Perfect Game? What should have been for Armando Galarraga

I hate to beat a dead horse, but I have to throw my two cents in on this issue. I also wanted to wait and see if Bud Selig would do anything about it. Also had I wrote this when it happened, I would be berating Jim Joyce, but since the blown call, he's been nothing but classy and handled it like a man.

We all know what happened on the eve of June the 2nd, 2010, was a travesty, a crying shame, and just very unfortunate for all parties involved. Every pitcher dreams of throwing a perfect game, and Armando Galarraga (of all pitchers) was one out away from accomplishing it. And we've all seen it a thousand times, but here it is again,

Props to Mike Bennett for gettin the video, and for posting it to Facebook.


"Why Jim? Why is he safe Jim?" Like always, Rod says the obvious, but in his defense, that's all any of us could say. Why? Do you know what he was doing? That's a perfect game, you give him the call! Throw in a multitude of obscenities, and you have the reaction of every Tiger fan. I was livid. I was cursing Jim Joyce, calling him many things I cannot repeat. But can you blame me? Or any Tiger fan? It was, correction is, the first Tiger perfect game in the 110 years of Tiger baseball. It's a damn shame that it won't be remembered as such.

I would like to point out that I am very impressed at the way Armando, Jim Joyce, Jim Leyland, and the Tiger players handled everything. Lord knows I, and many others, would have gone off on Joyce for blowing a perfect game with the last out. Leyland came out and supported his player, like any good manager would. Armando kept his cool, that was what was impressive. And even post-game, he said Joyce apologized and he gave him a hug. Let this be a lesson to every young athlete out there in sportsmanship. In the end, it's just a game, albeit important and we all get caught up in the moment, but the most important thing about playing sports is having fun.

But the man I am most impressed with is Jim Joyce. How many umps and refs do you know admit that they screwed up? None. Even when the evidence is there, and they are probably shown it post-game, never has anyone admitted it. Granted, no blown call has ever been this huge, no official that I can remember has admitted to making a bad call. As soon as he saw the replay, he apologized to Armando, Leyland, and to the public, the fans. Not only did he admit the mistake, but he acknowledged the magnitude of his mistake. I commend him for doing so, kudos Jim Joyce, but sorry you still got it wrong. It was a close play, but it wasn't bang-bang, so you shoulda got it right bud, sorry. Especially considering the situation, you should always give the pitcher the call if it's about to be a perfect game. Come on Jim, 21 years of umpiring, and you blew the biggest call of your career. But, you owned up to it, so I can forgive you... eventually.

But the man that will not escape this situation redeeming himself and his reputation is Bud Selig, the most incompetent man in all of sports. The man is a bumbling buffoon. He had a chance to make the fans happy, save a piece of Jim Joyce's rep, and give Armando the historic achievement he deserves. I don't want to hear "well this is unprecedented! There's no precedence to overturn it!" Make the precedence! Precedence doesn't fall out of the sky, it's made at some point. It would not have "opened the floodgates to appeals to Bud to overturn calls." This was for a perfect game, not some random game with a bad call deciding the outcome. Besides if other teams complained, wanting a call changed, why can't you just say no? That would stop the supposed "floodgates." This is a perfect game, he admitted it was the wrong call, but won't fix it. Why? Because the man is an idiot. But I'm saving the rest of what I have to say about him in my next post, I have more I need to say about him.

So fans, I think it's time we forgave Jim Joyce, if you haven't already. And at least replay will probably come out of this play, so in the end, it's a blessing in disguise. It just wasn't handled right in the end... good job as always Selig.