Black Sox Faction: the Perfect game.

YAAAAAAAAYYYYY!!!!!! Always awesome when something like this goes down, Sox starter Mark Burlhe became the 18th - only eighteen - pitcher to throw a perfect game in the major leagues. Happens on average something like once every eight years. There were many thoughts on this game.

As always, "Where were you?". I was working @ school, but aware the boys were inaaction, I rocked the transistor radio. however, we were in the auditorium, so I couldn't listen to the game. By the time the school program was done, we took th kids to wait for dismissal in the lunchrooms - here I turned on the radio. But the reception sucked - I had to huddle near the window to get anything in, and was joined by some kids. We joined as the Sox made the last out in the bottom of the ninth - and was taken abit back when the Comiskey crowd roared as the Sox made their last out. Then Ed Farmer, St. Rita grad and Sox announcer, said alog the lines of "Sox up 5-0 and were headed to the ninth and you never know what will happen." Instantly my lifetime of fandom triggered into me that someting was up - and, judging by the circumstances and context, it could only mean one thing - a no hitter by Burlhe was going into the final three outs. The call 'no hitter!' went out in the lunchroom - more kids came over.

We listened to the ninth. The reception sucked, and we struggled. Honestly, I was totally calm during Wise's Catch because I had no idea it was such a difficult catch - it just registered as an out. But we celebrated when the final out went down - and then started spreading the news. Glorious. but I didn't know the special natute of the lastest Burlhe nohitter until 20m after it was over. When I got into the car to drive home, I turned on the car radio (nice reception) and only learned that it was a perfect game. Wow!!

I have said this before, but because the game was a day game over by 3.15pm, we were able to celebrate all day. It was kool - the whole talk of the day was on the game, replays of the games hilites, and rbroadcasts of the game on TV and on the radio. it was a holiday, a party, a carnival all day long. "Hey - did you hear about the Sox game?" Phone calls - "Hey - did you hear??" So rare, so kool.

And its always nice when the Sox make the national news of the day - President Obama in the Sox jacket before the All Star game last week, for example. But the most special touch was charli gibsond introduction to the 5.50p ABC National News. After he introduced the main three or four news stories they were going to cover that day, he then said "And there's been a perfect game in baseball today, but .... there's a catch." Kool as hell.

As for calls to instant hall of fame status for #56 is silly @ this stage. Sure, World Series champ, (and a save), the perfect game, no hitter - people even proffer a single home run he hit earlier this year to his rsume. But he's got 139 career wins. Two 19 win seasons - no 20 win season. No Cy Youngs. But, he's only 30, and if he stays in the majors longer that he says he wants to stay, he may rack up enough wins to be seriously considered. He has to get to two hundred career winds before any serious talk can even begin. But, all of these things are really nice if he stays productive.


Much love to Dwayne Wise. Great catch. Great call by Ozzie to take out Carlos Quintein and put in Wise for defensive purposes. Of course, the two will always be linked - the press on perfect games is the 'spectacular defensive effort that typically accompanies them - Wise's catch becomes one of only eighteen such efforts. And the the hush over the crowd the instant the ball left the bat on Wises Catch - both on the endless replayed audio versions (radio and TV) was striking. Boy - endless replayed. All day and nite. Such a festival all day.

Much love to Josh Fields. Hopefully its not, but it mite be his most famous grannie as a Sox player - we're hopinf for many more in the 'black. As the game links Burlhe and Wise, Fields joins in - his was the big hit in this one of eighteen unique games in major league history. Some reporters were asking him about his grannie being overshadowed in a perfect game - I'm knowing that Burlhes game will only ever magnify his hit in Sox and Baseball history. And he was the first baseman, the absolute link to perfection in this game - had he dropped the ball, it woulda been disaster. But he got it done.

Much love to Alexie Ramirez - his was the flawlessly fielded and thrown last out.

Much love to Miguel Castro. He was the catcher, and the last in the line of "perfect game" links-forever for this game.

Fun, festive. Miss the game - here's all the outs.