I WAS WITNESS TO HISTORY!!! I was so jazzed--and still am--I can't explain it. As a baseball fan it's awesome. As a diehard, lifelong White Sox fan, it's beyond awesome! I was shaking like a leaf during the 9th inning especially. In the 8th when that line shot down the 3rd base line occurred, I thought for sure Laz would call it fair, but it was inches foul and he called it foul. We erupted in a big cheer--for a foul ball!
Then the top of the 9th begins and I see Podsednik moved to left with Wise taking over center--a good move by Ozzie, whom I admit I don't totally like. Pods stinks in center and is better as a left fielder. He NEVER would have made that catch. For one thing, he's much shorter and can't leap that high. But Wise--whoa!!! Did you guys see just how remarkable that catch was? He gloved it OVER the line to steal the home run, then as he's coming down,
the ball is falling out of his mitt, so he grabs it with his bare hand, falls down and hits the ground, rolls over,
and holds on to the ball! Unbelievable!!! Once that happened, I just knew he HAD to get the perfect game. Fate was on his side.
Some eerie stats, btw:
Buehrle's April 18, 2007 no-hitter
Time of game: 2:03
Number of batters faced: the minimum 27 (he picked off a guy on 1st)
Home plate umpire: Eric Cooper
Cooper's Uniform #: 56
Buehrle's uniform #: 56
Sox hit a grand slam
Buehrle's July 23, 2009 perfect game
Time of game: 2:03
Number of batters faced: the minimum 27
Home plate umpire: Eric Cooper
Cooper's Uniform #: 56
Buehrle's uniform #: 56
Sox hit a grand slam
I've been to some memorable games in my life, but this absolutely ranks up as THE single most memorable game I have ever seen in person. Ever. I had tears in my eyes at the end of the 9th when the final out was made. I didn't want to leave; we didn't want to leave. All of us fans stayed and hung around for about 20 minutes watching Buehrle and the media on the field. As we walked out, grown men and women were on their cell phones in the parking lot calling whomever they were calling, admitting they were crying over what they had just witnessed.
