Mark Buehrle Is Sneaking Into the Hall of Fame

As I write these words, Mark Buehrle, the left-handed pitcher currently on the Toronto Blue Jays, is moments away from being awarded his fifth victory of the season, which would land on the ledger opposite a pair of previously-established losses. In this game, Buehrle has pitched six innings, given up four hits, walked a single opposing batter, and allowed two earned runs. He performed this feat in 78 pitches and roughly one-and-a-half-hours of real time. He also struck out four, somehow, which is the implied question that's followed him around during his 16 years in the majors—somehow.

The game wasn't transcendent or spectacular; you're not going to get a thigh-buzzing alert on your phone that Buehrle induced yet another GIDP. But this is quintessential Buehrle, and what we've come to expect from the cherubic southpaw drafted in the 38th round of the 1998 draft. It's an expectation that, in itself, is remarkable.

So far this year, Buehrle has pitched 39 innings. When he came up as a 21-year-old, in 2000, he pitched 51 and 1/3 innings out of the bullpen for the Chicago White Sox. Between then and now, he's put together a run of 14 straight years with at least 200 innings pitched, which places him in a group with seven other pitchers—if you want to get specific: Cy Young, Christy Mathewson, Warren Spahn, Don Sutton, Gaylord Perry, Phil Niekro, and Greg Maddux—all of which have been inducted into the Hall of Fame. If he makes it to 15 this year, you can tighten up the circle by kicking Mathewson, Maddux, Niekro off their stools.

When you consider Buehrle's significance, performance tales bracketed on a game or seasonal basis don't matter as much as the slow train of his career. The win on Tuesday, for instance, gives him 204 total, tying him for 107th all time. By Baseball-Reference.com's version of WAR, he's the 64th best pitcher of all time, higher than Hall of Famers Whitey Ford (78) and Sandy Koufax (82), future Hall of Famer Mariano Rivera (72), and on-their-way-if-they-don't-break-down Felix Hernandez (111) and Clayton Kershaw (172). He's over twice as good—is this how this stat works?—as flavor-of-the-half-decade darlings Cole Hamels (160) and Justin Verlander (158).

Sick of counting stats yet? Understandable, and obvious, and of course I get it. We're not done, though, because this is where the argument for Buehrle's Hall of Fame induction is centered. But fine, let's forgo the career numbers, ballooned as they are by persistence, and focus on highlights. These are also numerous:

- During his career, Buehrle has allowed 59 stolen bases. In the same span, he's picked off 97 runners. This tale is told in his advanced baserunning stats. The opportunities for runners to steal bases are still there; Buehrle's used to giving up hits. They've simply stopped trying to steal.
- That, in part, has lead to his receiving four Gold Gloves, a controversial and mostly bullshit award when it comes to position players, but not so much in the case of pitchers, who tend to not field their position all that well anyway. Buehrle's the exception. It's been said before, but worth reiterating: When Buehrle's on the mound, the defense gets an extra defender.
- He's been an All-Star five times, most recently last year.
- This is not a stat, but this is probably the greatest defensive play of all time.

- If you're looking for peaks, the man has a 2009 perfect game, an additional no-hitter in 2007—the only blemish being a walk issued to late-career Sammy Sosa who, of course, Buehrle immediately picked off—and a 2005 World Series ring. Sorry, that was a lot of Hawk Harrelson there. Should've warned you.- During that perfect game stretch, he set an MLB record of recording 45 consecutive outs, since broken in 2014 by Yusmeiro Petit.

It's worth addressing my bias, which you have perhaps sniffed out by now. I am a White Sox fan—I'd say by birthright, but that's silly, and more accurately it's because my grade school happened to swing a deal with the team back in the 1990s for free tickets as long as students read (or, at least, claimed to) 500 minutes in a month. I am familiar with the man's work, is what I'm saying. For example, whilst writing this piece, I have yet to look up, or hesitate, on the spelling of his last name. So, sure, the fix is in, I'm emotionally connected to Buehrle's performance on the field. If I were to purchase a player's jersey—which I won't, because, come on—it would be his.

But I have not come to preach to the choir or brag about how good I am at spelling Mark Buehrle's name (very good indeed). I am here to explain why you, a reasonable non-White-Sox-fan, should embrace the #BuehrleHOF fight as your own. This is where I mention that all of the aforementioned accomplishments have come from a man with an average fastball velocity of, let's be kind, 84 miles per hour; this is right in that meaty part of the curve, not showing off, not lagging behind. That's fast in comparison to what you or I can throw—although a few months of yoga, a week with a pitching instructor, and we're maybe in that vicinity—but this is somewhere short of respectable for the Major Leagues. Buehrle is a #dadbod man with #dadbod talent, yet good enough to make 468 starts (and counting) during his career.

Word is that he may end up retiring after this season—or, at the very least, be forced to miss a start or two during the year with back issues—so it does feel like the end of his era is upon approaching. The glorious counting stats will cease, the climb up the leader-boards will halt. It's inevitable, just as it was inevitable you'd finally beat your dad at basketball, and that one day he won't be able to make it up the stairs on his own. There's a sadness that comes with that.

Because while Buehrle doesn't have "stuff," and isn't exactly a human highlight-reel on the mound, there's real comfort in his consistency, and some low-key inspiration. Flame-throwing prospects flame all the way out; contracts are written with the implicit understanding that 18 of those months will be lost to Tommy John surgery recovery. But Buehrle's habit—there may be no better way to put it—of showing up to take his turn on the mound every fifth day—that is spectacular, if only because it isn't. It is transcendent, if only because of how humble and earthbound it is. And it is, when added all the way up, worthy of commemoration with a plaque.

At the very least, it's worth looking into when Buehrle's going to start, and knowing that no real surprises will be had for that stretch of game time. Walks will be minimal, hits plentiful, baserunners stranded, some idiotic baserunners picked off, strikeouts scarce, double plays in spades. He will work expeditiously—Buehrle is the fastest-working pitcher in the Majors, by far—and in a way we've come to know, if not quite appreciate as we should. And it will be done before you know it.