As with many no hitters, Buehrle's will be remembered for the one remarkable highlight reel defensive play made to preserve it. DeWayne "Don't call me Dwayne" Wise robbed Gabe Kapler of a soul crushing home run to lead-off the ninth, making Kapler into a small trivia footnote on the game. As the announcer called it, one of the greatest catches he'd ever seen...under the circumstances.
Lets be honest, it was a greaaattt catch. Fan-tastic. Phe-nominal. Mag-nanimous. But if Kapler hits that in an 8-4 game six innings earlier, does anyone other than John Kruk really notice? Maybe, but they probably don't care. It's all about the situation. As far as pure greatness of
catches go, I'd argue Jim Edmonds has a half dozen catches that are more spectatular than Willie Mays catch if you are looking at them in a vacuum. Some might point out the jump Mays got on the ball and the quick throw, I know, I know. I hold Willie Mays to very high esteem, even though he's Barry Bonds' godfather, but that catch was made greater by the fact it was in the World Series, in a tie game, in the 8th, on a ball that would have been out of 9 of 10 ballparks. Edmonds has a few choice plays in big situations, but on a grand scale they are largely meaningless.One of the better football catches I've seen belongs to Aaron Moorehead when he was on the Colts. Great, except it was from Jim Sorgi in the preseason, home of corners who already have been kicked off "4th and Long." I've seen Brian Giles pull a ball pack from three rows deep in the left field stands. Problem was, it was for the Pirates and the year wasn't 1991, so nobody cared. Sport's aren't played in a vacuum. Wise's catch, though not on the scale of Mays', came at a big moment and allowed history to happen. We all know baseball fans are suckers for history. He was a defensive replacement who saved a perfect game in the ninth inning. He even added the bobble for style points.
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