Written : June 8, 2010
Baseball fans and also those of you who are not fans can learn of baseball’s magnificence without watching a single play! On June 2, 2010, Detroit Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga was denied a perfect game by umpire Jim Joyce’s blown call. A perfect game in baseball occurs when a pitcher doesn’t allow a single walk or hit and when his team commits no errors. The pitcher faces the minimum 27 batters, three each in all nine innings.
Perfect games have been lost in late innings, but never to my knowledge on the last out. In addition, Joyce admitted he made a mistake on the close call, and it was ruled a hit with two outs in the ninth inning. Galarraga faced one more batter and retired him as well. How rare is a perfect game? Major League Baseball (MLB) began in the latter half of the nineteenth century, and in all that time there have only been twenty! However, I was lucky enough to have seen one in person (Jim Bunning, Phillies, 1964)!
The 28-year-old pitcher showed momentary disbelief, and that’s all. He hasn’t whined, begged, or sued. Galarraga brought out the lineup-card to the home plate umpire the next day, which happened to have been the very same Jim Joyce. They shook hands. Joyce has cried over the event and he’s apologized to Galarraga, and Armando has forgiven. I’ve been a fan for nearly fifty years, and I can’t remember a single time when an umpire has ever shed tears over a play – or admitted fault. Several days later, the commissioner of baseball, Bud Selig, considered overturning the umpire’s bad call, but it appears he won’t do it. In this case, I wish he would.
Although the game wasn’t perfect, Galarraga and Joyce were. These two fine people have conducted themselves with a level of class unseen in ages, in any public arena. It defines this event. We shouldn't expect perfection, even when things go our way (the replay reveals that the 27th batter was, in fact, out). When life throws you a curve, adjust and move on – but don’t complain. It’s a fine lesson for all, especially for children. A couple of good things are coming out of this for Armando Galarraga. His team bought him a new car, and some of his gear will end up in the Hall of Fame. He may not ever be inducted, but his name will never be forgotten!
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Keywords: Conservatism, Conservative blog, politics, political, Mark Cohen, Mark A. Cohen, From The Left to the Right, MLB, Major League Baseball, Blown Call, Jim Joyce, Armando Galarraga
Keyword Phrases: "Conservatism", "Conservative", "blog", "politics", "political", "Mark Cohen", "Mark A. Cohen", "From The Left to the Right ", “MLB”, “Major League Baseball”, “Blown Call”, “Jim Joyce”, “Armando Galarraga”
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