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.
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