Blown Perfect Game: Joyce and Galarraga Meet at Home
Baseball fans have been going crazy over this story. Last night, Detroit Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga threw a perfect game. Well, he did. Kind of. BUT, that’s not what the record books will show.
Take a look at the video from last night’s Detroit Tigers v. Cleveland Indians game. Just listen to the broadcasters’ disbelief at what just happened:
The backlash began almost immediately. Social media networks went abuzz. Check out the Twitter hashtags for #joyce and #galarraga. The site, FireJimJoyce.com, began basically right after the call was made.
Since Joyce’s blown call, the umpire has been very upfront about his mistake. It is more likely to be struck by lightning than to see an umpire acknowledge a mistake in one of the few sports that relies heavily on the human eye, but Joyce did so to the media and later to Galaragga.
“It was the biggest call of my career, and I kicked the shit out of it,” Joyce said. “I just cost that kid a perfect game.”
What has almost transcended this blown call is the class both Joyce and Galarraga have shown through this situation. Galarraga has all the reasons in the world to hate Joyce. The man cost him the chance at something he will NEVER do again. There have been only 20 pitchers in MLB history to do this (although two have come this year, with Phillies pitcher Roy Halladay and Athletics pitcher Dallas Braden).
What was Galaragga’s response to the blown call? Three words: “I feel sad.”
But Joyce seeked Galaragga out after the game and apologized. In baseball, there is human error when it comes to the umpires judging bang-bang plays. It appears Galarraga has been willing to accept the apology. Today, Joyce was behind the plate and Galarraga brought the lineup out before the game:
Truly a sign of great sportsmanship.
What do you all think about this? Even if you’re not a baseball fan, or a sports fan in general, there is something to be said about human error and forgiveness. We all make mistakes. It’s what we do to move on that says the most about us.
That’s great.very helpful,thanks a lot