Umpire Costs Detroit Pitcher a Perfect Game

[1979Shocker]

http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/37479309/ns/sports-baseball/

DETROIT - Armando Galarraga squeezed the ball in his mitt, stepped on first base with his right foot and was ready to celebrate the first perfect game in Detroit Tigers’ history.

What happened next will be the talk of baseball for the rest of this season and likely a lot longer.

Umpire Jim Joyce emphatically called Cleveland’s Jason Donald safe and a chorus of groans and boos echoed in Comerica Park.

[WuDrWu]

I watched it live.......it was beyond surreal. An annoucer commented after that he felt bad for everyone involved.


It was painful to watch a guy blow a call, that important, that badly.

[ShockerFever]

The ump may feel this one to the deathbed.

[Maggie]

The umpire made a bad call – that’s baseball.

But the fact that he was willing to make that call at that point in the game says a lot about this umpire. Besides consider how those involved in the incident reacted: (1) The pitcher accepted the decision and finished off the game; (2) his manager stood up for him; and (3) the umpire, after realizing he had blown the call, apologized in public and in person to the pitcher. How often to you see that in professional sports?

[ShockTalk]

The umpire made a bad call – that’s baseball.

But the fact that he was willing to make that call at that point in the game says a lot about this umpire. Besides consider how those involved in the incident reacted: (1) The pitcher accepted the decision and finished off the game; (2) his manager stood up for him; and (3) the umpire, after realizing he had blown the call, apologized in public and in person to the pitcher. How often to you see that in professional sports?

Maggie - I agree. Galarraga's reaction, or control of his actions, was amazing. I'm also certain Joyce, after seeing the replay, truly feels bad. However, I would have expected no less from an umpire than the apologies he made, eventhough, some other umps may have not done it.

What's really sad here is that a big time pitcher, Halladay, got his perfect game after there had been a number of questionable called strikes, some third strikes. I believe I heard that there were at least 6 that were clearly out of the strike zone. That will definitely influence how hitters approach their at bats and help the pitcher. In Galarraga's case, it was at the very least a bang-bang play (definitely not clearly safe) and a professional ump should have been prepared to make the "correct" call.

I'm a little surprised that the official scorer, as they can make changes to the scorebook, didn't at least give a phantom error. After all, he could say, "the ball clearly beat the runner, was a good throw, so the pitcher must not have gotten his foot down in time - error on the pitcher - no perfect game, but a no hitter none the less.

[martymoose]

Maggie - I agree. Galarraga's reaction, or control of his actions, was amazing. I'm also certain Joyce, after seeing the replay, truly feels bad. However, I would have expected no less from an umpire than the apologies he made, eventhough, some other umps may have not done it.

I don't think he knew how to react. He knew he got the guy out. He looked like he wanted to throw a fit, but he knew everyone else would for him. He's not going to have a good night's sleep for a long time.

[WuDrWu]

The umpire made a bad call – that’s baseball.

But the fact that he was willing to make that call at that point in the game says a lot about this umpire. Besides consider how those involved in the incident reacted: (1) The pitcher accepted the decision and finished off the game; (2) his manager stood up for him; and (3) the umpire, after realizing he had blown the call, apologized in public and in person to the pitcher. How often to you see that in professional sports?

I felt horrible watching that unfold last night, ESPECIALLY after the ghost of Willie Mays tracked down the first out in the top of the 9th. That was spectacular. But after seeing how the 2 principles (Gallaraga and Joyce) conducted themselves after the game, it seemed much easier to swallow. If those 2 can handle things that well, damnit, I think I should.

To answer your (somewhat rhetorical) question, Maggie, I would say not nearly as often as it should in sports or in "real life".

[SB Shock]

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It was painful to watch a guy blow a call, that important, that badly.

Okay, so the umpire blinked and blew the call and the guy didn't get his no-no perfect game. That is too bad, but regardless his team won and didn't cost them the game. It not like if you throw a perfect game you get 2 wins.

With the uproard around this you would think this was game 6 of the 1985 World Series.

[shocker3]

.
It was painful to watch a guy blow a call, that important, that badly.

Okay, so the umpire blinked and blew the call and the guy didn't get his no-no perfect game. That is too bad, but regardless his team won and didn't cost them the game. It not like if you throw a perfect game you get 2 wins.

With the uproard around this you would think this was game 6 of the 1985 World Series.

Considering there have only been 20 perfect games in over 100 years of history, it is pretty important.

[SB Shock]

.
It was painful to watch a guy blow a call, that important, that badly.

Okay, so the umpire blinked and blew the call and the guy didn't get his no-no perfect game. That is too bad, but regardless his team won and didn't cost them the game. It not like if you throw a perfect game you get 2 wins.

With the uproard around this you would think this was game 6 of the 1985 World Series.

Considering there have only been 20 perfect games in over 100 years of history, it is pretty important.

In what way is it important? Name in the record book. Who cares. Blowing a call in the Game 6 of the world series is important in baseball. Blowing a call in a game that didn't change the result is in a 162 game season is unimportant.

If MLB feels that have to something here, then they need to do something about 1985 which was much more "Important".

[1979Shocker]

MLB meeting; Selig could rule for perfect game

NEW YORK - Major League Baseball was still deciding Thursday morning whether to review the umpire’s blown call that cost Armando Galarraga a perfect game.

Commissioner Bud Selig has the power to reverse umpire Jim Joyce’s missed call that came with two outs in the ninth inning Wednesday night in Detroit. Joyce ruled Cleveland’s Jason Donald safe, then admitted he got it wrong and tearfully apologized in person to the pitcher.

If Selig decides to reverse the call, would he have done so if this had happened in the first inning and that ended up being the only baserunner?

[Maggie]

While I think some people are, to a certain extent, overreacting to this situation I think you are being a bit harsh SB Shock. A perfect game is a big deal – a very big deal. I agree that if you place it in the context of a team’s success over an entire season (i.e. wins and losses), it becomes irrelevant; but baseball is about stats and individual achievement too.

That said – do I want to see the MLB reverse the call? Nope. Do I want to see some form of instant replay instituted, in part, because of this incident? Leaning, heavily, toward no.

And the answer to 1979Shocker’s question is obviously no. Which is sort of the point.

As I wrote before – blown calls, questionable strikes/balls are part of baseball. While I feel bad for this pitcher what I took away from this was the way it was handled by all the individuals involved. Class acts all around.

[1979Shocker]

Selig won't overturn call that cost perfect game

NEW YORK - Bud Selig won’t reverse an umpire’s admitted blown call that cost Armando Galarraga a perfect game.

Selig says Major League Baseball will look at expanded replay and umpiring, but not the botched call Wednesday night.

Umpire Jim Joyce says he made a mistake on what would’ve been the final out in Detroit, where the Tigers beat Cleveland 3-0. The umpire personally apologized to Galarraga.

[1972Shocker]

In watching the replay I was struck by how far the 1st baseman, Cabrerra went to get that ball. As it turned out the he and Galarrage combined for a very good play and the runner was clearly out.

Still I wonder what the outcome would have been if Cabrerra had stayed home and let the 2nd baseman take that ball. Not putting any blame on Cabrerra he made a re-action play and did, in fact, retire the runner.

I feel bad for both Galarraga and for Joyce (for different reasons obviously).

OTOH, Armando Galarraga may be remembered longer and by more people for his "perfecto that wasn't" than he would have been had the right call been made. In fact, his perfecto may go down as the only "28 out" perfecto in MLB history. In fact, I would think this game should deserve a plaque or appropriate recognition in the Hall of Fame.

[shockmonster]

As a rule, 1st basemen rarely go that far to field the baseball. That was the second baseman's ball to charge. However it would have been a close play either way.