Miserable Retail Slave

Going forward, as we try to digest what happened in the Tigers/Indians game last night, we need to consider seriously that Jim Joyce's "safe" call is proof that he cares about his job, and cares about the game of baseball. A Perfect Game has to be earned, of course, and no one expects the umpires to intentionally make incorrect calls either in the pitcher's favor, or the hitter's favor. Jim Joyce would not have called the runner safe if he did not believe it. It's a bang-bang play, and it has to be made in the heat of the moment, in a split second. Joyce had no time to make a decision. He reacted, and acted according to how he saw the play, regardless of the gravity of the situation.

Armando Galarraga's "Perfect" game, however - had it indeed ended that way - would have gone down as one of the most impressive team efforts in baseball history. With the exception of Don Larsen's Perfecto in the World Series, this would have been the single greatest Perfect Game - and perhaps the most important - ever. Galarraga had just three strikeouts, which would have been the lowest ever in a Perfect Game. This means that the team was relied upon for twenty-four of the twenty-seven outs. We need to consider Brandon Inge's amazing play at third base in the fifth inning, when the ball hit Galarraga and bounced to the rushing third-baseman who then made a dazzling throw to make the out. We need to consider Austin Jackson's superhuman play in the ninth, when he tracked down a Mark Grudzielanek fly ball to the deepest part of the park and made a Willie Mays-esque catch. We need to consider Miguel Cabrera's backhand stab on what would have been the twenty-seventh straight out. From an offensive standpoint, we need to consider the Tigers hitters in the bottom of the eighth coming through with two insurance runs to take some pressure off their pitcher. What an incredible, fantastic, important team effort.

Regardless of whether one agrees that there should be more replay situations in baseball or not, the historical call by Jim Joyce needs to be overturned. The Perfect Game is the single greatest individual achievement in sports. Sometimes, perhaps we should stop worrying about backing our arguments with logical evidence. Sometimes, perhaps it should be about doing what's right. In this case, awarding Galarraga the Perfect Game is the right thing to do for many reasons. Doing so not only rewards Galarraga, the Tigers, and all the fans, but Joyce as well. Jim Joyce is a great umpire. He does not deserve to go down in history for making a terrible call - he deserves to be remembered for being one of the best umpires in the game. He has already admitted his error. Overturning the call redeems him.

Hopefully, we as sports fans will see the right thing done. Hopefully, this will not go down as the greatest one-hitter of all-time. Galarraga and the Tigers have already been denied their great celebratory moment in their home stadium. Let us not deny them what a Perfect Game would mean to the city of Detroit, and the game of baseball.