Mark Buehrle is Grizzled… Or is He?

Some men are forced to end their seasons with ACL tears. Others may throw out their arms. But Mark Buehrle? He has to kill a bear. Literally.

Buehrle volunteered to skip his final start of the season, so that a younger pitcher could start in his place.

“I got my 200 innings, finally got that 10th win [Friday], so there’s nothing else really out there to shoot for personally,” Buehrle said before going on a bear-hunting trip with Thome, Pierzynski and Jermaine Dye.

Nothing left to shoot for? Well, not quite.

Saturday night, the White Sox lefty went hunting in northern Minnesota with three teammates - Jermaine Dye, A.J. Pierzynski, and Jim Thome - and came back having killed a 200lb black bear with a bow.

As if this story couldn’t get any stranger, Buehrle pretty much owns up to his undying love for Jim Thome. Money quote:

”Once-in-a-lifetime experience, especially going with Jimmy,” Buehrle said Sunday. ”When we got out there, the guy said we could hunt separate. But my main thing is I wanted to be in the stand with Jim Thome. I turned down hunting by myself to be with him.”

Yeah… Take it easy, Mark. Why don’t you stop talking for a while? Yeah, maybe sit the next couple plays out.