The Difference Between Class And Crass

I am still a huge Mark Buehrle fan. Despite his move to South Beach over another round on the South Side, I will support Buehrle and cheer him on. I will still collect his cards in a Marlins uniform. The only time I will ever root against Mark Buehrle will be when he faces the Chicago White Sox. Why? He has been a favorite of mine for many years and he is a class act all the way. His exit from Chicago was low key and heartfelt. We understood why he had to leave, but we wanted him to stay anyway. Buehrle will always get my respect. On the way out of town, he expressed his desire to come back to the White Sox someday. This is a man who was clearly torn and made a tough decision that was right for him and his family. These are the reasons why I will collect his Miami Marlins cards.
I appreciate everything that Ozzie Guillen brought to the White Sox, both as a player and as a manager. As a player, he helped bring the AL West crown to Chicago in 1993 and he was the voice of reason and experience on the field. He solidified the infield and managed to be a menace on the basepaths despite his low batting average. As a manager, he brought the first World Series title to Chicago in eighty-eight years. He squeezed an AL Central title out of the 2008 team.

Guillen was a flash fire. He burned brightly at first, but his flame died quickly. We knew his eccentricities and made exceptions for them. Then, along with his mouth, everything went south. The first crack in the armor was making Sean Tracey cry and making him lose enough confidence to never sniff the majors again. Ozzie tasted another man's tears and it seemed to suit him. During the last few years, it appeared that Ozzie was more interested in screwing with a player's frame of mind than winning ballgames. Questionable feuds popped up with everyone from umpires, players and reporters. I could even stomach the unnecessary Twitter wars, but the grand finale would be my last straw.

I don't mind that Ozzie went to Miami. No long term manager stays in the same place forever. Even Bobby Cox went to Toronto to manage for four years. After checking out somewhere in the middle of the season, Guillen couldn't be bothered to finish out the last two games of the season, thus exposing us all to the Don Cooper managerial experience.

While Reinsdorf may have reluctantly signed off on Ozzie's wish to leave his responsibility two days early, in the eyes of the fans, Guillen just abandoned his team that he had already given up on months before. The Tasmanian Devil act had finally rolled over on the most important piece of the Chicago White Sox; the fan. A whirlwind Miami appearance, and much later a half-hearted love letter to Chicago, and it was all over. If it wasn't for these last acts of desperation and greed by Ozzie Guillen, I probably would have held on to a few Miami Marlins cards of him. Sometimes it's not what you do, but how you exit that leaves the greatest impression on fans. After many great things, including a World Championship, Sox fans will remember Ozzie for his cowardice and selfishness. It shouldn't be like that. I wished it wouldn't have ended like that, but those actions are out of my control. It is what it is and that was a slap in the face to all the people who supported him, even when it seemed like the whole world was against Ozzie Guillen. I will not be actively pursuing any Miami Marlins cards of Ozzie Guillen.

The free agent poaching bonanza claimed some great names and some great talent, but only one player has both, plus the cool, laid back confidence that made him the steal of the offseason; Mark Buehrle.

Buehrle Is A Marlin

Mark,

I've thoroughly enjoyed your time in Chicago. We (as the collective of players and fans) have experienced the best of times and times that were probably best forgotten. Yet, your calm, cool and grace always poked through. There are too many highlights that I will remember from your time here to start listing them all. I'm sad to see you go, but I can understand your decision. And I thought St. Louis was the only team that could wrangle you away from the White Sox! I'll still collect your cards and I will follow your career with great interest. I, and the rest of Chicago, will sure miss you. We will never forget you.

~ Steve Gierman
White Sox Cards

And The GIBBY Goes To... Mark Buehrle!

Congrats, Mark! Well deserved!

Buehrle's Second Straight Gold Glove

Congrats to Mark Buehrle on winning his second Gold Glove award!! After Opening Day, the competition had absolutely no chance.

Why Buehrle Is The Sox Ace

Buehrle's New Ad

42+

Mark Buehrle just passed the Major League record of 41 consecutive batters retired set by Jim Barr and tied by Bobby Jenks!! The good news just keeps coming for Buehrle!

Update: The streak ended at 45 consecutive batters retired with a walk.

Congrats, Buehrle!!

PERFECTION FOR BUEHRLE!!!!!

Credit DeWayne Wise with the save.

Buehrle Blast

Congratulations to Mark Buehrle on his first Major League home run!

A Burly Man

Mark Buehrle (pronounced BUR-lee) gets no respect. He doesn't even get that much respect in Chicago. He's like the Southside's little secret. Players know who Mark Buehrle is. White Sox fans know who Mark Buehrle is. The rest of the world doesn't seem to know.

Let's go through the list of things that would seemingly make a pitcher known throughout the country.

A World Series ring? Yup, got that.

A World Series victory? He got a no decision.

A World Series save? He's got that in the game after his no decision start.

A complete game in the playoffs? Check.

An All-Star Game victory? You betcha!

No-hitter? Got that covered! He walked one, picked him off and faced the minimum batters. Three years before that, he also faced the minimum amount of batters in a two-hit shutout against the Indians in Cleveland.

He also pitched over 200 innings in every year that he started. Mark pitched 5 consecutive opening days. He has had a winning record in 7 out of 8 seasons. The losing season featured a 12-13 record.

In 2005, Mark had 49 consecutive starts of 6 innings or more broken, when he was ejected for hitting B.J. Surhoff.

The one statistic that I am very surprised that many people don't remember? In 2006, Mark became the first pitcher since 1900 to give up 7 runs in the first inning and still win the game. The Sox won the game in Minnesota 9-7. Mark pitched 6 innings and gave up 7 runs. Only 1 run was earned.

Now, you may be wondering what prompted this Mark Buehrle love-fest, as it were. I was watching a video box break the other day and saw someone completely butcher Mark Buehrle's name. That person shall remain nameless, but I'm sure it won't be that hard to figure out. I don't mean to call this person out. I love the job that this person does in the box break videos. This just prompted me to write about how to properly say Mark Buehrle's name. Call it White Sox pride or whatever you like.

Maybe if Kenny Williams lets Mark slide on the tarp during rain delays again, he'll become a more recognizable name? Somehow, I doubt it. I'll just chalk it up to being the White Sox open secret. It probably suits Buehrle better that way. It's more his style.

Stay Classy San Diego

This off-season must be boring for San Diego fans. The biggest stir over there is caused by Mark Buehrle. They claim that camouflage uniforms are uniquely theirs. Well, any good idea (or bad idea for that matter) is usually copied eventually. Take green uniforms for St. Patrick's Day. I seem to remember the White Sox being the first to wear them. Now, many teams don them for game use. It's just another way to rake in charity money.

Another view can be found here about the camouflage uniforms. I don't see what the big deal is. If this is tongue in cheek humor, it's very difficult to see. I think it's funny though.

The article goes on to say that the White Sox are a disgrace and everyone but the Padres are unpatriotic communists. The best part... Mark Buehrle is a fraud and a war profiteer. Absolutely hilarious!

I sure hope this is a joke. If not, that's a truly sad state for the Padres to have fans like that. I'm taking it as a joke, because it's just too odd to be true. I'm all for a good laugh. So, stay classy San Diego and... well, you know the rest.

The 2008 Topps Re-Design

OK. I decided to take a quick (really quick) stab at designing a 2008 Topps card for The Baseball Card Blog. This is what I can whip up in 15 minutes. About half that time was spent searching for the picture.

I figured that Topps loves goofy pictures and huge white borders and silver foil. So, I've encorporated all of those elements in the card. The gray color is supposed to be silver foil, but I didn't want to spend a huge amount of time on this. I also used the White Sox team colors around the card. Not bad for 15 minutes. It reminds me of a cross between the 1984 Fleer and the 2004 Topps though.

I almost went with Chewbacca pitching for the Red Sox, but decided that was too much like what Topps would do. Besides, what could be more puzzling to card buyers than Mark Buehrle with a clock in the middle of US Cellular Field? Not much.