A response to a friend who said that Mark Buehrle’s perfect game was more dominating than Kerry Wood’s 20-strikeout game:
I COULD GO ON AND ON ABOUT THIS, BUT BELOW ARE SOME QUICK THINGS I FOUND ON THE INTERNET. THIS VERIFIES WHAT I SAID ABOUT THE HIT BEING QUESTIONABLE. WOOD DID THIS WITHOUT THE HELP OF TEAMMATES, WHICH BUEHRLE DID NOT (WISE’S CATCH). THIS ALSO SHOWS THAT HOUSTON DID HAVE A GOOD-HITTING LINEUP. IT DID NOT START DRIZZLING UNTIL THE SEVENTH, BUT IT WAS COLD, WHICH CAN AFFECT A PITCHER’S FEEL FOR THE BALL. HE DID HIT A BATTER, BUT WALKED NO ONE. THIS ALSO SEEMS TO VERIFY THAT NO ONE HIT THE BALL HARD, WHICH BATTERS DID DO AGAINST BUEHRLE. THERE IS NO QUESTION AS TO WHICH OF THE TWO PITCHING PERFORMANCES WAS MORE DOMINATING. THIS ALSO GIVES THE OPINION THAT WOOD’S GAME WAS MORE DOMINATING THAN THE KOUFAX PERFECT GAME, TOO. A BASEBALL EXPERT ALSO IMPLIES ONE OF CLEMENS’ WAS TAINTED, SO PERHAPS THIS WAS REALLY ONLY DONE 3 TIMES IN HISTORY. A KEY POINT, WHICH I POINTED OUT EARLIER, IS THAT THE RAYS NEVER ADJUSTED TO THE FACT THAT EVERY PITCH WAS OFFSPEED. EVEN THEIR ANNOUNCERS WERE GUESSING THE PITCHES, AND THE RAYS COULDN’T FIGURE THIS OUT (WHICH SHOULD HAVE BEEN OBVIOUS EVEN PRIOR TO THE GAME). THE DIFFERENCE IS THAT THERE WAS NO WAY TO ADJUST TO WOOD’S PERFORMANCE, BECAUSE HE WAS UNHITTABLE. BUEHRLE WAS GREAT, BUT FAR FROM UNHITTABLE.
Leading off the top of the third, Ricky Gutierrez hit a grounder that deflected off of Kevin Orie‘s glove and was questionably ruled a hit. That was it for making contact with the ball. Biggio probably had the best approach for getting on base when he got plunked by a pitch in the sixth, but the rest of his teammates likely had their reservations about stepping into a Kerry Wood heater.
In the entire 100+ year history of Major League baseball, only two other men have struck out twenty batters over the course of nine innings. Roger Clemens, who set the record back in 1986 and duplicated it a decade later, is one of them. Randy Johnson, who matched that number in 2001, though he wasn’t given credit because his game went into extra innings, is the other. That’s it; not Seaver, not Pedro, not Koufax — not even the King of K himself, Nolan Ryan, were ever able to accomplish that feat.
ESPN analyst and Hall of Famer Peter Gammons: “I watched it on TV, and I remember watching it and saying, I could not believe his breaking ball. I was talking to people on the phone and doing some work at home, and said, ‘How does anybody hit that?’ I thought about comparing it to the Clemens game on April 29, ’86, and they were very different styles. Woody had such a great breaking ball, and Roger was command, fastball, power. Roger also had a much bigger strike zone than Woody did. I can’t remember who was umpiring for Clemens, because it was a huge strike zone.”
Cubs broadcaster Bob Brenly: “I was broadcasting for the Arizona Diamondbacks. I remember people saying Kerry Wood is doing something crazy. It may be the most unhittable performance ever.”
Perfect! White Sox pitcher Mark Buehrle was perfect. Even for a Cubs fan, it was amazing to see. History in Chicago! It’s hard not to like this guy and I think most Cubs fans would agree that he’d fit in on either side of town. But after watching our wall-to-wall coverage the rest of the day, I started to wonder: Is this the greatest pitching performance in Chicago history? I believe that Kerry Wood’s 20 strikeout game is still No. 1 … and Buehrle’s perfect game is No. 2. This is not about Cubs vs. White Sox. Both are amazing, but here’s why: Woody’s feat is more rare than Buehrle’s in baseball history. On May 6th, 1998 he struck out 20 batters and gave up just one hit. Only one other pitcher has ever been that dominating in a single game. Wood’s 20 K’s are the most in National League history. It’s tied for the most in Major League history. Buehrle’s feat, while incredible, has happened 18 times in baseball history. Woody’s 20 has happened just two other times. In addition, Wood was just a kid. He struck out his age in one game! Only Bob Feller has ever done that. Feller struck out 17 when he was just 17 years old in 1936. Buehrle’s argument would be perfection. Nobody reached base. Not one walk, not one hit, not one error. Sure he had help from his team, but nobody reached base. So what could be better than that? Well, 27 strikeouts and no baserunners. Woody was pretty close. The bottom line is that for one day Kerry Wood had the single most dominating game in Chicago history. A kid made Major League hitters look like they were in Little League. It was just his fifth career start and his pitches were filthy. He was totally overpowering with his curveball and slider. Buehrle’s a veteran who used pinpoint control and his usual quick pace. He’s just the sixth pitcher to ever throw both a no-hitter and a perfect game. However, this is about one game. One dominating game. Woody still stands No. 1 there. That was like watching a video game not real life. Actually, the best part is that both were in Chicago for the fans to see in person. By the way, both games were caught by a backup catcher!
Comments from another friend on this topic:
It’s completely insane to say Buehrle’s game is anywhere near as dominating as Wood’s. Baseball being the quirky game that it is, tends to use phrases and sayings that give one occurrence more weight than another on the surface, when a closer look usually reveals the truth. For example, I read in an online blog that during Wood’s game the Astros made contact with him EIGHT times in the entire game. EIGHT TIMES! 29 batters faced minus 8 who made contact minus one who was HBP = 20, which means anyone who didn’t make contact struck out, and the other got hit by a pitch. Buehrle stuck out 6, which means the other TWENTY ONE made contact against him, and the OTHER players saved his game. Nolan Ryan had 17 strikeouts in a no-hitter, which is FAR more dominant than a perfect game. Harvey Haddix threw 12 straight perfect innings in one game, and 12 is better than 9, so Haddix’s game would be more dominant, right? Larsen’s perfect game in the WS is under enormous pressure, against a team that played .604 ball during the season and had 4 HOF players in the lineup. Bob Gibson had 17 strikeouts in a WS game in 1968, again far more dominant. Johnny Vander Meer threw back to back no-hitters, much more impressive than Buehrle’s perfect streak. Orel Hersheiser’s 58 scoreless innings was more impressive. The list goes on. Buehrle’s accomplishment, while rare, has been done by 18 different pitchers. Wood’s has been done four times by three pitchers, including him.