Just five innings into the White Sox' 2010 season, veteran pitcher Mark Buehrle made the defensive play of the year.
Not the defensive play of the first five innings. Not the defensive play of the first game, or week or month.
The defensive play of the year.
A bullet from the bat of Cleveland Indians' Lou Marson crashed off his leg and caromed into foul territory along the first-base line with a teeth-gritting Buehrle chasing it down. When the left-hander got to it, he deftly flipped it without looking through his legs with his glove to first baseman Paul Konerko for the out.
Not your typical 1-3.
What was routine, however, was Buehrle's Opening Day gem. Making his team-record eighth season-opening start, the veteran worked quickly and efficiently in his seven scoreless innings to pick up the win in the Sox' 6-0 victory over Cleveland.
He did the things he always seems to do. Throw strikes, work fast, keep the ball off the meaty part of the opponent's bat.
It was classic Buehrle-being-Buehrle.
But after the game, everyone was talking about the not-so-flashy Buehrle's flashy play.
"We were joking that he made the play of the year on Opening Day, so now we have 161 more to look down at that play and hear about it," catcher A.J. Pierzynski joked. "It was a great play, and usually when guys go between their legs like that they throw it high but he put it right on the money. Paul was in a perfect position and I told Mark I was going to try to run over there and grab it, but we'd have a collision and I'd be in trouble with all the fans for hurting him. So, I just tried to stay away."
OK, so are Buehrle's heroics being oversold? Not according to Sox second baseman Gordon Beckham, who weighed in with this nugget.
"I was talking to the second-base umpire Bruce [Dreckman] and he said, 'Turn off the cameras now, it's the best play of the year, first game.' Unbelievable play."
Konerko, who drove the first pitch he saw all season into the right-field seats for a two-run home run in the first inning, was confident that Buehrle's no-look toss would stand up to the league's best.
"As he was running over there, I didn't know if we'd get the guy, but as he was getting close, I started to get loud to try and give him a voice to where I was," Konerko explained. "I knew he'd get that ball up in the air and out to me. I didn't know how he was going to do it, whether it was going to be barehanded or whatever, but I knew he'd get it there. He's got that kind of savvy. I doubt there's a better play to be made all year by a pitcher. It will hold up the whole year it was so good."
The play was only part of a near-perfect afternoon for the home team on the South Side. Good pitching, solid offense and spectacular defense were all on display.
Some people get carried away with extrapolating the results from Game No. 1 out to the entire season. Some people don't put too much stake in it.
You see, Opening Day, for all it's wonderful qualities, presents one giant disconnect between players and fans.
The players, who've been working their way through drills for a good month-plus, know that this isn't either the start of their season nor any more important than any of the other 161 games they'll play during the regular season. They'll couch their excitement or disappointment by pointing out just how insignificant one game is over the course of the marathon season.
To the fans, however, Opening Day is a bastion of hope. A day where everyone is in first place. Fans want their team to win every game, but they really want them to win the first. Hell, after waiting for over six months, can you blame them?
One undeniable fact is that if you win the first, you don't have to worry about losing them all.
That's a mission accomplished for the Sox, who can now go on with their business. The bunting-surrounded excitement of the opener is over. The top play has been made.
All in all, it was a highlight real day, with one great centerpiece serving as the main highlight.
Pierzynski summed up the excitement, relief and reality of the post-opener locker room and the long road ahead.
"The weather was awesome, the fans were awesome," he said. "The game, obviously, was amazing. What a good Opening Day. I'm glad it's over though, because now all these amateur media people can get out of here and we can get back to the typical five of you who are here."
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