Dan Popper
Editorial Director
On Wednesday night, the Detroit Tigers’ Armando Galarraga needed 28 outs for his perfect game. However, his outstanding performance will not go down in the record books as the 21st perfect game in MLB history nor will he join the ranks of Dallas Braden and Roy Halladay as the third pitcher to throw a perfect game this season.
With two outs in the bottom of ninth inning, John Donald of the Cleveland Indians hit a routine ground ball to the right side of the infield. First baseman Miguel Cabrera moved to his left, fielded it cleanly, and threw to Galarraga who stepped on the bag lightly beating Donald by what looked like ¾ of a step. There was no question he was out. The fans at the game knew it. The fans watching it at home on the TV knew it. Both teams knew it. Most importantly, all the umps knew it, except for the man making the call: Jim Joyce. Despite having umpired six divisional series, three league championships and two World Series, Joyce blew the call that will now define his entire 20-season career.
Following the game, Joyce watched the replay that obviously showed Galarraga’s foot touching the bag before Donald’s and admitted his crucial mistake. Yet, the question is: should this critical replay have been available to Joyce and his crew during the game? Two seasons ago, Bud Selig and the MLB introduced instant replay on questionable home run calls only, fearing that baseball would lose its integrity if it opened the new technology to all aspects of the game. While the debate has died down since that decision, yesterday’s blown call will only reignite the discussion.
On one side of this debate you have the older generation which claims the human element is fundamental to baseball and will be taken away from the game if every call an umpire makes can be challenged. They fear that eventually the dependence on instant replay will lead to all balls and strikes being susceptible to challenge, destroying the flow of individual games. The younger generation, however, believes that the “flow” of a game can be sacrificed to ensure that every call is correct. While Bud Selig and the MLB may eventually be forced to revisit their decision, they unfortunately will never be able to resolve the issue as the two sides will stand strong with their respective opinions.
Although instant replay would have allowed Joyce and the umpiring crew to get the call right on Wednesday night, it would not have fixed the situation entirely. The most memorable aspect of any great achievement in sports, especially baseball, is the celebration. Whether it is a walk-off homerun, a World Series victory or a perfect game, watching your team crowd around the mound hugging one other in a state of pure ecstasy is the reason fans follow baseball. Even if instant replay were allowed, if everyone had to wait 5 minutes while Joyce and his crew watched the replay, it would take away the true meaning of the moment from the fans, the team and most importantly from Galarraga.
Despite all of the controversy pertaining to Joyce’s call, the sportsmanship that Galarraga showed at the Tigers’ Thursday afternoon game must be commended. Joyce was the home plate umpire for the game and Galarraga brought out the starting lineup to home plate instead of the Tigers’ manager Jim Leyland. Once he arrived, he handed the lineup to Joyce, looked him straight in the eye and shook his hand. No words were spoken. He knew nothing needed to be said. As the handshake ended, tears were pouring down Joyce’s face as Galarraga patted him on the back and returned to the dugout. This was an act of sportsmanship that truly explains why our society watches and plays sports. My hat goes off to Galarraga as a pitcher but more importantly as a man.
