Mark Buehrle— Iconoclast And MLB Hall Of Famer
Mark Buehrle is one of the best Pitchers of all-time — And not always because of his Pitching. Here’s the definitive list of reasons why he’s a HOFer.
(Update 3/8/23 — Hot take on MLB’s 2023 rule changes. They can be summarized as compelling *all pitchers to pitch like Mark Buerhle- Fast. He was a revelation, ahead of his time. Further evidence that the HOF would be better with Buehrle in it.)
Mark Buehrle first became eligible for the Hall of Fame in 2020. Immediately the debate began. Did he deserve a spot in the HOF? Was Buehrle just a stat compiler during his career? Or was he one of the best pitchers of all-time?
Many writers find themselves thunderstruck by the answer they get when they actually look at Buehrle’s career, dig into his stats, and revisit his stories.
In this article, we’ll upack the Buehrle case. We won’t just look at the usual career highlights, stats, and comps to other Hall of Famers. We’ll dig deeper. Because Buehrle’s case is like his pitching style — very unique.
When you dig in, you’ll start finding Buehrle’s name at the top of a lot of interesting, and odd — lists of all-time greats.
And when you step back and look at his entire body of work, the stats, the career, and the stories begin to look nothing short of elite.
- Ok- Here’s an elite stat — did you know Mark Buehrle is one of only three men in MLB history to throw a perfect game, no hitter, and win a world series for one team? The other two were Cy Young and Sandy Koufax.
Why Mark Buerhle gets over-looked
First, here’s the reason most people write-off Buerhle.
He did not have overpowering strikeouts, wins, or ERA. The average Hall of Fame starting pitcher has a 73.3 WAR, 50.0 WAR7, and a 61.6 JAWS. Buehrle is at a 59.1/ 35.8/ 47.4. He also pitched the majority of his career for the small-market White Sox, who only made one Championship run.
Ok. Does the average fan even know what WAR7 is, or that JAWS isn’t just a Spielberg movie? No. How many World Series appearances did Nolan Ryan have? One.
But if we’re going to include stats no regular fan can qualify — let’s not stop there.
Because in other lesser-know statistical pitching categories, indicate Mark Buehrle was not just elite. These stats show he’s one of the greatest baseball players of all-time. For the Hall of Fame voters out there I made a check-list.
The Top-10 reasons Mark Buerhle belongs in the Hall:
- Mark Buerhle threw the 18th perfect game (of 23) in MLB history (his second No-Hitter).
- The World Series heroics of Mark Buehrle. He proved he was a Gamer when under the brightest lights.
- Mark Buehrle, was the best defensive pitcher of all-time. MLB leader in career pick-offs.
- “The Buerhle-Meter,” and the best Defensive Play of all time.
- Mark Buehrle all-time leader in Defensive-Runs-Saved (DRS).
- “Baseball’s Speedrunner” — and the 99 minute game. Buehrle’s way.
- Mark Buerhle, 3rd most Quality Starts all-time. Rare company.
- Mark Buehrle’s elite longevity, 15-yrs 30+ starts, 14-yrs of 200+IP — And Zero time on the DL in his career.
- Mark Buehrle’s Hall of Fame level 6.0 career WAR and BB/IP ratio.
- Mark Buehrle career leader in Wild Pitch ratio. Utter Dominance of the run game.
- He’s the only pitcher in history to face the 27-batter minimum twice (and Buehrle did it three times).
Buehrle Was A Paradox — And A Supremely Talented One At That
Many other writers and Youtubers have noticed the curious case of Mark Buehrle over the years.
That doesn’t surprise me. Because any fan of his will tell you — Mark Buehrle did memorable things in memorable ways.
He was something of a paradox.
By that I mean he was BOTH a career stat compiler — and a gamer who reached the absolute pinnacle of the profession time and again.
In other words, Buehrle flashed the ability to harness greatness at peak moments. But unlike other flash-in-the-pan pitchers — Buehrle was also supremely reliable and durable.
And he did it all with a fastball that rarely topped 90 mph!
This article thus investigates the paradox of Mark Buehrle. What we find is that he truly was a generational talent (someone to be studied for his ingenuity). Buehrle was one of the greatest pitchers of all time — just not in the tradition sense.
Thus, for reasons that I hope to make obvious, Mark Buehrle deserves to be the 84th pitcher elected to the Hall Of Fame in 2020.
1. Mark Buehrle Threw the 18th Perfect Game In MLB History — Then Went Perfecto for 17 more outs in his Next Start. (Longest Perfect streak MLB History)
Let’s begin with the obvious proof of Mark Buehrle’s pitching brilliance. In 2009, he threw the 18th perfect game in MLB history. He did so against a Rays team that had the second-highest on-base percentage in baseball.
As mentioned, there’s 83 pitchers in the Hall of Fame, and only a fraction of them have a perfect game on their resume.
But don’t forget, Buehrle recorded another 17 consecutive outs his next start against the Twins.
Buehrle’s 45 consecutive outs broke the old MLB record of 41 outs. What’s even more rare about this stat — Everyone else on the list is a relief pitcher!
That said, let’s throw Buehrle’s 2007 no-hitter into the mix. In 2009, the perfect game made Buehrle only the sixth pitcher in history to throw a perfect game and a no-hitter in separate starts.
2. Buehrle’s Prerequisite World Series and Playoff Heroics
In 2005, Mark Buehrle was the ace of the White Sox World Series championship staff that went 11–1.
He was the anchor of a staff credited with one of the most dominant performances by a rotation in playoff history.
For Buehrle’s part, he won a 1-run complete game win in Game 2 of the 2005 ALCS. That game has been graded as a 1-WPA performance (Win Probability Added) meaning “the pitcher was worth a win for his performance alone.” Buehrle’s performance set the stage for four consecutive complete game wins by the Sox starters. For fun, Buehrle also got the save in Game 3 of the World Series.
The point is this. A guy like Nolan Ryan gets a pass for only pitching in one World Series. And unlike traditional, K/ ERA/ big market guys with multiple post-season appearances, (like a Yu Darvish or Clayton Kershaw)…
Mark Buehrle didn’t choke.
Believe me, I wish the Sox were better during his career. But Buehrle flashed greatness when he got his shot in the playoffs. He and his staff-mates rose to the occasion on the biggest stage.
And while we’re on 2005, Buehrle won the All-Star game that year too.
So now, let’s move on to some of Buehrle’s other wonkish — yet surprisingly rarified stats.
3. Mark Buerhle Is The All-Time Career Pick-Off Leader
MLB.com lists Mark Buehrle as the career MLB leader in pick-offs with 95, and it isn’t even close. Speaking of Kershaw, he’s in 2nd place in this category with 64 career pick-offs.
Buehrle was the best to ever pick off baserunners. This is a leading indicator of who he was as a player — and one reason he was arguably the best defensive pitcher of all time.
In addition to pick-offs, Buerhle’s control of the run game included an uncanny stolen base ratio — 10th best stolen-base ratio all-time MLB history. During his 3,283.3 innings pitched, only 69 runners successfully stole a base on Mark Buehrle. 81 runners were caught stealing. That’s a stolen base percentage of 42%. The league average is 70%.
So when you combine his caught stealing ratio and record number of pick-offs, it becomes clear — Buehrle was the best in MLB history at controlling the run game.
(Young lefty ballplayers should watch and learn.)
But Buehrle’s defense didn’t stop there.
4. “The Buehrle-Meter” And The Best Defensive Play Of All-Time.
Mark Buehrle also won four consecutive Gold Gloves from 2009–2012. He also won four straight Fielding Bibles from Bill James’ cohort during that same stretch.
Beyond that, Mark Buehrle made a defensive play in front of a packed Opening Day White Sox crowd in 2010 that’s regarded as the greatest defensive play of all time.
We’re talking about the play where the ball is hit back up the middle and Buehrle kick-saved it towards the visiting team dugout. But instead of just giving up an infield single, Buehrle sprints after the ball into foul territory, avoids the runner, and flips the ball backwards with his mitt — between his legs — perfectly into Paul Konerko’s outstretched hand for the out.
This play spawned the “Buehrle-Meter” which was used by Baseball Tonight in the pre-statcast era to gauge the degree of difficulty of a defensive web gem. Not many could compare to Buehrle’s benchmark play.
5. Mark Buehrle’s “88 Defensive-Runs-Saved” is The Most All-Time.
But it wasn’t just one play. It was everything. Every time he toed the rubber, Buehrle was a clinician. As a result, Mark Buehrle finished his career with 88 defensive-runs-saved— the most all time for a pitcher.
To put that number in context, that’s better than three-time Gold Glove winner J.J. Hardy could accrue (84 DRS) across 13,386 innings at short stop. The second-best pitcher on the DRS list is Zack Greinke (80 DRS) who’s a close comp to Buehrle in several other categories.
6. Mark Buehrle Has The Third Most Quality Starts in MLB History.
Certainly his defense helped Mark Buehrle accumulate another impressive stat — the third most quality starts in MLB history at 304.
MLB didn’t begin tracking quality starts until 1985, and it was an underappreciated stat during Buehrle’s career.
That said, here’s some comps of Buehrle’s contemporaries. Pedro Martinez threw 173 quality starts; Roger Clemens, 166 QS — Curt Schilling, 157 QS.
Fast forward to current bullpen-heavy baseball. 6+ innings is rare from a pitcher.
It’s now as rare to see a starting pitcher earn a quality start as it is a win.
Perhaps Buehrle’s numbers will age well in the statcast era? For what it’s worth, many rotisserie fantasy leagues have replaced the Win category with Quality Starts, based on the rationale that it’s a more honest assessment of a SP’s performance.
And from May 2004 to July 2005, Mark Buehrle went 6+ innings in 49 consecutive starts.
That’s the 2nd longest QS streak in baseball history only to HOFer Steve Carlton’s streak of 69.
7. Mark Buehrle aka“Baseball’s Speedrunner,” and his 99-Minute Game
Buehrle wasn’t the hardest thrower — but he was the quickest. This stat is part of his mystique. It makes you realize Buehrle’s technical artistry.
He worked incredibly fast on the mound every outing. In 2014, Jeff Passan described Buehrle’s fast pitching rhythm as symphonic. Others have called Buehrle “Baseball’s Speedrunner,” which is a nod to videogame culture.
The reality is, Buehrle averaged 15.8 seconds between pitches, which is 2.1 seconds quicker than the next quickest pitcher. Why is this important? Buehrle simply controlled the pace of the game like no one else in recorded history.
For example, once on April 16th, 2005, Buehrle finished a game in 1:39 minutes (99 minutes!). Meanwhile the average baseball game in 2019 took 3:05 to complete.
Needless to say, Buehrle didn’t need the modern pitch clock. And his fans knew to not show up late to the park when it was his turn in the rotation!
8. Mark Buehrle’s Elite Longevity: 15-yrs of 30+ Starts, 14-yrs of 200+IP — Zero time on the DL
Speaking of turns in the rotation — Buehrle literally never missed one. Yes, he had elite performances. But unlike so many modern power pitchers who are flashes in the pan — Buehrle never spent a single day on the DL his entire 16-year career.
His 15 straight seasons of 10+ wins is one thing. But Buehrle’s 15 straight seasons with 30+ starts is third highest in baseball history. Buehrle had 14-seasons with 200+ innings pitched, and missed the all-time record by just 1.1 innings, throwing 198.2 his final year.
Only the best pitchers of their era are on the 200+ inning list year after year. If Buehrle could have found 1.1 innings his final year, he would have tied the record of 15 consecutive seasons with 200+ innings shared by Cy Young, Don Sutton, Gaylord Perry, and Warren Spahn. Hall Of Fame company.
It’s worth pointing out that the number of pitchers throwing 200+ innings has been shrinking for over a decade now. For example, in 2011 44 pitchers threw 200+ innings. In 2019 only 17 pitchers threw 200+ innings.
In 2023, only 5 pitchers threw 200+ innings.
In other words, with the heavy reliance nowadays on bullpens, Buehrle’s inning-eating numbers and DL-free durability as a starter would certainly make him one of the greatest pitchers of the 2020’s.
The pitch-clock. The durability. Buerhle was way ahead of his time. And when the day comes that no pitcher throws 200+ innings — Buerhle’s stats will finally get recognition they deserve.
9. Mark Buehrle’s 6.0 Career WAR, and Elite 2.01 BB/9 ratio
Ok, Buehrle’s 6.0 WAR is 65th in MLB history. That puts him right between Don Drysdale and Sandy Koufax, and ties him with Hall of Famer Hal Newhouser.
As noted, there’s 83 pitchers already in the Hall Of Fame. 17 pitchers have a better WAR than Buehrle who are not Hall of Famers. Some of them are still active, others are steroid era guys. But there’s also 20 Hall of Fame pitchers with a worse WAR than Buehrle.
He has a compelling case — but once you consider the peripheral stats — its a lock.
Walk Ratio — Another example of a little known stat. Buehrle isn’t even remembered for being stingy with his walks. But his career 2.01 BB/9 is another of his elite stats. That ratio puts him just behind Mike Mussina with 1.98. And it puts him ahead of first-ballot Hall of Famer Walter Johnson, and Zach Greinke, both at 2.07 BB/9.
10. Mark Buehrle Had The Best Wild-Pitch Metrics In MLB History
Here’s another wonkish gem. According to MLB.com —
Mark Buehrle threw 49,092 pitches in his career — yet only 27 wild pitches. That’s the best wild-pitch ratio in history.
Scour the wild pitch metrics for another pitcher that threw to the mitt better than Buehrle — there’s no one even close to him in this stat. And to give you one comp on this, the second most wild pitches in history belong to Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan.
Here’s another stat that fits the pattern. I found evidence that Buehrle had elite GIDP-induced numbers, finishing 13th all-time with 337. But once again he proves he can peak with the best ever. For example, in an August 2009 game, Buehrle induced 6 in a game. That was the most GIDP in a game since 1954.
11. Mark Buehrle Faced The 27-Batter Minimum And Won, An MLB-Record Three Times
Here’s one final stat to prove Buehrle was more than just a stat compiler.
No other pitcher faced the 27-batter minimum more than once in their career. Mark Buehrle faced 27 batters and won not once, not twice — but three times.
This is the quintessential Mark Buehrle stat. Probably my favorite Buehrle stat. Let’s summarize the three games:
- The first time Buehrle only faced 27 batters was obviously his perfect game.
- The second time was the complete game shutout (CGS) in 2004 when Buehrle only allowed two base runners. In subsequent Buehrle fashion — he retired both runners on double plays.
- And the third time was Buehrle’s 2007 No-Hitter. The only baserunner he allowed that day was one walk to Sammy Sosa. And after Sammy got on, (you guessed it) Buehrle promptly picked him off at first base.
In Summary — Mark Buehrle Is A Different Kind of Hall Of Famer
Mark Buerhrle was clearly an elite baseball player — and one of the all-time greats, at several aspects and categories of pitching. These don’t include Ks, Wins, JAWS, or WAR7. Instead, as we’ve noted, Buehrle owns a definitive statistical space that allowed him to produce at a Hall of Fame level.
That said, anyone who loves the game knows baseball is a game of little things. And when you add up all the little things from his body of work, it’s obvious that Mark Buehrle completely mastered the art of pitching a game of baseball.
- He proved the height of his greatness during his perfect 45-batter consecutive out streak, and 2005 playoff performances.
- And he proved the breadth of his greatness during his 49-game consecutive 6+ inning streak, and 14 years of 200+ innings.
Buehrle proved he could both flash — and go the distance — with the all-time greatest.
In the final analysis, the evidence proves Mark Buehrle was not only one of the greatest pitchers of all-time — he did it with a style completely, uniquely his own.
It’s time to acknowledge the diversity and strength Buehrle will add to the Hall of Fame’s greatness.
Thanks for reading — let’s vote him in!
