It is 8:50pm on June 2, 2010. Armando Galarraga is pacing around at the back of the mound. There are two outs in the ninth inning. Not one opposing player has reached first base. After receiving the sign from Detroit Tigers catcher Alex Avila, Galarraga sets his feet. He winds up, and throws the pitch. A ground ball to first! First baseman Miguel Cabrera ranges to his right to field the ball. Galarraga rushes to the base. Cabrera throws the ball perfectly. Galarraga catches it, and puts his foot on the bag ahead of the runner. He is about to become the 19th pitcher in Major League history to throw a perfect game!
In the words of Tigers radio broadcaster Dan Dickerson: "...throws to Galarraga covering first, and, THEY DIDN'T GET HIM!!! OH MAN!!!!!"
Galarraga got the next batter, and the Tigers won. But it didn't matter. The perfect game was thrown to the wind. Suddenly, all of the Tigers players barged out of the dugout. They surrounded the first base umpire Jim Joyce, arguing the call. Certain he had made the right call, Joyce argued for a bit, then made his way to the umpire's room. A fellow umpire met him. "I thought he was out."
A shadow of doubt filled Joyce's mind. He went to look at the replay for the first and last time in his life. The runner had been out. Joyce would forever be remembered as the man who blew the perfect game.
Joyce broke down after seeing the replay. He allowed some reporters into the umpire's room - something which rarely happens - and acknowledged his mistake, crying throughout the interview. He asked to see Galarraga, and apologized personally. Galarraga, though unhappy about the call, accepted the apology and gave Joyce a hug.
Joyce was scheduled to be the home plate umpire the next day. Commissioner Bud Selig gave Joyce the option to skip the game. Joyce declined. As he walked out at the start of the game, he was shocked at the response from the crowd. Sure, there were a few boos, but almost everyone stood up and applauded his sportsmanship. A minute later, Galarraga walked out of the dugout with the lineup card. Once again, Joyce broke into tears. The men shared a hug, and Galarraga walked back to the dugout. The game went smoothly, and Joyce did an admirable job behind the plate.
The happy ending did nothing to take away the reality of the blown call. Joyce received hate mail, and even death threats. Even now, when people hear his name, they think of the call that cost Armando Galarraga a perfect game.
One year later, Joyce, who was (and still is) one of the most respected umpires in baseball, is still umpiring baseball games, and doing a great job. Apparently Galarraga isn't doing so well, as he was traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks, and is now back in the Minor Leagues. He hopes to be back in the Majors soon. For him, the perfect game that wasn't leaves only good memories of sportsmanship. Joyce prefers not to talk about the game.
Perfect games. Blown calls. Sportsmanship. All came together in this amazing game. The imperfect game could have been extremely ugly. Instead, because of the actions of the umpire and the pitcher, it taught everyone a lesson in sportsmanship, and the game of baseball is better for it.
By the way, Joyce and Galarraga wrote a book about that game. It's called Nobody's Perfect: Two Men, One Call, and a Game for Baseball History.
ReplyDeleteHey,
ReplyDeletethat is better than a game I listened to in the minor's this year. bases loaded one out I can't remember who was pitching.:) The bowling green person hit a fly ball hard which was caught by Castillo. the runners on first and second came home almost exactly together. the man on first was said to not tag right. then they had to decide who was out and what run's counted. the umpires decided after a 30 minute delay of reading the rule book that the two runs didn't count and the game went on, but it was under protest. the whitecaps went on to win the supposed win. Then the president of minor league baseball after reading and re reading the rulebook upheld the protest and the game restarted from the 5th inning. that stole a homers and a whitecaps winner, because the other team won the make up game.
That was a terrible heartbreak. :)
How could the Whitecaps be heartbreaking? That was the oddity of the year in Minor League Baseball though.
ReplyDeleteWell for example: Nick Castillanos hit a homer and now it didn't count.
ReplyDeleteGET IT??
Yeah, but the Whitecaps don't really matter, so they can't be heartbreaking.
ReplyDeleteok the white caps don't really matter but still you could say the majors don't really matter either. They all get paid 50 million dollars a year.
ReplyDeleteI'm not joking either. I'm sure some of them do get paid 50 mil. a year. That is why those yankees always win. They have 50 billion dollars
ReplyDelete