Umpire Cooper has a full plate of no-hitters

Some umpires can work their entire careers and never find themselves behind the plate for a no-hitter. Eric Cooper has been the plate umpire for three of them, including two by White Sox left-hander Mark Buehrle, who pitched a perfect game Thursday against the Tampa Bay Rays.

''After the game, we certainly talked about this being the second one with Buehrle,'' Cooper said. ''I thought about it more then than when I was actually working.''

How's this for strange? Cooper has been behind the plate for each of Buehrle's last three shutouts -- the perfect game Thursday, the no-hitter April 18, 2007, at U.S. Cellular Field against the Texas Rangers and a 6-0 victory against the Los Angeles Dodgers on June 17, 2005, at the Cell.

Cooper, 38, also was behind the plate for Boston Red Sox right-hander Hideo Nomo's no-hitter against the Baltimore Orioles on April 6, 2001.

The only other active major-league umpire to work multiple no-hitters is Tim Tschida, who was behind the plate for Cubs ace Carlos Zambrano's no-hitter against the Houston Astros last Sept. 14 in Milwaukee and for Nolan Ryan's seventh career no-hitter, pitching the Rangers past the Toronto Blue Jays on May 1, 1991.

With the crowd buzzing on every pitch, was Cooper feeling the pressure Thursday?

''I'm certainly aware of the situation, especially late in the game, just because of the way the fans are reacting,'' he said. ''But it doesn't differentiate how I call the game. I have the same approach whether the score is 0-0 or 10-0 or whether there is a perfect game or no-hitter going. I try to call strikes strikes and balls balls.

''Certainly late in the game, when the fans are on their feet and they're loud, they want every pitch to be a strike, and not every pitch is a strike. That's the time when you really need to kind of take a deep breath and really focus on what's going on and not get caught up in the moment.''

Buehrle pitched only the 16th perfect game since the modern era began in 1900 and the first since left-hander Randy Johnson, then pitching for the Arizona Diamondbacks, was perfect against the Atlanta Braves on May 18, 2004. Johnson, then pitching for the Seattle Mariners, no-hit the Detroit Tigers on June 2, 1990.

Only 24 pitchers in major-league history have thrown multiple no-hitters. Buehrle is the sixth to have pitched at least two career no-hitters with one being a perfect game. Johnson, Sandy Koufax, Jim Bunning, Addie Joss and Cy Young are the others.

Brian Anderson isn't going anywhere. The outfielder, demoted to Class AAA Charlotte, will remain in the organization unless there's a change of heart around baseball.

A Sox source said Anderson had been shopped for weeks before the club decided to keep Dewayne Wise on the active roster when left fielder Carlos Quentin was activated from the disabled list Monday.

Right-hander Freddy Garcia threw a bullpen session and said he expects to make a two- or three-inning minor-league appearance Monday at an undetermined site.

''Whatever they tell me,'' Garcia said. ''Hopefully, everything works out.''

Contributing: Joe Cowley

SECOND INNING: Konerko singled. Quentin walked, Konerko to second. Beckham struck out. J.Nix struck out. R.Castro singled, Konerko to third, Quentin to second. Fields hit a grand slam to left on a 3-1 count, Konerko scored, Quentin scored, Castro scored. Four runs. White Sox 4, Rays 0.

FIFTH INNING Podsednik doubled. Ramirez doubled, Podsednik scored. One run. White Sox 5, Rays 0

FIRST INNING: Upton grounded out. Crawford grounded out. Longoria struck out.

SECOND: Pena popped out. Zobrist struck out. Burrell flew out.

THIRD: Kapler flew out. Hernandez grounded out. Bartlett flew out.

FOURTH: Upton struck out. Crawford flew out. Longoria lined out.

FIFTH: Pena grounded out. Zobrist grounded out. Burrell struck out.

SIXTH: Kapler grounded out. Hernandez grounded out. Bartlett grounded out.

SEVENTH: Upton grounded out. Crawford grounded out. Longoria flew out.

EIGHTH: Pena struck out. Zobrist popped out. Burrell lined out.

NINTH: Kapler flew out. Hernandez struck out. Bartlett grounded out.

* July 23, 2009, Mark Buehrle, White Sox, 5-0 (perfect game)

* April 27, 2002, Derek Lowe, Boston Red Sox, 10-0

Tampa Bay AB R H BI BB SO Avg.

B.Upton cf 3 0 0 0 0 1 .238

Crawford lf 3 0 0 0 0 0 .310

Longoria 3b 3 0 0 0 0 1 .273

C.Pena 1b 3 0 0 0 0 1 .222

Zobrist 2b 3 0 0 0 0 1 .300

Burrell dh 3 0 0 0 0 1 .229

Kapler rf 3 0 0 0 0 0 .250

M.Hernandez c 3 0 0 0 0 1 .247

Bartlett ss 3 0 0 0 0 0 .338

Totals 27 0 0 0 0 6

WHITE SOX AB R H BI BB SO Avg.

Podsednik cf-lf 4 1 1 0 0 1 .305

Al.Ramirez ss 3 0 2 1 1 0 .283

Dye rf 4 0 0 0 0 1 .293

Konerko dh 4 1 1 0 0 0 .295

Quentin lf 3 1 0 0 1 0 .228

Wise cf 0 0 0 0 0 0 .196

Beckham 3b 4 0 0 0 0 1 .291

J.Nix 2b 3 0 0 0 0 2 .220

R.Castro c 2 1 1 0 1 1 .156

Fields 1b 3 1 1 4 0 0 .223

Totals 30 5 6 5 3 6

Tampa Bay 000 000 000--0 0 0

WHITE SOX 040 010 00x--5 6 0Bay 0, Chicago 5. 2B--Podsednik (12), Al.Ramirez (11). HR--Fields (7), off Kazmir. RBIs--Al.Ramirez (47), Fields 4 (30).

LOB--Tampa Bay 0, WHITE SOX 5. 2B--Podsednik (12), Al.Ramirez (11). HR--Fields (7), off Kazmir. RBI--Al.Ramirez (47), Fields 4 (30).

Runners left in scoring position--WHITE SOX 2 (Quentin, Konerko).

Runners moved up--Dye.

Tampa Bay IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA

Kazmir L, 4-6 6 5 5 5 3 5 98 6.69

Cormier 1 1 0 0 0 0 20 2.65

Thayer 1 0 0 0 0 1 10 4.26

WHITE SOX IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA

Buehrle W,11-3 9 0 0 0 0 6 116 3.28

HBP--by Kazmir (J.Nix).

Umpires--Home, Eric Cooper; First, Mike Reilly; Second, Chuck Meriwether; Third, Laz Diaz. T--2:03. A--28,036.