As luck would have it, yesterday afternoon, while most of the working class was stuck in their cosy, little cubicles, I was working nearby a television that my brother-in-law just happened to be watching. It was him that informed me that he had just seen that Buehrle was working on a perfect game with only six outs to go. He had seen the breaking news scroll by on the ticker at the bottom of the screen of whatever show he was watching at the time.
I told him to find ESPN. I was certain that they would join the game in progress if history was going to be made. They interrupted an NFL-specific program and went live to Chicago where Buehrle was starting the top of the ninth inning, having been perfect through the first eight.
To set the stage, here's what was going through my mind when I assessed the situation: First, Buehrle had been perfect so far. That's obvious. But that means that he had gone the entire game without issuing a walk, only pitching to three batters each inning. Pitch count could definitely be a factor, but I hoped he had enough gas in the tank to finish it out.
Next, since he had retired the Rays' lineup in order for eight straight innings, the 7th, 8th, and 9th batters in their lineup were due up in that inning. They are still major leaguers, but not as tough to retire as the heart of their order would have been.
Also, the game was in Chicago. Everyone at U.S. Cellular Field knew the situation, and I can only imagine the electricity in the air. In the movie, For Love of the Game Billy Chapel throws his perfect game on the road in New York City. The difference for Buehrle here is that the entire crowd was rooting for the perfect game, not hoping someone could walk, or manage a hit to break it up, like it would be if he had been pitching in Tampa instead.
Now remember that not only do the fans realize that history could potentially be made that afternoon, but so do all of the players. I'm sure none of them said anything (in Chicago's dugout, at least), but they all knew. That puts a lot of pressure on the position players to be perfect as well. There were plenty of nerves behind Buehrle as the ninth inning began.
Buehrle works quickly. His rhythm is three or four beats faster than your average pitcher. In fact, before ESPN had time to join the game in progress, the count was already 1-2 on the Rays' number seven hitter, Gabe Gross. As I watched, I thought about how sad it would be if he singled or walked and ruined the perfect game as the first batter in the ninth inning, the first batter after the nation tuned in to witness history.
Then, on a 2-2 count, Gross lifted a pitch to left-center. Dewayne Wise, the defensive replacement that had entered the game in the ninth inning was running hard to the ball. My first thought was it was going to be in the gap. You know a ball is hit well when you see the outfielders react like that. Wise kept running hard, nearly to the fence. This ball had a chance to not only end the perfect game, but the no-hitter, and the shutout as well. Then I saw one of the most amazing plays I have ever seen live. Wise, still running at full speed, leapt and crashed into the wall, extending his glove nearly two feet above the fence and bringing back the would-be homerun. But then, as he came back down, he saw the ball start to slip out of his glove. Falling to the ground after hitting the wall at full-speed, he reached out with his bare hand and secured the ball for the first out of the ninth and the 25th out of the still-perfect game. My wife, my brother-in-law, and I were all speechless when we saw that play. The replays showed the greatness of that catch in slow motion, but seeing it happen live at game speed, thinking one second that the perfect game was over, and the next second not even being able to think at all, was... incredible.
Now with one out, the number eight hitter in the lineup came to the plate. I can only imagine that with each out, each pitch, the pressure is increasing exponentially for everyone, but especially for Buehrle. Michel Hernandez worked the count to 3-1. It was still hard to tell if Buehrle was getting tired because he was still keeping pace with his normal techno-beat rhythm. Get the ball. Get the sign. Pitch. Repeat. I was nervous just watching him as he released that 3-1 fastball. But there was no hesitation in his delivery, and it found the outside half of the plate for strike two. But the count was still full. He could have tightened up and thrown a pitch in the dirt and it would have been ball four, bye-bye perfect game. He threw an outside change-up and Hernandez swung and missed for the second out of the inning and the 26th overall.
The last batter was Jason Bartlett, who is no easy out by any means. Bartlett bounced the 2-1 pitch to the shortstop Alexei Ramirez. I can't be sure, but I think I, along with the 28,036 people at the ballpark that afternoon, held my breath. It was a routine ground ball, but not a routine out. A successful putout would mean a perfect game, only the 18th ever thrown at baseball's highest level. The shortstop fielded the groundball and it looked like his throw was a little stiff. He may have tried to aim the ball to first base. I know I would have.
The throw came in a little high, but the first baseman, Josh Fields, caught it with his foot on the bag, completing a perfect day for his team, their town, their fans, and their pitcher, Mark Buehrle.
