 18 perfect games in MLB history. 

 

Download/listen to Mark Buehrle