Armando Galarraga Loses Perfect Game on Very Imperfect Call
Like many baseball fans out there, I turned on the MLB Network Wednesday night to see the last inning of what should have been a perfect game for Detroit Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga. And after Austin Jackson’s great outfield catch in the top of the ninth inning, it seemed like we were watching history in the making. Unfortunately, thanks to umpire Jim Joyce’s blown call on Galarraga’s fielding play at first, fans instead saw a game that will go down in history for a different reason than perfection.
What bothered me as much as the call was the way Joyce was so adamant at the time he was right. Given the importance of the situation, why didn’t he ask for confirmation from the other umpires on whether Cleveland Indians player Jason Donald was safe at first? There would have been no shame in that. Given the gravity of the situation, Joyce should have gotten some backup here.
Instead, the ump appeared to argue with Miguel Cabrera, who threw to Galarraga on the play, and with Tigers manager Jim Leyland, insisting that the call was correct. After the game, though, Joyce saw exactly how wrong he was when he watched a replay of the call.
Joyce sounded devastated afterwards when he talked to reporters:
“I missed it,” Joyce said a few minutes later, almost in tears. “I missed it. … This isn’t ‘a call.’ This is a history call. And I kicked the #$% out of it.
“There’s nobody that feels worse than I do. I take pride in this job. … I took a perfect game away from that kid over there, who worked his @#$ off all night.”
Joyce personally apologized to Armando Galarraga after the game:
Tigers president/general manager Dave Dombrowski brought Galarraga from the home clubhouse into the umpires’ room.
“He asked if he could see Armando and I brought Armando in there,” Dombrowski said, “and [Joyce] apologized profusely to him and he said he just felt terrible. They hugged each other and Armando said, ‘I understand.’
Some baseball columnists are suggesting that MLB Commissioner Bud Selig intervene and overturn the call. I agree. If MLB could overturn the umpire’s ruling in the infamous Pine Tar Game, there is no reason Selig couldn’t step in here. And in the Pine Tar Game, the umpire was actually correct -- George Brett’s bat did, according to the rules of baseball, have an outlawed amount of pine tar on it, and the homer run should have been disallowed. Even so, AL President Lee MacPhail overturned the decision, citing “the spirit of the rules.” Well, that same spirit of the rules ought to give Galarraga his perfect game.
But this decision is needed not just to correct the injustice done to Galarraga. It’s to save Joyce’s career. Otherwise, he will never be able to live this down. As Jon Paul Morosi of FoxSports writes:
Selig can’t stand to have Galarraga, the Tigers and 17,738 paying customers feel like they were cheated out of their place in history. If that isn’t worthy of Selig invoking the “best interest of the game” clause, I don’t know what is.
The real truth is that Joyce’s conscience needs the reprieve worse than Galarraga’s resume. The welfare of Joyce, a longstanding MLB employee who has umpired in All-Star Games and World Series, is in the commissioner’s hands.
Joyce admitted that he made a horrible mistake. Selig is the only man who can save him from perpetual ridicule in Detroit.
Not that Selig overturning such a call will rectify everything. As Miami Herald sportswriter Dan LeBetard notes, “Galarraga will never be able to get back having “teammates come back and pile on him, or fans file back into the stadium with a spontaneous noise.”
But the Detroit pitcher rightfully earned his place in baseball history, and one stubborn umpire shouldn’t be able to take that away from him. Selig needs to intervene here. He also ought to add instant replay in such situations. After all, if Selig could change the rules of baseball on the fly for the 2008 World Series, allowing Game 5 to be suspended due to rain, he ought to be able to intervene here. It’s only fair.
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Lisa Swan
Lisa Swan, a lifelong Yankee fan, grew up in Passaic, N.J., where her favorite player was the talented but insecure Reggie Jackson. Today she lives on Staten Island, where her favorite player is the talented but insecure Alex Rodriguez. A former senior new media editor for ...
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More on these topics:
Armando Galarraga, Cleveland Indians, Dave Dombrowski, Detroit Tigers, Jim Joyce, Jim Leyland, Miguel Cabrera, Pine Tar Game
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Matt Brosseau says:
Ridiculous...the call was blown but you can't just give him a perfect game, the umpire's call is what it was and Donald was safe at fiest. Blown calls are part of baseball, whether they come with two outs in the ninth inning of a perfect game or the third inning of a blowout.
I look forward to your article about how the St. Louis Cardinals should be awarded the 1985 World Series trophy.
Tim says:
Overturning the decision would also give Galarraga the distinction of pitching a perfect game to 28 batters instead of 27. Selig should do it in this case because it doesn't affect the outcome of the game. If this happened in, say, the 5th inning, then it's a different story and Selig shouldn't overturn the bad call.
Riddering says:
Matt, your comparison would be apt only if the blown call in the 1985 World Series came for the last out of Game 7. It didn't. But nice try. There is a larger point here as well--blown calls on this level shouldn't be part of baseball. Instant replay could be a tool to aid umpires in getting calls right. Umpires shouldn't have to go in to see video *after* the game and have their mistakes then brought to their attention when video could help them do their job better during the game.
Great article, Lisa. Selig definitely needs to do more than shrug his shoulders over last night's game. And all baseball fans should acknowledge not only Galarraga's perfect game but also the class with which he handled it being taken away. What an amazing young man.
Lisa Swan says:
Matt, I was at the Pine Tar Game. Like I said, they overturned that decision, even though the ump was correct in following the pine tar rules. Tim, interesting point on the 28 batters!
Tim Mickcurney says:
If the Armando was on LSD then I would be impressed with the perfect game.
That is the benchmark for a perfect game.
Otherwise let it stand as it is.