Kenny Williams was right. Losing Mark Buehrle sucks.
The guy had so many memorable moments during his 12 years with the White Sox. To name a few:
-The perfect game.
-The no-hitter.
-The 99-minute game.
-The World Series save.
-Tarp dives.
-The flip.
-The home run.
It's not just the moments, either. It's the stories behind the moments. Every Sox fan seems to have a Mark Buehrle story.
Feel free to share yours below. I'm going to go ahead and share mine.
Buehrle was the last remaining connection I had to my childhood baseball fandom. His breakout year was the first year I really fell in love with pitching (for reference, I was born three days before Nestor Molina). I had a weak arm, but I threw left-handed, and watching Buehrle kept my childish dreams of pitching in the major leagues alive for longer than they probably should have. I always tried to work fast, just like Buehrle.
As I grew older, I never lost that childish fandom of Buehrle. I was studying for a stats test (that I probably failed) in 2007 when my dad told me to come downstairs for the Sox game. He didn't tell me why, but when I saw the string of zeros come across the TV screen, it was like I just won the lottery.
MLB
Two years later, I was in the stands -- Sec. 161, row 3, seat 7 to be exact -- for Buehrle's perfect game. Nothing I ever will experience in sports will ever top that.
I still pitched when I went off college in Missouri, playing in a fall league three out of my four years at school. Every time I pitched in my first two years of playing, I wore my shirt commemorating Buehrle's no-hitter under my jersey. In my final year, I wore my shirt commemorating Buehrle's perfect game under my jersey. It was a stupid, childish superstition that I don't regret at all.
Now Buehrle's gone, and that last remaining link to my childhood baseball fandom has left Chicago. He had to go, and I completely understand that.
But it still sucks, just as Kenny Williams said.