Jim Joyce Blown Call

By now, you've heard about last night's game between the Detroit Tigers and Cleveland Indians where umpire Jim Joyce blew a call and cost Detroit pitcher Armando Galarraga a perfect game.

It was a routine call that Jim Joyce blew. Everyone on the field knew the runner was out at first. Everyone but Jim Joyce.
After the game, Joyce reached out to Galarraga and apologized, and with dignity he stood in front of a microphone and admitted to the world that he made a mistake. Listening to Joyce's voice you could easily hear the pain he was feeling. He cost Galarraga a piece of MLB history.
Galarraga was gracious when asked about the conversation with Joyce. He could have easily lit Joyce up and the world would have stood up and applauded. Instead, Galarraga accepted the apology and took the high road.
So, the next morning we sit and ponder what could have been while both Joyce and Galarraga live with the pain of the mistake that will be discussed for years.
Will anything good come out of "The Blown Call?"
Many will hope that commissioner Bud Selig reverses the call and gives Galarraga the perfect game. In my opinion, that would be appropriate. Nothing would be lost by giving Galarraga the perfect game, but justice would be served.
The likelihood that Selig will reverse the call is not good.
That being said, the one thing Selig may no longer be able to control now is the call for instant replay. "The Blown Call" may serve to finally bring instant replay to MLB, and Selig may not be strong enough to prevent it.

It is time to bring MLB into the 21st century. Enough is enough; the game is living in the past holding onto supposed traditions to keep the game whole. Traditions are a good thing until they prevent justice from being served.

Bud Selig—it's time to exercise your authority and right this horrible wrong. You may decide to leave this game's statistic as is, but now we have been given the perfect reason, a blown perfect game, to change the rules and implement instant replay

read more

Armando Galarraga

For Armando Galarraga, Wednesday's one-hit shutout that should've been far more was just the start of his mixed emotions. When asked after the gem for his reaction, he basically had to shrug.


He's well-known in the Tigers clubhouse for his card tricks. He had to feel like he got tricked out of history in a 3-0 win over the Indians.

"I don't know," Galarraga said. "I'm happy and sad. I don't know."

He didn't know how to react to the call, and neither did many people. Many watching from afar, though, didn't know how to react to Galarraga pitching this way in the first place.

The closest the Tigers have gotten to a perfect game was Kevin Costner. He played the fictional pitcher Billy Chapel in the 1999 movie "For Love of the Game," which revolves around Chapel tossing a perfect game in his final start. In reality, Wednesday could be the start that finally gets Galarraga's career rolling.

He led the Tigers in victories as a rookie in 2008 after coming over in a Minor League trade, but was out of the rotation by the stretch run of the American League Central race last fall. Galarraga had manager Jim Leyland raving about him over the winter, his hope renewed by a healthy arm and a brief winter ball stint, but his struggles to attack hitters made him the first starting candidate sent to the Minors in Spring Training.

The Tigers skipped him in the rotation last weekend for Max Scherzer, and team officials had to decide whether to keep him or Dontrelle Willis among the starting five. Galarraga's previous outing was a relief appearance last Saturday to help him get the feel for his slider.

Wednesday's outing raised a lot of questions around the game, but it answered a big one about Galarraga.

"I want to thank this whole organization for believing in me," he said.

read more