Was it a stroke of luck or the magic of skillful play? It was a combination of both, if you ask me. And a good dose of destiny. He was just a replacement but boy, what a replacement he had been. With the pressure mounting and tension filling the air as Mark Buehrle neared his perfect game, DeWayne Wise of the Chicago White Sox, who had just taken over in center field for Scott Podsednik, made one of the most spectacular and meaningful catches in White Sox history. Here is how the Associated Press described it:

DeWayne Wise catch saves Mark Buehrle’s perfect game
plus Video of DeWayne Wise catch

Just in as a defensive replacement, Chicago White Sox center fielder DeWayne Wise(notes) sprinted toward the fence in left-center, a dozen strides. What happened next would be either a moment of baseball magic or the ninth-inning end of Buehrle’s bid for perfection against the Tampa Bay Rays.

Wise jumped and extended his right arm above the top of the 8-foot wall. The ball landed in his glove’s webbing but then popped out for a split second as he was caroming off the wall and stumbling on the warning track. Wise grabbed it with his bare left hand, fell to the ground and rolled. He bounced up, proudly displaying the ball for the crowd.

Magic. A home run turned into an out.

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