History lost

By Tina Ray
Paraglide




Armando Galarraga was en route to the history books on June 2. The Detroit Tigers pitcher was doing what so few pitchers before him had done — a perfect game.

A perfect game is one in which there are no walks, hits or errors. The difference between a perfect game and a no-hitter is that with a no-hitter, runners can still get on base by getting walked by a pitcher or by getting hit by a pitch.

Galarraga would have earned the 21st perfect game in history and the third one this season had first base umpire Jim Joyce not called a hitter safe at first.

Joyce, a 23-year veteran, called Cleveland’s Jason Donald safe at the base, though replay shows that Galarraga’s foot beat him to the bag.

“I just cost that kid a perfect game,” Joyce said afterward. “I thought he beat the throw. I was convinced he beat the throw, until I saw the replay.”

MLB restricts the use of replay to questionable calls at home plate. Other professional leagues, including hockey, basketball and football all use replay.

MLB commissioner Bud Selig has failed to award Galarraga the perfect game.

But, no matter, Galarraga, for his part, has been a gentleman.

“There’s no doubt he (Joyce) feels bad and terrible,” Galarraga said after Detroit beat Cleveland 12-6 June 3. “I have a lot of respect for the man. It takes a lot to say you’re sorry and to say in interviews he made a mistake.”

Not only did Joyce apologize, but he shed tears about the bad call and despite a stellar record as an umpire, perhaps realizes that his legacy will be marred by his mistake.

It will be the proverbial asterisk at the end of a story or his history’s footnote.

The call could have and should have been changed, but what is done, is done. In depriving Galarraga of his chance at history, unfortunately, there is no changing the history that Joyce has written for himself.

“I didn’t want this to be my 15 minutes of fame. I would have liked my 15 minutes to be a great call in the World Series. Hopefully, my 15 minutes are over now,” Joyce has said.

Yet, as long as baseball relies on human eyes to referee a game that, at times, can move at the speed of the quickest fastball, then the probability of human error will occur. I think the game of baseball has lost its integrity with admissions of steroid abuse by some players. If it does not soon turn to using replay for calls other than at home plate, some fans could likely turn away.
In other words, baseball is already on a slippery slope. Why hasten its descent?

Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not anti-baseball. But, I’m not the fan I was in 1984 when my brother and I watched almost every Atlanta Braves ball game.

Baseball is still fun, but I’m turned off by the substance abuse and Selig’s failure to adequately address it. Add this blown call to issues he also has not adequately addressed and baseball as a whole, leaves a lot to be desired. So, if a game is on, I’m more likely to watch Dateline, CNN, TruTV or anything but.

These days, I prefer to catch a SwampDogs game with my sons anyway. The players are genuine and the management is kind to my children. In the couple years that we’ve been going to SwampDogs games, I haven’t seen an umpire make such a colossal error.

Is it fair to rewrite history? That’s a question that Selig has answered with a reply I don’t like. But, I know it’s fair to right a wrong. When Muhammed Ali was stripped of his title for being a conscientious objector to the Vietnam War, the U.S. Supreme Court later reinstated it. Japanese Americans, who were forced to leave college during World War II, were recently awarded honorary degrees from UCLA.

Are the situations the same? No, but they are similar and right is right.

The Tigers won the game 3-0, but Galarraga lost so much more. He earned his place in history. Human error stripped him of it. Selig should make this right.

(Information for this article obtained from FOX News, Wikipedia and thedailybruin.com.)

Share