What Amazing Feat Do Mark Buehrle, Cy Young, and Sandy Koufax Have in Common?

July 23, 2009 By 3 Comments

mark buehrle perfect gameMark Buehrle completed the 18th perfect game in Major League History today, further cementing his place in the record books among the all-time greats who have ever toed the rubber. And before you start thinking that I’m simply ripe with excitement and hyperbole because my favorite pitcher of all-time just threw a perfect game, consider this:

There are now six pitchers in Major League history who have thrown a perfect game and a no-hitter: Randy Johnson, Sandy Koufax, Addie Joss, Cy Young, and Jim Bunning.  Four are in the Hall of Fame, and Randy Johnson will be. Mark Buehrle may not ever get the credit I believe he deserves while he is playing, but if he keeps pitching another 5, 6, 7 years he very well could find himself in Cooperstown as well.

And if Buehrle decides not to hang up his cleats early, as he has suggested he will do, Buehrle very well could make a legit run at 300 wins, assuming he stays as healthy as he has always been.

But even as amazing as the group above is that he has joined, it can be narrowed down even further to include only three names: Buehrle, Cy Young, and Koufax.  What do these three pitching greats have in common? They share the most amazing combined 2-game pitching lines in the history of Major League Baseball.

We know that no pitcher has ever thrown two perfect games, but these three have come the closest. Check out the combined stat line from Mark Buehrle’s perfect game and no-no, and then the combined stat lines from Koufax’s best no-hitter and perfect game and Young’s perfect game and best no-hitter:

  • Mark Buehrle: 18 innings, 0 hits, 1 BB
  • Sandy Koufax: 18 innings, 0 hits, 1BB
  • Cy Young: 18 innings, 0 hits, 1 BB

The only difference is that Koufax had 26 combined Ks over his 18 innings, while Buehrle had 14.  I’m not sure about Young, as I couldn’t find the box scores for his no-hitters and perfect games.

Regardless, any time you are in a group of players that includes only you, Sandy Koufax, and Cy Young…you’ve done something pretty special. And it’s about time that baseball fans across the country wake up and realize what White Sox fans have known for a long time: that Mark Buehrle is the most underrated ace in Major League Baseball and truly something special. 

Sox fans didn’t need today’s perfect game to confirm this, as we see Buehrle’s consistent excellence on a year in, year out basis.  Hopefully though, today’s performance helps to bring others around to our enlightened point of view. 

What a career: clutch ace of a consistent playoff contender; World Series champion; no-hitter; perfect game. Perhaps one of these days Mark will also add a Cy Young Award to the mantle.  

Congratulations on a hell of a career to this point Mark, and on authoring one of the 18 greatest single-game pitching stories in the long and storied history of Major League Baseball. “Perfect game” is going to look great on your Cooperstown plaque one of these days.

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* – Mark Buehrle photo credit: Jim Prisching / AP Photo via ABCNews.com

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Filed Under: Featured Column, MLB, Sports History Tagged With: baseball, Chicago White Sox, mark buehrle, mark buehrle perfect game, MLB, MLB history
About Jerod Morris

A proud graduate of Indiana University, Jerod Morris founded Midwest Sports Fans in August of 2008 and has been its Managing Editor every day since. Follow him on Twitter (@JerodMorris) for MSF updates, sports discussion, and a compelling daily assortment of funny and interesting links.
In addition to his work at MSF, Jerod hosts the fast-growing Indiana basketball postgame show The Assembly Call and provides regular music recommendations at IndieChristmas.com. He also helped develop the Synthesis Managed WordPress Hosting platform on which MSF and all of his other sites are run.

  • Ryan

    Well, as we have heard all year long here in Chicago, given his good season, is that Buehrle has the same numbers as Sabathia, but makes 50 million less. Now, you can honestly say, that at this point, Buehrle has surpassed anything that Sabathia can hope to achieve. The odds of him matching a perfect, and complete game, are astronomical.

  • http://www.midwestsportsfans.com JRod

    @Ryan,

    Agree wholeheartedly! Sabathia is a great pitcher, and gets more recognition because of the trade, his signing by NY, and his higher strikeout totals, but Buehrle is every bit the pitcher — if not moreso — that Sabathia is.

  • http://www.baseballindepth.com Brad Templeman

    I think that Buehrle and Roy Oswalt (who has also hinted at retiring early) are the two most underrated pitchers in baseball over the last decade and would both make the Hall of Fame if they stick around. If he does stick around another 7 or 8 years, I hope he gets another no-hitter to move into that select group, too.