Mark Buehrle Appreciaton Thread

[Milkman delivers]

I'll miss you Mark. It's a shame you're going to retire in those godawful uniforms.

 

I doubt it. He'll probably talk about it every year, and then sign another contract at the end of this one. The new Brett Favre

[Soxfest]

Thanks MB.

[Reddy]

12.

hahaha touche.

 

 

[Ross]

My favorite Sox player of all time. Will always remember the perfect game. Thanks MB56.

[Milkman delivers]

hahaha touche.

 

We can meet in the middle and say 11 1/2.

[Reddy]

We can meet in the middle and say 11 1/2.

i think that's an excellent idea.

[GreatScott82]

Apart of me just died. I mean i knew this was likely going to happen but the idea of Buerhle in another uniform makes me very sad. I honestly just hope KW can beef up the farm now. Its obvious we will not contend for a title in 2012. Sell, Sell, Sell!!! I honestly don't care who goes at this point. Nobody is talented enough to be "untouchable"

[ScottyDo]

Miss him already Maybe they'll let him tarp slide down there.

[CyAcosta41]

Been aware of being a Sox fan since 1964 and Mark Buehrle had the best 10+ year run of any Sox pitcher during my fandom. Great talent (fastball velocity is just one tool); great command of all of the little things a pitcher can do to control a game; great competitor; great durability and dependability; great public ambassador for his team; and, by all accounts, great teammate. And what a great body of work: year after year of 30 starts and 200 IP; two no hitters (one a perfect game); feared pick-off artist who shut-down running games; 3X Gold Glover with some incredible highlight reel plays to his credit; 4X All Star; and, of course, World Series Champion, with a win AND a save.

 

It's unfortunate that some very poor management choices made it impossible for the Sox to pay good old #56 anywhere close to market value on what's likely to be his last big contract. Pity. Like many, knowing that these poor management choices (and poorly performing players) led to an impossibility of keeping our own as one of those rare one-team players, can't help but stick in our proverbial craw in the coming years.

 

If you ever happen to read this thread Mark -- thanks for playing the game we all love in the way most of us imagine that we would play it, but probably less than one in a hundred pros ever really pull-off. It's been a privilege having you as my favorite pitcher on my favorite team. I can't say that I'll root for the Marlins because I've grown to detest Ozzie as a manager, but I'll definitely root for you to take no prisoners in the N.L. -- perhaps an ERA title, another GG or two, how about another no hitter, and, while we're at it, maybe HR #2.

 

Good luck #56! And thank you!!!

[winninguglyin83]

Very sad day.

 

I was at The Cell on the day Number 56 broke in. He pitched the eighth inning in a victory over Milwaukee.

 

Magglio homered twice.

 

Be a long, long, long time before the Sox have another guy like him.

 

And it will be even longer before I forgive Kenny Williams for forcing his exit with the garbage contracts given to Rios and, especially, Dunn,.

 

Just a sad, sad day for Sox fans.

[kwolf68]

Been aware of being a Sox fan since 1964 and Mark Buehrle had the best 10+ year run of any Sox pitcher during my fandom. Great talent (fastball velocity is just one tool); great command of all of the little things a pitcher can do to control a game; great competitor; great durability and dependability; great public ambassador for his team; and, by all accounts, great teammate. And what a great body of work: year after year of 30 starts and 200 IP; two no hitters (one a perfect game); feared pick-off artist who shut-down running games; 3X Gold Glover with some incredible highlight reel plays to his credit; 4X All Star; and, of course, World Series Champion, with a win AND a save.

 

It's unfortunate that some very poor management choices made it impossible for the Sox to pay good old #56 anywhere close to market value on what's likely to be his last big contract. Pity. Like many, knowing that these poor management choices (and poorly performing players) led to an impossibility of keeping our own as one of those rare one-team players, can't help but stick in our proverbial craw in the coming years.

 

If you ever happen to read this thread Mark -- thanks for playing the game we all love in the way most of us imagine that we would play it, but probably less than one in a hundred pros ever really pull-off. It's been a privilege having you as my favorite pitcher on my favorite team. I can't say that I'll root for the Marlins because I've grown to detest Ozzie as a manager, but I'll definitely root for you to take no prisoners in the N.L. -- perhaps an ERA title, another GG or two, how about another no hitter, and, while we're at it, maybe HR #2.

 

Good luck #56! And thank you!!!

 

 

Could not have said this any better.

[The Ginger Kid]

Been aware of being a Sox fan since 1964 and Mark Buehrle had the best 10+ year run of any Sox pitcher during my fandom. Great talent (fastball velocity is just one tool); great command of all of the little things a pitcher can do to control a game; great competitor; great durability and dependability; great public ambassador for his team; and, by all accounts, great teammate. And what a great body of work: year after year of 30 starts and 200 IP; two no hitters (one a perfect game); feared pick-off artist who shut-down running games; 3X Gold Glover with some incredible highlight reel plays to his credit; 4X All Star; and, of course, World Series Champion, with a win AND a save.

 

It's unfortunate that some very poor management choices made it impossible for the Sox to pay good old #56 anywhere close to market value on what's likely to be his last big contract. Pity. Like many, knowing that these poor management choices (and poorly performing players) led to an impossibility of keeping our own as one of those rare one-team players, can't help but stick in our proverbial craw in the coming years.

 

If you ever happen to read this thread Mark -- thanks for playing the game we all love in the way most of us imagine that we would play it, but probably less than one in a hundred pros ever really pull-off. It's been a privilege having you as my favorite pitcher on my favorite team. I can't say that I'll root for the Marlins because I've grown to detest Ozzie as a manager, but I'll definitely root for you to take no prisoners in the N.L. -- perhaps an ERA title, another GG or two, how about another no hitter, and, while we're at it, maybe HR #2.

 

Good luck #56! And thank you!!!

WELL SAID!

[aboz56]

Remember being at the Cell for Buehrle's debut. And always making sure I was near a TV when he was on the mound.

 

Loved watching him pitch for the Sox. Always took the ball. Was never a distraction. Competed despite not having the best stuff. Was a great guy in the club house and off the field. And won games. A lot of them.

 

Hard to imagine him pitching in another uniform, but certainly realize he had to take the deal that was best for him. I'm just sad it couldn't be in Chicago.

[Baines3]

I miss you already Mark.

[ScottyDo]

I just hope he has a bunch more successful seasons so he can enter the HOF at the age of 92 with a Sox cap on

[RockRaines]

I just hope he has a bunch more successful seasons so he can enter the HOF at the age of 92 with a Sox cap on

Seconded. One of the best people to ever wear the Sox uni. He wanted nothing more than to end his career here and unfortunately mgmt had other ideas.

[BuehrleTheAce]

I really have nothing to add that hasn't already be said by the posters before me. I was going to say, I guess I'll have to change my nick, but after 2 seconds of consideration I scrapped that thought. I know most, if not all, of you never considered him an ace in the "pure" sense, but to me he embodied what the ace of a pitching staff should be: consistent, reliable, durable, and above all, likeable by his teammates which leads to respect. MB really has nothing more to accomplish in baseball, he's pretty much done it all; everything else from here on out just pads his HOF-bound resume.

 

I'm semi-serious when I say I'm going to become a Marlins fan now, but I'm not joking in the least when I say I will follow and root for MB regardless of who the Marlins play when he's pitching. He deserves the contract they gave him, and he should feel some amount of resentment to the White Sox organization for the poor contracts they gave non- and underperforming players that effectively took the ChiSox out of the running for his services. How could they have not seen, 2 years ago or especially last off-season, that MB's contract situation would need to be handled or he would walk? Were they really that smug or confident to think that he would stay in Chicago at a deep discount? The man has earned his paycheck, and it's time someone finally pays him.

 

Is $14+ million for 4 years too much? Only time will tell. However, if he can be as consistent and durable in Miami as he was in Chicago, and more importantly be a leader and inspiration to a young Marlins staff, that contract could pay for itself in success for years to come.

 

OK so I lied, I guess I did have more, a lot more, to add. Anyway, good luck MB! Chicago and us fans will surely miss you!

Edited December 8, 2011 by BuehrleTheAce

[Quin]

Mark, I love you.

 

Go pitch your ass into the Hall of Fame. Retire #56 right now. Don't win another ring.

 

But I can't root for him while he wears that jersey.

[LittleHurt05]

Seconded. One of the best people to ever wear the Sox uni. He wanted nothing more than to end his career here and unfortunately mgmt had other ideas.

 

Or Miami had 58 million other ideas. The Sox management couldn't hand the guy a blank check

[RockRaines]

Or Miami had 58 million other ideas. The Sox management couldn't hand the guy a blank check

This thread isnt for that. But yes, they could have brought him back even before Miami made the offer.

[flavum]

By the way, Mark. If you're reading this, don't do the full-page ad in the Tribune to thank the fans. It's cliche.

 

We're all good.

Edited December 8, 2011 by flavum

[chw42]

Good luck in Miami Mark!

 

 

[bjm676]

Best Thread Ever. Makes me choke up at the same time. Not was he my favorite player, but a decent human being, too. Good luck in Miami. I have my 2005 DVD to keep me company.

[Quin]

Now that I'm a bit more level headed.

__________________________________________________________________

 

For the past eleven years, there were a few constants in my life. Seeing the same friends, coming to the same home, and Mark Buehrle taking the ball every fifth game during baseball season. Now I'm at college, but I still had Buehrle. Now that's gone. Buehrle was like a friend that you never really knew, he was reliable, a great person, and you loved him. When some friends and I were at Blockbuster, we got in the car...I was wearing my Mark Buehrle shirt (during baseball season I only wore it every day he started a game and no others) and I heard Farmio say "Mark Buehrle has retired all twelve batters he's faced." Ok, four innings of perfect ball is nothing to get excited about...but I did. I sped home to turn on the game. DeWayne Wise catching that ball released the most unbridled emotion in me that I've ever really had, including out 27 of Game 4. I watch that play now and it isn't the same. It's over in like three seconds. Not three hours.

 

Mark was more than a baseball player to me. He was an inspiration...honestly, I kept trying at making my high school baseball team, where I knew I had no place, because Mark made it off hard work, not talent. Every day he pitched, right under my jersey was my now tattered Mark Buehrle t-shirt, because honestly, the guy is the only celebrity "hero" I ever had, him and Paulie. But Buehrle wasn't a highly touted prospect. He was kid who didn't make his HS team, pitched in JC with OK stuff, but made it to the big leagues and was a great human being.

 

I could wax poetic about Buehrle for paragraphs, but it's pointless as he's gone to the home of the Hollywood Heat and the second running of the Oz Show. Where LeBron and Co. have a pre-season celebration, where Ozzie and Loria try to be flashy, where the 72 Dolphins b**** and moan every year...the Patron Saint of the Southside has no place in South Beach, yet there he is.

 

I'm wearing my Buehrle shirt one last time tomorrow, then the shirt I've worn more than any other will be retired until Buehrle rejoins the Sox or retires himself.

 

Mark

[Jordan4life_2007]

Now that I'm a bit more level headed.

__________________________________________________________________

 

For the past eleven years, there were a few constants in my life. Seeing the same friends, coming to the same home, and Mark Buehrle taking the ball every fifth game during baseball season. Now I'm at college, but I still had Buehrle. Now that's gone. Buehrle was like a friend that you never really knew, he was reliable, a great person, and you loved him. When some friends and I were at Blockbuster, we got in the car...I was wearing my Mark Buehrle shirt (during baseball season I only wore it every day he started a game and no others) and I heard Farmio say "Mark Buehrle has retired all twelve batters he's faced." Ok, four innings of perfect ball is nothing to get excited about...but I did. I sped home to turn on the game. DeWayne Wise catching that ball released the most unbridled emotion in me that I've ever really had, including out 27 of Game 4. I watch that play now and it isn't the same. It's over in like three seconds. Not three hours.

 

Mark was more than a baseball player to me. He was an inspiration...honestly, I kept trying at making my high school baseball team, where I knew I had no place, because Mark made it off hard work, not talent. Every day he pitched, right under my jersey was my now tattered Mark Buehrle t-shirt, because honestly, the guy is the only celebrity "hero" I ever had, him and Paulie. But Buehrle wasn't a highly touted prospect. He was kid who didn't make his HS team, pitched in JC with OK stuff, but made it to the big leagues and was a great human being.

 

I could wax poetic about Buehrle for paragraphs, but it's pointless as he's gone to the home of the Hollywood Heat and the second running of the Oz Show. Where LeBron and Co. have a pre-season celebration, where Ozzie and Loria try to be flashy, where the 72 Dolphins b**** and moan every year...the Patron Saint of the Southside has no place in South Beach, yet there he is.

 

I'm wearing my Buehrle shirt one last time tomorrow, then the shirt I've worn more than any other will be retired until Buehrle rejoins the Sox or retires himself.

 

Mark

 

I'm in tears right now. Sorry, Q. But you must persevere. You must go on. In fact, here's something I want you to listen to whenever you think of Mark.