‘One of the best’ _ White Sox ace Mark Buehrle humbling basking in glow of perfect game

Perfect pitcher Buehrle making mark in Chicago

DETROIT — Mark Buehrle already had a no-hitter on his resume when the White Sox left-hander threw his perfect game against Tampa Bay this week in Chicago.

So the surprise isn’t so much that he retired all 27 batters he faced, but in how he does it. Buehrle doesn’t overpower batters like Randy Johnson or Nolan Ryan, but he has a style that works just fine. Call it the Buehrle Way: Work fast. Throw strikes. Change speeds. The key is that he doesn’t waste a lot of pitches.

He threw 116 of them on Thursday in a game that lasted 2 hours, 3 minutes. Buehrle was on the mound for only 32 minutes.

“When you face him, you have to be ready to hit because he’s gonna throw strikes,” said White Sox slugger Jim Thome. “He’s gonna work quick. There’s not a whole lot of time to think.”

“The next thing you know, you’re in the seventh inning, going ‘Where did this day go?’” Thome said ahead of Friday’s day-night doubleheader in Detroit.

Working fast doesn’t mean Buehrle flies under the radar. The 30-year-old pitcher is, after all, a four-time All-Star who is 133-90 with a 3.76 ERA in his 10 major league seasons, all with Chicago. He just goes about his work quietly, with little fanfare. Even Thursday, with excitement building as the Rays batters kept going down 1-2-3, Buehrle was staying loose in the dugout, smiling and chatting with teammates.

In seemingly no time at all, he had pitched the 16th perfect game of the modern era.

Manager Ozzie Guillen and his players say no one deserves it more.

“You ask his teammates. It couldn’t happen to a better guy,” the manager said.

Thome called Buehrle a “tremendous, tremendous” guy.

“Genuine. As good as any teammate I’ve ever played with. No question. He gets it. … I think that comes from his family. He grew up in the Midwest,” Thome said.

The St. Charles, Mo., native was coming off a week in which he played in the All-Star game in St. Louis, not far from his hometown. Buehrle and his wife were preparing for their son’s July birthday.

“This has been one of the better months of my life,” said Buehrle, who is 11-3 with a 3.28 ERA this season.

The perfect game was nearly lost when the Rays’ Gabe Kapler led off the ninth with a deep blast. Defensive replacement DeWayne Wise took off from his position in center field, jumped and extended his right arm above the top of the 8-foot wall.

The ball landed in his glove, then popped out for a split second as he was caroming off the wall and stumbling on the warning track. Wise grabbed it with his bare left hand, fell to the ground and rolled.

Buehrle said he didn’t sleep much Thursday night, catching up on 65 text messages and a dozen phone calls congratulating him. Friends bought him dinner and he saw his feat replayed on ESPN. He realized he hadn’t known how spectacular Wise’s catch had been.

“Are you kidding me with that catch?” Buehrle text-messaged Wise late Thursday.

A.J. Pierzynski, who caught Buehrle’s no-hitter against Texas on April 18, 2007, wasn’t behind the plate on Thursday. He took the day off, meaning little-used backup Ramon Castro had a bird’s-eye view of history.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, it was the first perfect game in which the pitcher and combination were working their first game together.

The combination was electric: Buehrle threw 44 change-ups and 43 fastballs, according to Stats LLC, mingling in 16 curve balls and 13 cut fastballs. His slowest pitch of the day was a 69 mph curve ball fouled off by Pat Burrell in the second inning, and he threw only one pitch in the 90s — a 90 mph fastball (for a ball) facing his 27th and final batter of the day.

Despite not playing, Pierzynski enjoyed what he saw.

“He’s one of the best” teammates, Pierzynski said of Buehrle. “He shows up every day. Does what he needs to do. He’s always in a good mood. He’s always having fun. That’s all you can ask for.”

Even the Tigers, who are battling the White Sox for first place in the AL Central, appreciated what Buehrle was able to accomplish. As Buehrle was about to enter the tunnel leading from the dugout to the visitor’s clubhouse at Comerica Park on Friday, Detroit first baseman Miguel Cabrera shouted from the field: “Good job! Way to go!” and gave a thumbs-up.

In addition to responding to the dozens of well-wishers, Buehrle also was trying to figure out what to buy his teammates and coaches as a reward.

He got watches for everybody after the no-hitter against the Rangers.

This time around, he’s considering cuff links and tie clips. He’s also thinking of having a painting made from a still photo of Wise’s spectacular grab.

One thing’s for certain, it’s a fair bet the humble Buehrle won’t let his banner July go to his head. His philosophy is: “Don’t get too high. Don’t get too low.”

“But it’s kind of hard when this much good stuff’s happening,” he said.