The Interrogation Room: White Sox pitcher Mark Buehrle
BY JOE COWLEY jcowley@suntimes.com August 10, 2011 7:52PM
Mark Buehrle
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Updated: November 16, 2011 1:19AM
Dog activist and avid hunter Mark Buehrle might seem like a walking contradiction, but the pitcher has his convictions and stands by them. He made news in the offseason for saying he hoped Eagles quarterback Michael Vick would get injured, and he has made headlines this season for talking retirement again in what could be his last season with the White Sox.
Joe Cowley: Who’s your most memorable teammate?
Mark Buehrle: [Juan] Uribe. Just the stuff he did, stuff he said, the way he was happy every day. He would always say, ‘Uribe never down,’ after we would lose a game. Guys would joke around after a loss, ‘Uribe, you down now?’ ‘Uribe never down.’ Then when we lost the [2008] playoffs, he finally said, ‘Uribe down.’
JC: You said you would have given
$1 million of your salary to keep him around for 2009. Were you serious?
MB: I would have. If we had a roster spot, I would have done it, definitely.
JC: In the last few years, whose name is more associated with retirement, you or Brett Favre?
MB: [Laughs] It’s probably a toss-up, but I haven’t retired, come out of retirement, then retired . . . if I do walk away from the game after this year, you won’t hear me say, ‘I’m retired,’ because I’ll make sure I’m out of the game a few years before I throw that word out there.
JC: Does it bother you that I retained Michael Vick in my fantasy football league?
MB: No. I would have drafted him, but my wife already said she would kill me, so I promised her I wouldn’t do it.
JC: So you have the first pick and need a quarterback?
MB: No, there’s other guys out there to take. [Aaron] Rodgers, [Peyton] Manning . . . always been a Manning guy.
JC: OK, what if five quarterbacks are taken and Vick’s there?
MB: No, I’d rather take [Jay] Cutler . . . [Sam] Bradford. They’re due.
JC: Enjoy last place.
