Mark Buehrle is tied for second in the major leagues in victories since 2001, but is not often seen as a star. (Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)
Astros ace Roy Oswalt's 135 victories since the start of the 2001 season are tops in the major leagues, so who's in second place? Future former Blue Jays dominator Roy Halladay is the obvious guess, and a correct one.
Mark Buehrle is the least-obvious guess, but also a correct one.
Halladay's 129 victories the past nine seasons are matched only by Buehrle, who's the best pitcher in baseball who's never been considered a great pitcher.
Hopefully that sentiment can change now that he's hurled the 18th perfect game in major league history -- not to mention followed that up with another five perfect innings before finally allowing a base runner to the Twins on Tuesday night, ending his major league-record string of 45 consecutive outs.
The White Sox left-hander now boasts two no-hitters (a one-walk gem April 18, 2007, against the Rangers), a World Series ring (2005, over Oswalt's Astros) and an outside shot at being baseball's next 300-game winner (he'll need nearly 14 a year through his 42nd birthday), but what he's lacked -- and has lacked every single day since he debuted in July 2000 -- is respect and admiration.
Last Saturday afternoon at Comerica Park -- with the White Sox in town, just two days after the perfecto -- I saw as many Tad Iguchi jerseys as Mark Buehrles: One.
And here's why Buehrle never stands out when discussing baseball's best pitchers -- heck, even when discussing Buerhle's merits as one of MLB's best left-handers:
Buehrle is just an average Joe from the heartland -- the St. Charles, Mo., native was thrilled to pitch a scoreless inning earlier this month in St. Louis' All-Star Game (his fourth All-Star Game, by the way, two more than Oswalt and Josh Beckett) -- who seems to crave small-talk more than the spotlight.
And who pitches more with brain than brawn.
Buehrle (133-91, 3.78 ERA for his career; 14-8, 2.99 in 28 games against the Tigers) never has finished better than ninth in the American League in strikeouts, but he's always among the league leaders in fewest walks. Oh, and he's durable and reliable, with no fewer than 30 starts in any of the previous nine seasons.
That should garner a bit more praise than a perfect-attendance ribbon, folks.
"Johnny Consistency, you know," general manager Kenny Williams told the Chicago Sun-Times. "And if you can say that about a pitcher in a game of imperfection and as difficult as this game is, you are being given the highest honor."
Then again, that comment comes filtered through White Sox nation.
For some reason, it seems fans of the 29 other teams -- despite Buehrle, 30, being only the 24th major leaguer to throw multiple no-hitters, and one of just two active pitchers with two on their resume (Randy Johnson) -- remain mostly unconvinced.
Raising the question: What more is it gonna take?
Trading times
Any doubt that this is a seller's market were eliminated Wednesday.
The thrilled-to-be-in-the-race Mariners and hungry-to-repeat Phillies parted with a combined nine players -- including several top prospects -- to bolster their postseason chances down the stretch.
The Phillies coughed up four players -- the organization's No. 2, 3, 4 and 10 prospects, as ranked by Baseball America -- for reigning Cy Young Award winner Cliff Lee, 29, a left-hander who has a 3.14 ERA but only is 7-9 as a victim of poor run support. Serviceable outfielder Ben Francisco, 27, also was sent to Philadelphia.
The Mariners, meanwhile, parted with a pair of major league backups and three Class A pitching prospects -- each of whom were in the first five rounds -- for mediocre shortstop Jack Wilson, 31, and right-hander Ian Snell, 27, who's been so brutal in the majors the last two years that he's actually requested to stay in Triple A, where he's 2-2 with a 0.96 ERA and 47 strikeouts in 37 1/3 innings this year.
These deals tell us a couple of things:
Around the horn
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On the 'Mark,' indeed
While his bid for back-to-back perfect games -- shockingly! -- came up short, White Sox left-hander Mark Buehrle set the record for most consecutive outs without allowing a baserunner. Here's a look at the leaders in the last half-century:
| No. | Pitcher, team | Dates | K |
| 45 | Mark Buehrle, CWS*: | 7/18-28, 2009 | 9 |
| 41 | Bobby Jenks, CWS | 7/17-8/20, 2007 | 11 |
| 41 | Jim Barr, SFG | 8/23-29, 1972 | 5 |
| 40 | Tom Browning, CIN* | 9/11-21, 1988 | 12 |
| 39 | Randy Johnson, ARI* | 5/12-23, 2004 | 15 |
| 38 | David Wells, NYY* | 5/12-23, 1998 | 16 |
| 38 | Harvey Haddix, PIT** | 5/21-26, 1959 | 8 |
* Streak included perfect game
** Streak included game in which he threw 12 perfect innings; he lost in 13th
Source: MLB.com, Baseball-Reference.com, Detroit News research
Twice as grand
Nationals slugger Josh Willingham on Monday became the 13th player in major league history to hit two grand slams in one game. Of those, two have hit both off the same pitcher and one hit both in the same inning. Here's the roll call:
| Date | Player, team | Opponent: Pitchers (inn.) |
| 5/24/36 | Tony Lazzeri, NYY | PHA: George Turbeville (2nd), Herman Fink (5th) |
| 7/4/39 | Jim Tabor, BOS | PHA: George Caster (3rd), Lynn Nelson (6th) |
| 7/27/46 | Rudy York, BOS | SLB: Tex Shirley (2nd), Shirley (5th) |
| 5/9/61 | Jim Gentile, BAL | MIN: Pedro Ramos (1st), Paul Giel (2nd) |
| 7/3/66 | Tony Cloninger, ATL | SFG: Bob Priddy (1st), Ray Sadecki (4th) |
| 6/24/68 | Jim Northrup, DET | CLE: Eddie Fisher (5th), Billy Rohr (6th) |
| 6/26/70 | Frank Robinson, BAL | WSA: Joe Coleman (5th), Joe Grzenda (6th) |
| 9/4/95 | Robin Ventura, CWS | TEX: Dennis Cook (4th), Danny Darwin (5th) |
| 8/14/98 | Chris Hoiles, BAL | CLE: Charles Nagy (3rd), Ron Villone (8th) |
| 4/23/99 | Fernando Tatis, STL | LAD: Chan Ho Park (3rd), Chan Ho Park (3rd) |
| 5/10/99 | Nomar Garciaparra, BOS | SEA: Brett Hinchliffe (1st), Eric Weaver (8th) |
| 7/29/03 | Bill Mueller, BOS* | TEX: Aaron Fultz (7th), Jay Powell (8th) |
| 7/27/09 | Josh Willingham, WAS | MIL: Jeff Suppan (5th), Mark DiFelice (6th) |
* Only player to hit one from each side of the plate
Source: Baseball Almanac, Detroit News research
Tony's top five
1. Dodgers (1): They just became last team to suffer 3-game losing streak in '09.
2. Yankees (2): Johnny Damon is one of 14 players with 200 HR, 300 SB, 2,000 H.
3. Angels (5): Since they were 29-29 on June 11, they're major league-best 30-11.
4. Phillies (4): At 46, Jamie Moyer is 2nd-oldest with 10-W season (Phil Niekro, 47).
5. Red Sox (2): Josh Beckett is 7-0 with 2.58 ERA in 10 starts at Fenway Park in '09.
Tony's bottom five
26. Indians (27): Jhonny Peralta: AL-best 14 RBIs in 2nd half (12 in last 4 games).
27. Diamondbacks (26): Dan Haren (18 quality starts) has lost twice since May 12.
28. Royals (29): Zack Greinke's 0-3 record in July is a shame, considering 2.24 ERA.
29. Padres (28): With .181, 3-HR, 9-RBI July, Adrian Gonzalez's stock is dropping.
30. Nationals (30): That poor 'pen? Nats relievers have 2.22 ERA post-break.
Note: Last week's rankings in parentheses.
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