I could not believe my eyes. I was watching my Reds play the Cardinals on ESPN last night when ESPN broke the news that Armando Galarraga of the Detroit Tigers had pitched a perfect game for seven innings against the Cleveland Indians. They kept cutting back and forth between the featured game of Cincinnati and St. Louis and the innings in Detroit when Galarraga was pitching in the eighth and ninth. My heart was pounding when he got the first two batters in the ninth, with the help of the center fielder Trevor Crowe who made a Willie Mays-like-running-full speed-over-the-shoulder catch.
Then the unthinkable happened: with two out in the ninth, the first base umpire, Jim Joyce, made an erroneous call of safe on a grounder to first fielded by first baseman Miguel Cabrera who lobbed to Galarraga covering the bag for (to me and a few thousand others) an obvious out. An instant replay showed the batter was clearly out by a full step. Galarraga was the model of decorum and took the bad decision with admirable stoicism; the rest of the Tigers went bananas, as I'm sure I would have if I were on the field.
I don't condemn the ump, Jim Joyce. He had tears in his eyes after the game when he apologized to Galarraga and candidly admitted he screwed up. He is by reputation a good and seasoned umpire with 22 years of experience. He is also human and prone to errors, as all of us are. Can you imagine how he feels today and what vituperation he will doubtless receive from the stands in future games, probably for the rest of his career?
It is time for baseball to leave the 19th century and join the modern electronic world of replays which can reverse a wrong decision. The only time it is used today in baseball is to judge whether a ball is fair or foul or subject to fan interference. I'm not a big Bud Selig fan, but he as Commissioner should, for once, show some guts and put instant, reviewable and reversible replays at the top of the agenda.
At least the Governor of Michigan did the right thing by making a proclamation that Galarraga had pitched a perfect game. Unfortunately, that won't work in Cooperstown NY in the Baseball Hall of Fame.
What a travesty and pity...Time for baseball to be part of the 21st century.
Games are already well over 3 hours. How are you going to limit replay so it doesn't become a farce? How do you decide when to use it? I see one big Pandora's box coming.
ReplyDeleteI know, it's a problem. Maybe cut games to seven innings---is nine a sacred number? Cricket, which can go on interminably for as much as five days, is finding 20/20, a one-day version becoming popular.
ReplyDeleteI'm not a fan, I spend all my efforts on football or golf but I'd be all for reversing a call if warranted. Course then you run into other problems. Guess you heard the Michigan governor declared a perfect game pitched.
ReplyDelete