White Sox unveil statue of Mark Buehrle at Rate Field

CHICAGO (AP) — Mark Buehrle posed for several pictures with his new statue. By himself. With his family. With a large contingent of his former teammates from one of the greatest years in Chicago White Sox history.

Everyone wanted to hold on to the moment.

A sculpture of Buehrle in his pitching motion was unveiled at Rate Field on Friday night as part of a celebration of the 20th anniversary of Chicago's 2005 World Series championship. The left-hander watched as his family pulled a black tarp off the statue in right field, cheered on by a crowd of 25,084 dotted with No. 56 Buehrle jerseys and shirts.

Buehrle, 46, played for Chicago for the first 12 of his 16 seasons in the majors. Known for working quickly with pinpoint control, he went 161-119 with a 3.83 ERA in 390 appearances with the White Sox, including 365 starts.

He had his number retired by the team in 2017.

“I literally went out there and played just because I love baseball and I love competing,” said Buehrle, a 38th-round pick in the 1998 amateur draft. “All the numbers and all that stuff comes of it, but you never think of this number retirement, statue. Like, that’s just, I can't even wrap my head around it. Like it just doesn’t make sense.”

After the statue ceremony, Buehrle and his family got into a truck and waved to the crowd they traveled around the warning track. Buehrle caught a ceremonial first pitch from his daughter, Brooklyn, and his son, Braden, performed the national anthem before Chicago's 5-4 victory over Cleveland.

Buehrle enjoyed having his family involved with the festivities. All the attention, well, not so much.

“I hate it. I was literally nervous as can be all day today,” he said. “Got three hours of sleep last night. Couldn’t eat all day today. Sick to my stomach. This stuff ... this is not my comfortable zone.”

Of course, Buehrle always looked quite comfortable on the mound. He joined Freddy García, Jon Garland and José Contreras in a formidable rotation that played a major role in Chicago’s last World Series title.

Buehrle posted a 16-8 record with a career-low 3.12 ERA in 33 starts, helping the White Sox win the 2005 AL Central. Then he went 2-0 with a 3.47 ERA in four postseason appearances, including three starts.

Buehrle, Contreras, García and Garland each pitched a complete game in the AL Championship Series against the Angels.

“I'll take that team against pretty much anybody,” former White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski said. “I mean, 11-1 in the postseason. Four complete games in the ALCS, you'll never see that again.”

Asked what it was like to catch Buehrle, Pierzynski responded: “Fast.”

“Mark was the best,” he said. “Mark didn’t shake. You got the ball. He didn’t do scouting reports. He just got it and threw it.”

Buehrle made two appearances in Chicago's World Series sweep against Houston. He pitched seven innings of four-run ball in Game 2. He also picked up a save when he retired Adam Everett on a popup for the final out of the 14th inning in a 7-5 win at Houston in Game 3.

Former White Sox slugger Jermaine Dye called Buehrle a great teammate and leader.

“Definitely someone you would want on your ballclub to lead a pitching staff, and be that No. 1 starter and give him that ball at any point in time,” Dye said.

Buehrle pitched for Miami and Toronto after departing Chicago. The five-time All-Star finished with a 214-160 record and a 3.81 ERA over 3,283 1/3 innings, to go along with four Gold Gloves. He struck out 1,870 and walked 734.

He was reunited with the 2005 White Sox in the wake of Bobby Jenks' death at age 44. The former closer died last week in Portugal, where he was being treated for adenocarcinoma, a form of stomach cancer.

“I’m sure I’ve lost teammates over the years, but losing somebody like that," Buehrle said. "He’s a little kid in a big-man body, always goofing off, always having fun. Not having him here and hearing that news, it hit me a little bit harder than I thought it would when I first heard of it. It’s definitely very sad.”

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Former Chicago White Sox pitcher Mark Buehrle, second from right, and family embrace after the team unveiled a statue of Buehrle as they celebrate their 2005 World Series-winning team before a baseball game against the Cleveland Guardians, Friday, July 11, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Melissa Tamez)

Former Chicago White Sox pitcher Mark Buehrle, center, poses with his 2005 teammates after his statue was unveiled before a baseball game against the Cleveland Guardians, Friday, July 11, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Melissa Tamez)

Former Chicago White Sox pitcher Mark Buehrle speaks at a lectern after the team unveiled a statue of him as they celebrate their 2005 World Series-winning team before a baseball game against the Cleveland Guardians, Friday, July 11, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Melissa Tamez)

Former Chicago White Sox pitcher Mark Buehrle, left, speaks at a lectern after the team unveiled a statue of him as they celebrate their 2005 World Series-winning team before a baseball game against the Cleveland Guardians, Friday, July 11, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Melissa Tamez)

The Chicago White Sox unveil a statue of former pitcher Mark Buehrle, center, as they celebrate their 2005 World Series-winning team before a baseball game against the Cleveland Guardians, Friday, July 11, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Melissa Tamez)

Glenn Hall, a Hockey Hall of Famer whose ironman streak of 502 starts as a goaltender remains an NHL record, has died. He was 94.

Nicknamed “Mr. Goalie,” Hall worked to stop pucks at a time when players at his position were bare-faced, before masks of any kind became commonplace. He did it as well as just about anyone of his generation, which stretched from the days of the Original Six into the expansion era.

A spokesperson for the Chicago Blackhawks confirmed the team received word of Hall’s death from his family. A league historian in touch with Hall’s son, Pat, said Hall died at a hospital in Stony Plain, Alberta, on Wednesday.

A pioneer of the butterfly style of goaltending of dropping to his knees, Hall backstopped Chicago to the Stanley Cup in 1961. He won the Conn Smythe Trophy as most valuable player of the playoffs in 1968 with St. Louis when the Blues reached the final before losing to Montreal. He was the second of just six Conn Smythe winners from a team that did not hoist the Cup.

His run of more than 500 games in net is one of the most untouchable records in sports, given how the position has changed in the decades since. Second in history is Alec Connell with 257 from 1924-30.

“Glenn was sturdy, dependable and a spectacular talent in net,” Commissioner Gary Bettman said. “That record, set from 1955-56 to 1962-63, still stands, probably always will, and is almost unfathomable — especially when you consider he did it all without a mask.”

Counting the postseason, Hall started 552 games in a row.

Hall won the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year in 1956 when playing for the Detroit Red Wings. After two seasons, he was sent to the Black Hawks along with legendary forward Ted Lindsay.

Hall earned two of his three Vezina Trophy honors as the league's top goalie with Chicago, in 1963 and '67. The Blues took him in the expansion draft when the NHL doubled from six teams to 12, and he helped them reach the final in each of their first three years of existence, while winning the Vezina again at age 37.

Hall was in net when Boston's Bobby Orr scored in overtime to win the Cup for the Bruins in 1970, a goal that's among the most famous in hockey history because of the flying through the air celebration that followed. He played one more season with St. Louis before retiring in 1971.

“His influence extended far beyond the crease," Blues chairman Tom Stillman said. “From the very beginning, he brought credibility, excellence, and heart to a new team and a new NHL market.”

A native of Humboldt, Saskatchewan, Hall was a seven-time first-team NHL All-Star who had 407 wins and 84 shutouts in 906 regular-season games. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1975, and his No. 1 was retired by Chicago in 1988.

Hall was chosen as one of the top 100 players in the league's first 100 years.

Blackhawks chairman and CEO Danny Wirtz called Hall an innovator and “one of the greatest and most influential goaltenders in the history of our sport and a cornerstone of our franchise.”

“We are grateful for his extraordinary contributions to hockey and to our club, and we will honor his memory today and always,” Wirtz said.

The Blackhawks paid tribute to Hall and former coach and general manager Bob Pulford with a moment of silence before Wednesday night’s game against St. Louis. Pulford died Monday.

A Hall highlight video was shown on the center-ice videoboard. The lights were turned off for the moment of silence, except for a spotlight on the No. 1 banner for Hall that hangs in the rafters at the United Center.

Fellow Hall of Famer Martin Brodeur, the league's leader in wins with 691 and games played with 1,266, posted a photo of the last time he saw Hall along with a remembrance of him.

“Glenn Hall was a legend, and I was a big fan of his,” Brodeur said on social media. “He set the standard for every goaltender who followed. His toughness and consistency defined what it meant to play.”

AP Sports Writer Jay Cohen in Chicago contributed to this report.

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FILE - Glenn Hall, second from left, stands with fellow former Chicago Blackhawks players Stan Mikita, former general manager Tommy Ivan, Bobby Hull, Bill Wirtz and Tony Esposito during a pre-game ceremony at the Chicago Stadium in Chicago, Ill., April 14, 1994. (AP Photo/Fred Jewell, File)

FILE - St. Louis Blues goalie Glenn Hall, top right, is pinned to his net waiting to make a save on a Montreal Canadians shot as Blues' Noel Picard (4) tries to block the puck while Canadiens' John Ferguson (22) and Ralph Backstorm wait for a rebound in the third period of their NHL hockey Stanley Cup game, May 5, 1968. (AP Photo/Fred Waters, File)