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Crafty Buehrle chasing history
Updated: Sunday August 26, 2001 7:11 PM
Nobody has been spotted wearing a Big Bird costume to Comiskey Park this year, but give them time. White Sox left-hander Mark Buehrle is evoking memories of Mark "The Bird" Fidrych. No pitcher has won an ERA title in his first full season in the majors since Fidrych in 1976. At the time, the Bird was 22 years, six weeks old. Buehrle, who turned 22 in March, would be the youngest AL ERA champ since. Buehrle is trying to become the youngest left-hander to lead the AL in ERA since Vida Blue, who was four months younger in 1971. Buehrle entered Friday's start in Tampa Bay 11-6 with a 2.96 ERA, lowest in the league among those with enough innings to qualify. The White Sox haven't had an ERA champion since Joel Horlen in 1967. Buehrle could join Randy Johnson as the only lefties to win ERA titles in either league in the past 13 seasons. Pedro Martinez's 2.26 ERA is the lowest in the majors but he appears unlikely to reach the 162-inning cutoff for qualification. Martinez is 48 1/3 innings short and remains on the disabled list. Buehrle, in his own way, is nearly as dominant. He one-hit the Devil Rays early this month and had 15 quality starts in his first 24 chances. He came within two outs of making it 11 straight quality starts during one stretch. Buehrle had held opposing batters to a .214 batting average, lowest in the league. Lefties were hitting an anemic .182 against him. Right-handed batters weren't much better (.223). With his three-quarters delivery and array of pitches, Buehrle keeps hitters off balance and uncomfortable, even if his fastball barely registers on a radar gun. He is a former 38th-round draft-and-follow pick who spent just 217 1/3 innings in the minors before being promoted just after the 2000 All-Star break. "People talk about velocity, but oftentimes lost in the velocity discussions are the deception discussions," White Sox GM Ken Williams said. "An 88-mph hour fastball thrown by Mark Buehrle will appear to be 91-92 mph when combined with the mixture and location of his pitches. That 92 at times can look to be 94, judging from a hitter's reaction. "Mark will touch 90-91 mph on occasion, but he's only an 88-89 [mph] guy. He only reaches back when he needs it. He also will throw you off with a [batting-practice] fastball, which is something you don't see much anymore." That's where Buehrle's advanced understanding of his craft comes in. His secondary pitches -- two different sliders, a curveball and a changeup -- are solid but not spectacular. Rather, it's the whole package, taken together, that makes him so effective. "That's what the art of pitching is all about, isn't it?" Williams said. "Creating hesitation, making a hitter come off balance. That's all it takes, just a fraction, to disrupt a hitter's timing." After winning the No. 4 slot in the rotation during spring training, Buehrle stumbled to a 1-3 record and 7.04 ERA in his first four starts. Since then he had gone 10-3 with a 2.31 ERA. He has been a big reason the White Sox, after a 14-29 start, had fought their way back to .500 and an outside shot at the playoffs.
'Getting their feet wet'Williams believes it helped Buehrle to work mainly in relief during the pennant race last year. Buehrle made 28 appearances (with just three starts) as the White Sox rolled to their first playoff trip in seven years. The White Sox have used a similar approach to break in other members of their deep young pitching stable."It's helping all of our young pitchers," Williams said. "They're not burdened with the responsibility of throwing that quality start on the board as a big leaguer vs. getting their feet wet out of the bullpen. It's worked well for guys like Kip Wells, Rocky Biddle and Jon Garland. "They can go to the bullpen and really learn. We're able to work them all into situations where they would have success and gain confidence." The Braves have done the same thing with Jason Marquis. Same with the Astros and rookie Roy Oswalt. The Cardinals used Matt Morris out of the bullpen last year as he came back from elbow surgery. Using the gradual approach makes a lot of sense when it comes to the game's most precious commodity: quality young pitching.
LoDuca's receiving receives praiseJames Baldwin broke in with Ron Karkovice as his catcher. In recent years he has thrown to veteran Sandy Alomar and four-time Gold Glove winner Charles Johnson. Since being traded from the White Sox to the Dodgers, though, Baldwin has developed a strong respect for Paul LoDuca. Everybody knows about LoDuca's hitting ability, but the real revelation this year has been his receiving skills."He's great," Baldwin says. "He feels the game. He knows every situation before it happens. As a pitcher, you just want to be on the same page with your catcher. We're on the same page." Dodgers right-hander Chan Ho Park still prefers Chad Kreuter as his personal catcher, and LoDuca has begun moving to first base in favor of Eric Karros on those days. But listening to Baldwin, you start to wonder about the wisdom of that arrangement. "[LoDuca] understands the game of baseball," said Baldwin, who is a big Kreuter fan as well. "He's very prepared. His defense is good. He does everything." That includes throwing out opposing base runners. Lo Duca had caught 26 of 61 (.426) attempted base stealers, ranking him third in the National League, just ahead of Johnson. "When I had C.J. in Chicago, it was unbelievable," Baldwin said. "You had the confidence to throw any pitch in any situation. I never thought I'd be able to come across another catcher like that, but this game is funny. I throw to LoDuca, and I think they're right there together." Mike Berardino covers baseball for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel and is a regular contributor to CNNSI.com.
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