White Sox to unveil Mark Buehrle statue at Rate Field in July
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The Chicago White Sox will unveil a statue of lefty pitcher Mark Buehrle at Rate Field this season, the team announced Friday night at SoxFest.
The statue will be unveiled on July 11, during a celebration marking the 20th anniversary of the franchise's 2005 World Series championship.
The team also retired Buehrle's No. 56 jersey in 2017.
"It's crazy that they're going to do this for me," Buehrle said in a video posted on the team's social media accounts. "I tried to go out there and give you everything I had. I know you guys showed me the love, and hopefully I showed you guys love back. So thank you."
The statue is being made by the same team that created statues of White Sox legends Frank Thomas, Paul Konerko, Carlton Fisk, Minnie Minoso, as well as the 2005 World Series championship monument outside the ballpark.
Buehrle finished his career as one of the top pitchers in White Sox history, ranking 6th in franchise history in wins (161), 8th in games pitched (390), 4th in starts (365), 7th in innings pitched (2476.2), and 4th in strikeouts (1,396). He also pitched a perfect game against the Tampa Bay Rays in 2009, and threw a no-hitter against the Texas Rangers in 2007.
During their 2005 World Series championship run, Buehrle threw one of the team's four consecutive complete games in the American League Championship Series against the Los Angeles Angels. The White Sox are the only team to throw four complete games in a playoff series since the start of league championship series play in 1969.
Buehrle also accomplished another impressive feat in the World Series against the Houston Astros, getting the save when he came in to pitch the 14th inning of their 7-5 victory in Game 3, after working seven innings in his Game 2 start two days earlier.
