Nobody's Perfect

Last night in Detroit, a young man was robbed of something he had rightfully earned. Because of the poor decision of another, Armando Gallaraga did not accomplish what only 20 other people in the history of the world have done. He did not pitch a perfect game.

After sitting down 26 consecutive batters, the Tiger's pitcher needed only to retire Cleveland Indian's shortstop, Jason Donald and he would own a select piece of history. All was well as Donald hit a weak ground ball up the first base line followed by a clean toss to Galaragga as he covered the bag a step before Donald's foot landed on the base. That's when it all went pear shaped. The well respected umpire (he was once voted the second best umpire in the league by the players), Jim Joyce blew the call. Or as he would later say: "I kicked the shit out of it."

This was an error on the Don Denkinger level. For those that don't remember, Denkinger infamously called The Royal's Jorge Orta safe at first in the ninth inning of the sixth game of the 1985 World Series on a similar play at first base. If that call had been made correctly, the Saint Louis Cardinals would have been the World Series champions. Instead, The Royals came back to win game 6 and then game 7 as well.

Now Denkinger has company. This isn't just any blown call, this is the kind that will live in infamy as long as anyone discusses the history of baseball. It was so clear, that one has a difficult time seeing how Joyce missed it. He was in position. It wasn't a bang-bang play. And he didn't rule that Galaragga juggled the ball or missed the base. How could he have missed it?! Well, because that's what humans do sometimes. They screw up. And Joyce just happened to do it while immortality was tapping on Galaragga's shoulder. Unfortunately, immortality didn't go home after the blown call. Nope. Immortality dressed Joyce up like the skunk at the party. Usually, the best thing you can say about an umpire is nothing. Typically, if they call a good game you barely notice them. Well, Joyce sure got noticed last night, and I'm sure he isn't enjoying the notoriety.

But you have to give the man credit. He admitted his mistake whole heartedly. After the game he watched the replay and then, crestfallen, he searched out Galaragga to deliver a heart felt apology. In fact, Galaragga was so affected that he hugged the man who took from him something he will probably never get a second chance at. When they interviewed the Tiger pitcher after his meeting with Joyce, you would almost swear that Joyce was the injured party. Galaragga even said "Nobody's perfect." In fact, Galaragga didn't even flip his lid when the erroneous call was made. He actually smiled! Ok, maybe it was more of a grimace, but still.

Today, Joyce was behind the plate for the last game of the Tigers-Indians series. Commissioner Bud Selig had offered Joyce the night off. Joyce turned it down. He did this even though he knew there was a good chance that he would be heavily booed. But as he told Tiger Manger Jim Leyland, "I'll take what's coming to me." Classy as ever, Leyland requested that the Tiger fans not boo Joyce today. And while some did, many actually cheered! My guess is that they did so because Jim Joyce is a stand up guy. And because Armando Galaragga and Jim Leyland are class individuals who were willing to forgive Joyce his folly. If they could, then why couldn't the Tiger faithful?

There is a rule in baseball that can be invoked under a clause called "In the best interest of the game." It's a vague rule that gives the commissioner the latitude to make a unilateral change if he sees fit. Commissioner Selig could have used this clause to overturn Joyce's call and award the perfect game to Galaragga retroactively. No one would say that Galaragga didn't "deserve" it. But as Clint Eastwood said in Unforgiven: "Deserve's got nothin' to do with it." If Selig were to change the outcome of a game, it would open up a Pandora's Box. What if the Indians had come back and won the game? Would they have had that win taken away? And if so, what would stop a Commissioner from changing outcomes of games in the future? Don't get me wrong, what happened to Galaragga and Joyce was unfair, but you can't unring a bell can you? You can't say that something that happened, well, didn't. So, earlier today Selig ruled that the play and the final result of the game would stand. Which while painful, is correct.

This of course means that nobody's perfect. Not Galaragga, and certainly not Joyce. At least not on the field anyway. But consider the actions of both men after the game, and it's damn hard to argue that while they didn't get it right on the field, they certainly did off it.

Sumo-Pop
June 3, 2010