Buehrle's dad stars in roast of Maddux

[rangercal]

Buehrle's dad stars in roast of Maddux

 

Coming as it did from Greg Maddux, the question was no doubt sarcasm wrapped in a willfully oblivious package:

 

"Who's Mark Buehrle?"

 

Coming as it does from John Buehrle, the answer is winking back:

 

"An All-Star."

 

"Greg's a great guy, a great pitcher," John Buehrle, Mark's father, said from his home in the St. Louis suburb of St. Charles, Mo. "I'd love the honor of meeting him some day — and I hope Mark's there, so I can officially introduce them.

 

"It's just unfortunate I can't do it at the All-Star Game because Mr. Maddux isn't going to be there."

 

On the other hand, Detroit will be lousy with Buehrles. John and his wife, Pat, bought plane tickets and made hotel reservations before Mark was named to the team, which was understandable considering the younger Buehrle was riding a nine-game winning streak.

 

"We were pretty confident," John said.

 

All the more so because Mark's White Sox teammate, Jon Garland, was sailing along with the league lead in wins.

 

"We're great friends with Jon, too," John Buehrle said. "It's almost like Jon's another son now."

 

Chalk the close friendship between Garland and Buehrle up to the maxim that opposites attract. At least, that's the way it seems to those of us who have dealt alternately with Buehrle, the engaging, overachieving left-hander, and Garland, the guarded, late-blooming righty.

 

"(Garland is) a whole lot different when he's not in front of the mike," John Buehrle said. "He's a whole lot like Mark — an easygoing, very lovable guy. He treats my wife like a queen.

 

"Mark hopes Jon stays (with the Sox) because it's such a close, close friendship."

 

If that sounds like music to Sox fans' ears — though Garland is arbitration-eligible next season and would be a free agent thereafter, Mark Buehrle is signed through 2006 with a $9.5 million club option for 2007, so certainly these good buddies will want to keep a good thing going and pitch for the Sox until retirement — let's try to remember the apparently genetic Buehrle predisposition toward unsettling honesty.

 

After all, Mark ignited the whole "Who's Buehrle?" brouhaha by intimating a Cubs pitcher with long-term success — widely presumed to be Maddux — doctored the baseball. He also told a crowd in St. Louis he'd love to pitch for his hometown Cardinals one day, which Sox general manager Ken Williams didn't find terribly amusing.

 

"Our kids were raised to speak their minds, respectfully," John Buehrle said. "It hasn't always worked out with Mark, I guess."

 

Apparently, the apple didn't fall far from the tree. The elder Buehrle wasn't even entirely sure the Sox would pick up his son's option in '07, saying, "You're talking about the same guy here, Jerry Reinsdorf, who let Michael Jordan go.

 

"I think Mark has a good future in Chicago, but you never know."

 

Not that anybody's looking that far ahead. The Sox are taking the best record in baseball into Tuesday's All-Star Game, where four Sox will work toward securing home-field advantage for whichever American League team reaches the World Series.

 

Garland and Buehrle should both merit consideration to start — an honor that would net either a $10,000 bonus on top of the $15,000 they've each received for making the team.

 

"Hey, as long as the American League wins, I don't care who starts," the elder Buehrle said. "I don't know if it makes any difference if Mark pitches in the first inning or the ninth inning."

 

The way things are going for the seemingly blessed Sox, Garland will probably get the win, Buehrle the save, and Paul Konerko's two-run homer with Scott Podsednik aboard will provide the margin of victory. Then everybody will head to Mark's place in the woody southwest suburbs for a celebratory barbecue.

 

At least, Mark might before the Sox begin the post-All-Star portion of the schedule in Cleveland.

 

"Definitely," John said. "He'd rather sit down with a hot dog or hamburger and a beer than steak and champagne."

 

Besides, whatever happens in the All-Star Game, these aren't yet the times for champagne.

 

"I would hope not — I would hope there's more," John said.

 

Especially for this team.

 

"In all honesty, Mark has always been a team player, but it's not like a team this year — it's like a family," John said. "That's what Mark sounds like talking about it — how everyone's close, how they deal with any problems right away, how there's no egos."

 

Well, there might be a little ego. In the family section, where John Buehrle has been at least a dozen times since retiring in April after 29 years in the St. Charles water department.

 

"I was talking to (a friend in the stands) when all that 'Who's Mark Buehrle?' stuff came out," John said. "I said, 'When the All-Star Game comes, (Maddux will) know.'

 

"And golly gee whiz, now he's not gonna be there."

 

[Goober]

haha ha

[HighHeat45]

On my vacation I ran into a lady wearing a sox shirt and i was wearing my hat so she asked me if i was a sox fan and i said yea and she said that her daughter is married to marks brother and she has met him a few times before.

[SoxFan1]

"I was talking to (a friend in the stands) when all that 'Who's Mark Buehrle?' stuff came out," John said. "I said, 'When the All-Star Game comes, (Maddux will) know.'

 

"And golly gee whiz, now he's not gonna be there."

 

[southsider2k5]

My favorite part

 

"Greg's a great guy, a great pitcher," John Buehrle, Mark's father, said from his home in the St. Louis suburb of St. Charles, Mo. "I'd love the honor of meeting him some day — and I hope Mark's there, so I can officially introduce them.

 

"It's just unfortunate I can't do it at the All-Star Game because Mr. Maddux isn't going to be there."

 

Who is Greg Maddux?

[greasywheels121]

My favorite part

Who is Greg Maddux?

 

 

I hope Greg knows who he is now.

[DukeNukeEm]

I love Mark Buehrle.

[nitetrain8601]

Haha, I see where Mark gets it from. Great stuff.

[Steve9347]

I love Mark, and now, I love John Buehrle

[ceffa2000]

Buehrle family:

[whitesoxin']

 

"He's a whole lot like Mark — an easygoing, very lovable guy. He treats my wife like a queen.