Bad call ruins perfect game

I didn't see this game last night, but I sure heard about it this morning. Detroit Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga was one out away from a perfect game, when this happened... (the play in question happens about a minute into the video).

They were talking about this all night last night on our sports stations. I don't know anything about baseball, but that sounds really sad. The umpire was very upset and owned up to it. Good for him for admitting his mistake though. They guy that he screwed over was happy though. He did not seem upset. By the way, what do they mean by a perfect game?

I saw that on the Today Show this morning, Rob. I can't believe that the umpire called him safe when he was clearly out. And the ump was standing right there. I know it was close, but seeing the replays made it very obvious. At least the ump owned up to his mistake. Unfortunately that doesn't help Armando's stats, though. But he kept a smile on his face throughout the ordeal, so that was nice.

Beckie, a perfect game in baseball is when a pitcher, pitches the entire game without letting a single player from the opposing team reach first base. It's pretty impressive, and very hard to do.

WOW, seriously?!?! That stinks!! Our poor Tiger!!! That IS tough to do, and doubtful he'll ever be able to do it again!! Travesty is right. It's obvious mistakes like that where I wish they could go back and change the call after seeing the replay, you know?


Hey Rob, this is O.T., but do you remember when John Smoltz pitched for the Tigers? I don't know if we've ever talked about that before but I went to school with him! He graduated two years ahead of me. It was his dream to pitch for the Tigers, and they traded him. He went on to pitch for the Atlanta Braves, and did a fantastic job for them for a long time, but then went downhill after an injury. I know he's had a lot of sports pyschologists work with him, but he never quite found his groove again. But he was such a wonderful pitcher for a long time, and a good guy too. He has done a lot financially for our hometown, especially the Catholic school he attended, which is where my boys went too.

I'd rather not talk about it.

Amy, that's VERY cool about John Smoltz. I love to hear about athletes who give back like that. So many of them are completely self-centered, it's always refreshing to hear about the ones who have a heart of compassion.

Amy wrote:

Hey Rob, this is O.T., but do you remember when John Smoltz pitched for the Tigers? I don't know if we've ever talked about that before but I went to school with him!

How cool!

Rhonda wrote:

I heard this on the radio this morning and they say that they are going to try and get it reversed......

They really should.

Teresa wrote:

At least the ump owned up to his mistake. Unfortunately that doesn't help Armando's stats, though. But he kept a smile on his face throughout the ordeal, so that was nice.

Armando has been incredibly classy. He didn't say a word of protest on the field. And later, when the umpire came to apologize, Armando told him, "I understand, we all make mistakes." A true gentleman.

I hope they reverse it too. It's great that the ump owned up to it and that the pitcher hasn't complained, but Armando deserves that perfect game status.

Rob wrote:

Teresa wrote:

At least the ump owned up to his mistake. Unfortunately that doesn't help Armando's stats, though. But he kept a smile on his face throughout the ordeal, so that was nice.

Armando has been incredibly classy. He didn't say a word of protest on the field. And later, when the umpire came to apologize, Armando told him, "I understand, we all make mistakes." A true gentleman.

I'm very impressed with how he's handled it. I mean, that's a pretty big deal for a pitcher - but he's setting a wonderful example for the young fans with his gracious attitude. Makes me proud that he's a Tiger.

Wow, can't believe it. Hopefully they will get that reversed and yes, he showed great character

Yes, this story has been on the news all day. The last I heard was that the decision will not be reversed. It is very much a shame. Like it was mentioned, it's unlikely he will ever be able to do it again, while it was shown he clearly did acheive this. They now want to honor Armando as the Perfect Gentleman because of the honroable way he handled this situation. There is a big card that can be signed by Comerica Park for Armando and his family, and those who can't do that, they can sign a virtual card at www.clickondetroit.com.

It has been very tough for the umpire too. He seems very genunine in his regret for the call he made. They said he came out crying today.

Here's a really good article by a Cincinnati Enquirer columnist named Paul Daugherty:


The perfect solution to an imperfect call was to let it stand.

Bud Selig could have overturned the blown call Wednesday night of umpire Jim Joyce. Selig could have decided “for the good of the game’’ that Detroit pitcher Armando Galarraga’s foot beat Cleveland baserunner Jason Donald’s foot to the first-base bag, for what everyone but Joyce knew was the 27th out of a perfect game.

You’ve seen it by now. Everyone has seen it by now. They woke up in New Zealand this morning seeing it. Tribesmen in New Guinea saw it. The sun rose over Sydney Harbor and a bloke said to his mate, “You see that bad call in America last night?’’
Don’t make a mistake now. Don’t do something wrong, even if you were trying to do something right. It will be replayed, somehow.

It will be YouTube’d to death, it will be Sports Center’ed into infamy. You could work 21 years, doing an honorable job in a profession where everybody watches you and nobody especially likes you. You could go two decades into a career, and all of it could be remembered/ruined by one false step.

The commissioner had a chance to make it right for Armando Galarraga. But not for Jim Joyce. Selig resisted. Good for him. He let it go. That was best, for the game and for all of us, Armando Galarraga included.

Have you noticed how everyone has handled this since it occurred at about 9:30 Wednesday night?

Grace has a new face. It looks like Galarraga’s, who smiled immediately after Joyce stole history from him. Galarraga is no star. He is a 28-year-old Venezuelan, making the major league minimum salary. He signed with the Montreal Expos when he was 16. He knocked around for five years in rookie ball.

Galarraga broke through in 2008, going 13-7 for the Tigers; He dipped to 6-10 last year and started this year in Class AAA. He’s a fringe major-leaguer. Maybe he’ll have another shot at pitching perfection. Probably not. That was as good as it could get in a baseball uniform for Galarraga. And yet when it was done, he smiled.

As all hell broke loose – Tigers players screaming at Joyce, Tigers manager Jim Leyland unloading, fans booing -- Galarraga said nothing. On Thursday afternoon, Galarraga presented Joyce with Detroit’s lineup card. The men shook hands.

“Nobody’s perfect,’’ Galarraga said before Thursday’s game. “He felt bad. It is a game. You turn the page.’’

Grace has a new face.

It looks like Jim Leyland, salty old manager, saying after the smoke cleared, “We’re human. We make mistakes.’’

We are, and we do. This was a bad situation made good – and infinitely human – by the actions of those directly involved. This is the best of who we can be. Let’s not mess with it by overturning the call, bad as it was. It is a lesson, a parable, a reason to feel good, not bad. Let it be. Grace has a new face.

It looks like Jim Joyce, 21 years a Major League umpire, two All Star Games, two World Series, called “a perfect gentleman’’ and “the best baseball has’’ by New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera. Jim Joyce in tears Wednesday night and at home plate Thursday, saying, “I just cost that kid a perfect game. Biggest call of my career and I kicked the (spit) out of it.’’

Jim Joyce, apologizing to the pitcher and to Leyland, and bravely showing up for work Thursday, back at the scene of the mistake.

Selig took none of this away. He didn’t lessen the impact of this lesson by making everything right. Everything isn’t right. Perfection is a goal, not a job requirement. Jim Joyce is human. He made a mistake. It happens.

If life were fair, Bud Selig would’ve declared a perfect game. But life isn’t, as much as we try to make it so. Too often now, we shield our kids from what’s unfair, in the name of protecting them. So that when they meet unfairness face to face, they don’t know what to do.

Jim Joyce, Jim Leyland and Armando Galarraga showed us what to do when life isn’t fair. They gave us a road map, something to talk about with our children at the dinner table tonight. The pitcher who was robbed, smiled. The manager who was angry, forgave. The umpire who was wrong, manned up and returned to work. What a lesson.

It’s not what happens to you. It’s what you do about it.

Grace has a new face. Let it be.

A great article!

An unbelieveably fantastic article! It gave me a whole new perspective on how to look at this. I am so glad you posted this Rob---thanks!

Sure, Amy. The neat thing is that Galarraga will probably be much better known than he would've been if it had been an official perfect game. Someone pointed out that, next to Don Larsen's perfecto in the 1956 World Series, this will probably go down in baseball lore as the most famous perfect game... because it didn't happen. I read that it was even a hot topic among the ladies on The View today!

Rob wrote:

Someone pointed out that, next to Don Larsen's perfecto in the 1956 World Series, this will probably go down in baseball lore as the most famous perfect game... because it didn't happen.

I am sure that will prove to be true! I mean, look at me---I'm not exactly a baseball person and yet I will never forget this! I'm sure that's true for a lot of people.


Our local radio announcers were griping about the fact that the call was not overturned this morning. I think the general consensus is that it should have been. So I sent the radio host an email with a link to your Daugherty article. I think a lot of people would change their minds after reading it actually. I haven't heard back from him yet---hopefully he liked it and got something from it.