While We’re Waiting… Braxton’s Decision, Symon’s Plea and D’Qwell’s Contract
June 3, 2010Ron Artest- LeBron Should Stay; and the Coaching List
June 3, 2010I’ve been thinking about the various ways I wanted to write this recap. I saw every pitch of last night’s Tigers 3-0 win over the Indians. Like all of you, I was absolutely stunned by the finish. In case you were living on another planet last night, the Tigers Armando Galarraga was mowing down the Indians with complete ease and was one out away from immortality.
There have only been 20 perfect games in the history of the national pastime. In other words, you have the same chance of getting stuck by lightning than throwing one. Galarraga was there. We all thought the Baseball Gods were on his side after Austin Jackson made a spectacular catch with his back to home plate on a dead sprint to start the inning, robbing Mark Grudzielanek of a double. It was eerily similar to the catch Dewayne Wise made to save Mark Buerhrle’s perfecto in Chicago last summer. After dispatching Mike Redmond on a weak ground out, the only man that stood between Galarraga and history was Jason Donald.
The scrappy Tribe shortstop, down to his last strike, pushed a ground ball to the right side. Tiger first baseman Miguel Cabrera made a back-handed stop, threw to Galarraga who caught the ball and stepped on the bag. Bedlam. Pandemonium. Perfection. It was all amazing. Except first base umpire Jim Joyce, a veteran of 20-plus years in the game, called Donald safe. Every single replay showed otherwise.
Tiger players, the TV announcers, and the 17,738 in attendance could not believe what they had just witnessed. I know I couldn’t. This was a blown call of epic proportions. As Bill Simmons, ESPN Sports Guy, said on his Twitter just following the play “Don Denkinger, you are off the hook,” recalling the previously worst blown call in MLB history during the 1985 World Series.
Interestingly, the only guy who didn’t seemed upset or phased by the whole thing was Galarraga, who just walked away with a smile and a laugh.
He went right back to the mound, got Trevor Crowe to bounce out, and ended a complete game shutout. The angry crowd wanted blood, as did many of the Tiger players and coaches, who immediately rushed onto the field to not only congratulate their pitcher, but to get at Joyce who robbed the kid of a lifetime achievement. Gerald Laird, Jeremy Bonderman, and manager Jim Leyland were furious and in Joyce’s face, who stood there taking it all and yelling back. He was berated by fans as he left the field. Soon after the game, he would change his tune and do something you may never see another umpire do; he admitted he was wrong.
“I thought he beat the throw. I was convinced he beat the throw, until I saw the replay,” said Joyce, who fought back tears. “It was the biggest call of my career, and I kicked the [crap] out of it. I just cost that kid a perfect game.” On top of amazing mea culpa, Joyce even had the courage to enter the Tiger Clubhouse, seek out Galarraga and apologize to him face to face. The two hugged afterwards.
“You don’t see an umpire after the game come out and say, `Hey, let me tell you I’m sorry,’ ” Galarraga said. “He felt really bad. He didn’t even shower.”
And you say nothing good happens in Baseball!
Now to the fun stuff. I know many of our readers love Twitter, and many are anti-Twitter. But last night is why the social network site can be so much fun to follow during a sporting event.
Within a minute of Joyce’s blown call (his second bad call in the last two innings may I add), here were some of the classics from people I follow on Twitter:
AndrewSiciliano – Fox Sports LA – Jim Joyce just took a perfect game away from Armando Galarraga. Possibly the worst call in baseball history.
TheBigLead – Blogger extraordinaire – Surprised Galarraga didn’t flip out after that bad call. Cabreara still talking smack to UMP. It’ll be tough to get out of the stadium alive.
SI_JonHeyman – Sports Illustrated baseball writer – me, i am speechless. RT @williamfleitch Boy, does it ever take guts to make that truly horrible call.
mogotti2 – Mo Williams, Cavs – Omg. U mean to freakn tell me refs shouldn’t be fined or suspended for stupid calls. A no hitter for Detroit n he called the man safe.
sportsguy33 – Bill Simmons, ESPN – I mean, wouldn’t you want to call the 27th out of a perfect game? Wouldn’t you give any close play the benefit of the doubt? Still in shock.
SI_JonHeyman – sadly, jim joyce is considered 1 of the very best umpires in MLB. career will be defined/marred by this.
tlastoria – Tony Lastoria, Indians Prospect Insider – Maybe the worst call in baseball history saved the Indians from having a perfect game through against them. UNREAL.
WFNYScott – I just wish that blown call was against the White Sox. Ozzie would’ve killed Joyce on the spot and cuffed himself immediately after.
mogotti2 – If that play alone don’t change the replay rules in baseball, I don’t know what will.
Adam_Schefter – ESPN Football insider – If I’m Bud Selig, I award the first 28-out perfect game in baseball history to Armando Galaraga. Selig would be right – and applauded.
SI_PeterKing – NFL Insider – I don’t see how baseball avoids expanded instant replay after the Jim Joyce call ruined the perfect game in Detroit.
Buster_ESPN – Buster Olney, ESPN Baseball Insider – Feel badly for Jim Joyce-An umpire who cares. But this will become Exhibit A on why baseball should have already had broader use of replay.
SI_JonHeyman – was it me or did indian jason donald look slightly disappointed to be called safe? would have been funny if he argued call
Buster_ESPN – It’s inexcusable that this could not be addressed. The technology is in place that a dope like me knows the call was wrong (more)
mogotti2 – On Gallaraga – Very professional he was, I learned something today. There is nothing he can do about no matter how mad he was. He just smiled and went back.
ChrisMannixSI – Sports Illustrated Basketball writer – I’ll give Jim Joyce this: he’s standing in front of this and taking his beating like a man.
KeithOlbermann – MSNBC – Apology parade for Joyce is heartwarming and as sad as the bad call. Get help from your crew, listen to Jim Leyland, make up a rule.
Notice how many non-baseball people are chiming in here. Everyone from the Adam Schefter’s of the world to SI’s Chris Mannix who covers basketball and boxing was caught up in this drama. The entire evening was insanity on many levels.
From an Indians standpoint, you had Fausto Carmona pitch perhaps his best game of the year, a complete game, allowing nine hits and three runs, without walking a batter. The shame of it is Joyce’s first blown call – ruling Johnny Damon safe at first with two outs and a man on in the eighth – proved costly as Magglio Ordonez singled in two on the next at bat. Not that the Indians were going to score off of Galarraga.
“He was fantastic,” manager Manny Acta said. “Every time it looked like he was going to give up a couple runs, he got a double play.”
What about Donald, who clearly knew he was out on the last play that could have defined Galarraga. How did he feel? Jhonny Peralta’s thoughts after the game: “The police need to take him (Joyce) to the hotel. There will be people waiting for him.”
“It’s the human element part of the game,” Acta said. “Sometimes you’re not going to get it right. Johnny Damon was also out [in the eighth], and it cost Fausto and the Indians two runs. That’s part of the game. You can’t take away the human element of the game. Unless you make baseball like football where you can throw a red flag on the field, we’re going to have to live and die with that. I personally don’t want to see a flag thrown on the field myself.”
On the Tigers side, you had Gallaraga pitching as perfect as he possibly could. He only threw 88 pitches, 67 of them were for strikes. He threw a first pitch strike to 24 of the 28 batters he faced. Amazing stats, considering that in Roy Halladay’s perfecto over the weekend, he needed 117 pitches.
History may have been taken away from him, but ironically last night’s ending will probably make Galarraga and Joyce remembered in a way they never would have been had the correct call been made.
Amazing.
44 Comments
It’s just amazing to me. There’s usually that one play in a perfect game or no-hitter where a fielder makes the defining “there’s no way we’re blowing this!” play… Jackson last night, Wise, shoot… go back to Rusty Greer laying out with his back to home plate to keep Kenny Rogers’ perfecto going back in the 90’s.
After Jackson’s catch, a buddy of mine texted with what I was thinking: “Oh holy [crap]… hello, perfect game.”
For it to end like that… mind-blowing.
This game will be a permanent black eye for Bud Selig and MLB. The fact that the replay technology is reliable and available and PURPOSELY not being used by MLB is a joke. There is not one good reason to keep expanded replay out of the game.
And it would be real simple – give each manager 1 challenge per game and allow umpires the option to review their own calls if they choose to go to replay. Give me one reason why that system wouldn’t work and wouldn’t be good for the game.
Schefter’s tweet is why he should stick to football. How can he not understand that there were 27 outs, and 28 batters?
TD mentioned it in his write up and Acta hit this right on the head, it’s all about the human element and error that’s what the game is about. Joyce missed a similar call the previous inning and it cost us, it happens.
That play was not exactly cut and dry once you see the replay slowed down it’s easy to make a judgment but in real time that is an extremely hard call to make. I think Galarraga should have gotten the benefit of the doubt but that play could have gone either way.
I’ve never seen so many people complain about a perfect game not being thrown against the team they cheer for, I feel bad for the guy but I’m glad it got broken up.
Umm, because Galarraga was actually forced to get 28 outs. Donald was out. That’s Schefter’s point.
Also, Selig has the power to fix this. I doubt he will, but he should.
@ 3, because looking at the reply there were actually 28 outs.
It’s physically impossible to have a game end with 28 outs, unless weather is involved.
What’s the difference if they review it today or reviewed it on the spot? Bud Selig, step in, award the perfect game. Revise the replay rules.
Mo certainly nailed it. Galarraga acted like a true professional out there.
@ chris… botttom of 10th walk off
Ive heard some people mention an asterisk or something. If there’s an asterisk at all, it should say “against the Indians”
At first, I stood up and cried for joy in a bar in Houston, but once I saw the replay, I felt awful for the guy. I’m torn as to whether or not I want MLB to correct it… he deserves it, but it would open up a huge can of worms
It’s age-old discussion: no one call should be “more important” than any other. Yes, Joyce made two bad calls, and one cost the Indians two runs. The other cost a guy a perfect game. I understand that we shouldn’t say the last play is “more important” than the other, and I understand the “human element” of the game as well.
The fact of the matter is that it will be magnified, dissected, and talked about for years because of the effect of the call. It’s like, technically a 1B ump missing a call with two outs and no one on base in the fourth inning in May shouldn’t be less important that a guy missing a call that lets the winning run score in Game 7 of the World Series.
But, because of that same human element in all of us, it’s going to mean more because we place so much more significance on it. You can’t go both ways, there.
To me, getting the call right is more important that baseball’s “unwritten traditions”. How many bang-bang judgment calls are there in any given baseball game? One? Two maybe? I don’t see how replay can harm the flow or tradition of the game if the umps take a minute or two to make sure those calls are right. All they need to do is make sure it’s explicitly stated in the rules that replay can’t be used for balls and strikes, and that much like football unless there’s convincing evidence to the contrary the original call stands.
I was referring to regulation, but touche Stink.
I doubt we see any change in this, @10 has it correct…to change this would open up a godzilla sized can of worms. The fact that Crowe came up after all of this happened and baseball was conducted after the missed call just ensures nothing can be rescinded.
Selig has shown he’s not one to go out on a limb for anything and this won’t change that. The only thing that can change here are replay rules.
I won’t say that part of me isn’t happy to a degree because I don’t want a perfect game thrown against us BUT with that said that was a truly terrible call with two reactions (Galarraga/Joyce) that I didn’t expect from those individuals.
I’m a bit more mind-boggled at the fact that we’ve only had 18 perfect games EVER before entering this season and almost had a 3rd one thrown within a month. Insane.
meh…while the guy pitched well, i feel its more a product of a crappy indians approach that theyve had the entire year, more than him “dazzling”…was he good? yes…was he great? meh…i dont think so…
in watching the perfect game by braden and Halladay, they were truly spectacular…galaragga, while very good at throwing strikes, didnt seem to be overpowering…it reminded me of the game Paul freakin Byrd had a “no-hitter” that got snowed out…this had the same feel to me…a kinda “are you serious?” feel to it for me…
while the homer in me was happy Donald broke up the perfect game bid initially, i did feel bad once i saw that Joyce missed the call…he deserved it at that point…the only thing i can say is that he looked to be a bit off balance, it looked like he was fishing for the bag, the ball looked to be sno-coned and moving possibly…it was a bang bang play, and a tie goes to the runner…i dunno…perhaps somewhere in the back of his head, he knew he blew the Damon call, and reacted to payback for his other mistake…as we’ve seen time and time again, it happens that way in MLB…
regardless, the kid should have got a perfect game, for whatever reason…i still dont think hes been the most dazzling pitcher that has pitched one, but then again, if it works, who am i to judge?
@Chris, seriously? This terminology is used all the time in sports. Hope you just read this before your first coffee. Because…
@TD, here were some of the classics, Adam, Simmons, Scott and Heyman were the only ones that had anything resembling originality or insightfulness. That’s 4 out of 17 that you decided were worth posting. Will continue to pass. Although…
@Scott, nice work sir. That was easily the best twit of the bunch.
hey kids…. see what happens when you hustle!
Also, there is no can of worms here. If Galarraga had walked the next 2 batters then given up a tying 3 run shot we would have a controversy. As played…
Easiest. Fix. Ever.
So I guess the Tigers won’t be selling the unused ducats for this one, eh?
Its a real shame it ended like this. 18,000 or so people were denied a chance at witnessing history. Jim Joyce will be referred to like Bill Buckner is today. Even if they decide to grant Galarraga his perfect game, the MOMENT is gone forever. I think that in sports, that’s what its all about…the moment of greatness, the cheering, the celebration. Because that moment is now gone and cannot be relived, the call should stand.
BUT…baseball needs to learn from this call. The call heard ’round the baseball world.
For whatever it’s worth I had a similar situation in HS. I had no hitter into the fourth inning with 2 outs our shortstop dropped a soft liner and it was ruled a hit, I didn’t give up a hit the rest of the game and it ended up a CG shutout instead of a no hitter.
I can’t even begin to project that to the MLB level but I can tell you that everyone that was part of my game knew what it was and everyone who watched last night’s game/sportscenter/any highlights knew exactly what it was. It won’t go down as a perfect game but everyone knows it was so I don’t feel too bad for Galarraga.
btw – someone mentioned it earlier but major kudos to Galarraga for handling the whole situation with a lot of class.
Two thoughts:
(1) I completely agree with including an asterisk to the effect of “against AA-caliber 2010 Indians.”
(2) I have seen some commentary about how Joyce’s mistake now completely erases the stain of Denkinger’s mistake in Game 6 of the 1985 World Series. Seriously? A perfecto against the punchless 2010 Tribe in a meaningless game played in June? Versus Game 6 of the WS that arguably caused the Cards to fall apart and lose the series the next night? Not even close. I feel bad for Gallaraga but this incident will be forgotten in the next couple of days.
If the call was made properly, there would have been normal highlights, a few extra highlights of the other perfect games this month, and that would have been it.
Instead, I have constantly seen the call over and over and over again reminding me of the horrible game the Tribe had last night and how most in the country believe the Indians should have a perfect game against them.
And if MLB contemplates changing the ending of a game based on a bad call? It’ll be in the news cycle even longer.
I wish the proper call was just made and we could go on with our lives.
agreed PNR. I think the initial reaction is worse than it will play out…especially since everyone and their brother is tossin’ perfectos…
per epsn – NEW YORK — Major League Baseball was still deciding Thursday morning whether to review the umpire’s blown call that cost Detroit Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga a perfect game.
@ 18 Swig… sure it does. All it takes is one time to retrospectively change a call, then at what point would it stop? Perfect games? No hitters? Situations like you mentioned where the game should be over and the beneficiary of the bad call ends up winning? Individual milestones? Coaches/Players/GMs/media would try and put pressure on MLB on past and future games change a game.
While most people agree (or at least could understand) that the MLB should correct this call, all it takes is one precedence such as this to cause tons of problems in the future.
Luckily for us, we dont have to deal with those problems, just hear about them
@8, unless there is a passed ball, third strike with first base open.
Technically that is an out and they still get on base. I don’t know why it’s never counted. Easier to say it’s always 3 outs in an inning.
I love how Mo was chirping in on the call via twitter. Funny
@27, Yeah, I remember watching highlights a few years ago when a pitcher got 4 strikeouts in an inning because the third strikeout hustled down the line on a passed ball and reached firstbase safely.
@27 and 29, it counts as a strikeout, not an out. Its an error on the catcher if its a pass ball or wild pitch on the pitcher (if the batter is dumb enough to swing at it). I dont know how they would rule it if the ball stopped right in front of the catcher and he just didnt throw it.
I would like to give Joyce credit. When I saw the play the first time I saw Galarraga kind of double clutch the catch and it looked like he never had possession of the ball, so Donald would be safe. Only after I saw it slowed down and multiple times did I see Galarraga “snow coned” it and just opened the glove to let the ball drop further into the mitt to get a better hold.
So, I think Joyce saw the double clutch and it just looked like Galarraga was bobbling it.
I do appreciate how Joyce apologized to Galarraga and Leyland then even did interviews admitting he got it wrong.
@31 – well said…agreed completely…
the man fessed up to his mistake, not many do…theyre human, not machines…although, perhaps they should be?
I was impressed with Galarraga’s reaction — I would have gone bat poopy insane had that been against me.
Joyce is a good ump — it’s unfortunate that he made such a bad call at such a crucial junction.
UH OH
ESPNEWS just said Joyce was born and raised in… OHIO and he even went to college in… OHIO
Conspiracy!!! lol
I really wish Selig would grow a pair and give Galarraga a 28-out perfect game. Mark it up as a tactical error and correct it in the history book with an asterisk* saying..
*The 27th out was ruled safe and Galarraga actually retired the side. He retired all four batters in the ninth inning to net a 28-out perfect game.
I would also like to add, Fausto pitched a good game last night, he had a lot of runners on base, but did a good job of defusing the situations and getting out of the innings.
The biggest problem I see is that (A) the technology exists to review these calls without a shadow of a doubt, but (B) the game is already so horrendously slow that using instant replay on a regular basis would grind the game to a halt.
Honestly, the technology exists that could eliminate the umpires and human error from the game completely, but the only reason it will never happen is because we’re nostalgic. Thus, the game remains flawed when it doesn’t need to be.
Just imagine: The Indians win the World Series on a blown call, ending our agonizing title drought. That would be much worse than having the drought continue.
@34, he’s from Toledo, went to BG. There are more Tigers fans there aren’t there?
So what’s worse? What happened last night or having it happen the other way around?
Pitcher is given a perfecto when the last out is incorrectly called out? I vote the latter.
@37 I went to BG, far more tigers fans than tribe fans because they’re closer to Detroit, also they have ties since the mud hen’s are in in Toledo. You are correct.
Revise the box, Donald’s single ruled and out (3-1), erase Crowe’s at bat, done.
As a Detroiter (raised by Clevelanders), I am impressed with how classy the whole thing was handled by the ump, Galarraga and even the fans. Tiger fans around here are somewhat sympathetic to the ump. The general consensus is that it really only sucks b/c Galaraga is a mediocre pitcher and will never even sniff a perfect game, or even a no-no for that matter, ever again.
People are generally still more pissed about the non-hbp of Inge in the play-in game v. Min last year.
I think the thing that gets overshadowed is the missed call he made earlier with Damon. Without that call, we only need one run, rather than three. If all outs have the same weight, and they go and change the last out to make a perfect game, then maybe they should go back and change that blown call to.
Of course, I don’t think they should do either one. Once it’s done, it’s done in my opinion.
As someone else alluded to, what if Donald hadn’t busted it down the line? The center-field shot shows him sprinting full-go when he easily could have packed it in. If he dogs it even just a bit, it’s not even an issue.
If Donald would have argued with the ump it would have been classic. Great game by the Tigers young pitcher, terrible game as usual by the Tribe.