Mark Buehrle: The Most Interesting Hall of Fame Case

#OutOfLeftField

Comments From Coach Mike Note: What follows is a “new feature” which will appear occasionally, a guest post under the tag #OutOfLeftField. I hope you enjoy it. This one happens to be written by my son.

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The following is a guest post from Mike Wittmann (relation: son of Mike Wittmann. Not a junior, different middle names). I am the site manager for MWCConnection, the Mountain West Conference blog for SBNation. I’ve been writing about college football since November 2014. Today I take a shot at writing about baseball on my dad’s blog. 

Full disclosure: Mark Buehrle is my favorite player of all time.

(Mark Buehrle. Found on the internet. Assuming Public Domain.)

More full disclosure: I think his Hall of Fame case is borderline. Also, that isn't the point. The point is his case arguably is the most interesting and unique one to be brought to the Hall of Fame voters. And more voters should be discussing it and paying attention to it, because there may never be another case like him. 

To start, Mark wasn’t even supposed to be in the major leagues. And if he were drafted today, he likely wouldn’t be. First of all, he was selected in the 38th round as a draft and follow player. The draft and follow rule no longer exists (although it’s being brought back next year), but it allowed players drafted to go to junior college and be signed between the end of their season and the next draft. Essentially, teams can keep an eye on players and players can improve their stock and sign for more money. Secondly, there are now 20 rounds, so Mark likely would not have been drafted and may not have even been signed as a free agent. 

However, he was drafted and rose through the ranks of the White Sox system to have a standout career. He was never the most dominating pitcher of his era, nor did he have a true peak that most players experience. Instead, he focused on durability, longevity and consistency, and that was what made him great. Let’s examine his resume.

Buehrle played for 16 seasons. He logged 214 wins, pitched 3283.3 innings, had a career ERA of 3.81, and was a five-time All-Star. In his 15 full seasons, he never won less than 10 games, never made less than 30 starts, and was four outs short of pitching 200 innings every single season. He got the save in the 14th inning of Game 3 of the World Series after pitching in Game 2 and allegedly having a few beers earlier in the game, thinking there was no way he would enter the game. 

Diving into these accomplishments, pitching wins are an outdated stat, to be sure, yet he still amassed over 200 of them during a time when they were prioritized. Also, his ERA is high for a pitcher in the HOF, but it’s not awful. But what really sticks out is his ability to make every scheduled start and pitch deep into games. The amount of innings he threw and the fact that he was able to basically make his entire career his peak is a rare feat. 

Looking at more advanced metrics, Buehrle’s career WAR (win’s above replacement, which is a comprehensive stat factoring in all facets of the game and comparing how many more wins he is worth to a replacement player) is 60. This number is lower for a HOF pitcher, but it is still a nice benchmark for the Hall. In fact, 19 pitchers have a lower career WAR, including Whitey Ford, Sandy Kofax, and Jack Morris.

Mark was a superb fielder and really should have won more than four Gold Glove awards. He also had one of the greatest and most unique and amazing plays of all time. Click Here. Nothing like that will ever happen again.

Some other unique feats Mark accomplished in his career include:

• He is second all-time with 100 career pickoffs.

• Holds the record for the lowest stolen base percentage allowed ever.

• A terrible hitter, even for a pitcher. He accumulated 9 hits but somehow had 2 doubles and 1 improbable home run in Milwaukee (my parents and I were in the stands and were in disbelief).

• He was one of the quickest-working pitchers in the game. From 2008-2014, he averaged 16.7 seconds in between pitches. The league average during that time was 21.8 seconds. For comparison's sake, the league average in 2019 was 24.9 seconds.

• He pitched a 99-minute game in 2005 (credit to Mariner's pitcher Ryan Franklin as well), and only two other games this millennium have come within 5 minutes of the feat. It's actually the fasted game since 1984.

• He dueled Mark Mulder of the A's in which they both pitched complete games in a contest that lasted 1:53. Both his perfect game and no-hitter clocked in at 2:03.

• A 2012 article indicates he was the fastest-working pitcher among active pitchers with at least 75 starts, with a time of 2:37 over 12 seasons worth of work. 

• He faced the minimum amount of batters three times. See more on that below.

Everyone knows about Buehrle's perfect game and no-hitter. However, what many people don't know is he faced the minimum 27 batters in three different games, which no one has ever done. And more uniquely, he did it in three different ways. His perfect game meant no one reached base for the entire game, 27 up and 27 down. A no-hitter means just that, Mark allowed no hits. He did walk one batter (Sammy Sosa on a questionable ball three, I believe) and then promptly picked him off, preserving the minimum 27 batters for the remainder of the game. The third game was on July 21st, 2004, against Cleveland. Buehrle allowed two hits over his complete game, and both of them were erased on double plays. While facing the minimum isn't a greater feat than a perfect game or no-hitter, one could argue it's a more unique accomplishment. 

Earlier in the article, Jack Morris was mentioned. Morris is probably a similar case, in the sense that his overall borderline numbers but impressive complete games stat (175) got more impressive as future pitchers amassed fewer complete games. Buehrle's season and career inning totals, skill as a fielder, and ability to work quickly are certain to earn more recognition each passing year as pitchers throw fewer innings, work slower to maximize their effort each pitch, and don't end up in a fielding position.

Again, Mark may or may not belong in the Hall of Fame. Based on the past two years’ worth of votes, it doesn't appear he will get in and is at risk of even staying on the ballot next year. But his case should be one that voters dive into more closely because there is really nothing else like it in baseball history. And that should be celebrated.

(Mike Wittmann. Twitter Profile Picture. Used with permission.)

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