Well, there isn't much else to be said. Armando Galarraga threw the 21st perfect game in the history of the MLB on Wednesday June 2, 2010 and everybody knows it. This game, this call, this controversy, will forever go into the baseball history books as arguably the biggest robbery of all time. Jim Joyce took away the game of a lifetime from Armando. A perfect game has only been done 20 other times in the history of the game, which oh by the way, dates back to the 1870’s. Not to mention the fact that there have already been two perfect games thrown this year, all in the span of one month, and if Galarraga would have gotten that call it would have been another first for the game of baseball. Never in the 140 year history have there been three perfect games in one season, let alone one single month. It is so unfortunate that this game will go down in history for all the wrong reasons.
I actually got lucky and was able to witness the last couple innings of the game in my dorm room here in Kalamazoo. Usually I’m never able to see the Tigers because we don’t get FSN here at school, but I had just happened to be watching ESPN when they cut over to the Tiger game for some bonus coverage in the 8th inning. Now I know it’s only a baseball game and that I was just watching it on TV, but it was seriously a great feeling to be watching something of that magnitude. I had butterflies in my stomach, I was pacing around my room while my roomie was trying to do homework, and I cheered after every out Galarraga recorded in the 8th. When he took the mound in the 9th inning I was legitimately nervous as hell. I kept thinking of all the “what if” scenarios. The first pitch Armando threw was smacked into the left-center gap and I thought I was all over as soon as that guy hit the ball. When Austin Jackson made that Willy Mays style catch I went absolutely nuts. It was at that moment that I thought to myself, “Wow this could not be more perfect for this guy right now.” Second batter, Mike Redman, hits a soft ground ball to short stop for an easy out. At this point, I couldn’t sit still for the life of me. I was one out away from witnessing something that had only been done a handful of times before, not to mention the first time ever for any Detroit Tigers player. Ground ball to the right side…… fielded by Cabrera…… throw over to Galarraga at first……………………….. safe. I honestly fell to my knees in disbelief. I couldn’t believe the umpire called him safe. Granted, I hadn’t even seen the replay yet so I didn’t know for sure if it was a bad call or not. However, when they showed the replay seconds later it made me sick to my stomach. It amazed me too that after all that work, and after being so close to perfection, the only thing Galarraga did was smile and walk back to the mound. Meanwhile, first base umpire Jim Joyce was being booed by literally every fan in attendance and being chewed out by the likes of Jim Leyland and Miguel Cabrera. I think Tigers TV announcer Mario Impemba said it best when he stated, “It’s a sheer travesty.”
As soon as the play happened and they had shown the replay, I knew it was going to cause controversy and become a big story, but it exploded into perhaps one of the biggest mistakes in the history of the game. I kid you not, within 10 minutes of the game being over there had already been multiple Facebook groups geared toward the hatred of Jim Joyce. Within 20 minutes Joyce’s Wikipedia page had been updated, mentioning his blown call that cost Galarraga perfection. The man practically created thousands and thousands of enemies in a split second.
After the game Jim Joyce apologized first to Galarraga for blowing the call, and then also publicly. It was easy to see that the man was upset and truly did not mean to miss the call. However, no matter how sorry he is, it’s not going to change what is. That call is going to haunt him for the rest of his life and he’s going to have to live with it. Personally, I feel that if you’re an umpire in that situation and you’re going to make the wrong call, at least make the wrong call in favor of the pitcher who already has 26 outs in a row. There probably wouldn’t be nearly the same public reaction if that had been the case.
The "call heard 'round the world" as it has been nicknamed, has been all over the news and has been the top story on Sporstcenter all morning. They’ve been showing the reactions of different people around the game of baseball and hearing what they have to say. Unanimously, they all have the same response, that it was a terrible call and a huge disappointment. Now, they are discussing the possibility of overturning the call and actually giving him the perfect game, but unfortunately I think it’s rather unlikely that Commissioner Bud Selig will go through with that. When all is said and done, I have to take my hat off to Armando. Not only did he put on a hell of a performance, but his reaction to the whole controversy was nothing but class and integrity, and for that I have a lot of respect for him. No matter what happens though, he will always have a perfect game in his mind, in the minds of his teammates, the fans, myself, and practically everyone who has seen this unfold. On June 2, 2010 Armando Galarraga of the Detroit Tigers threw the 21st perfect game in MLB history, and what's even more impressive, he got 28 outs to do so.
It sure was a moment of mixed emotions. Kudos to Armando for being such a classy and forgiving guy. MLB wanted the human element (by not using replays) and they got it. If anyone should be held accountable, it should be them. Jim Joyce made a mistake, but we should all take our cue from Armando and move forward. I, too, was nervous with each pitch once I became aware of what was happening. A cool "community" moment.
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