In case you have no idea what I'm talking about, there have only been 20 perfect games in baseball history. That means a pitcher threw a complete game where not a single runner reached base. 27 up, 27 down, or so they say. This has been an unprecedented season for perfect games with 2 happening in the past month. Last night Tiger pitcher Armando Galarraga (even I hadn't heard of him before) was bidding to add his name to that list of 20 and to make 2010 the unofficial "Season of the Perfect Game". He retired the first 26 batters in order and induced batter #27 to hit a ground ball to first baseman Miguel Cabrera's right. Armando fulfilled his duty on such a play by racing over to cover first base - arriving with the ball a half step ahead of the batter.
But the ump got the call wrong - something he shouldn't be villified for. Every ump misses calls, but Jim Joyce's came at the worst possible moment. Galarraga handled it with dignity, returning to the mound with hardly a word of complaint spoken and promptly retired batter 28 to complete his one-hit shutout.
Last night and this morning the reactions and opinions have been coming fast and furiously. The least sensible ones call for Joyce to be reprimanded. Others have renewed their pleas for baseball to institute instant replay. Meanwhile, MLB and Commissioner Bud Selig remains mum.
Of course, the professional media Has entered the fray as well. As I browse SI.com's home page, I see headlines like "Reiter: Joyce will live in infamy", "Verducci: A missed call that could change baseball" and "FanHouse: MLB needs accountability more than replay". Over on ESPN, more clamor for replay from top baseball writers like Jayson Stark.
They are missing the point. This is a crazy world we live in and every single one of us wishes we could undo many things we have done. BP wishes they had paid closer attention to safety on their oil rig. Tiger Woods wishes he hadn't destroyed his family by sleeping around more than Ron Jeremy. Donte Stallworth wishes he hadn't gotten behind the wheel of his car after a night of drinking. I wish I hadn't held onto that Banco Santander as its value fell by 50%.
Even in the world of sports there are countless examples of bad calls that affected the outcomes of games that umps and refs wish they could take back. However, the past is the past and what's done can't be undone. But in a world of things that can't be taken back, here's something that can be. EASILY. It's not even as if the rest of the game would have unfolded differently. IT WOULD HAVE BEEN OVER. Baseball needs to do the right thing and simply change the call. Who would be against this? I am willing to bet that if the public were polled, the vote would be over 90% in favor. A poll of players and managers would probably be even higher.
The only argument that can be made against changing it is that it would create a dangerous precedent. But if MLB can't make an exception, then it needs to take a long hard look at itself in the mirror and reconsider its place in the world. Baseball is a GAME even if it is a billion-dollar industry. Baseball exists because it makes people feel good and facilitates mankind's need for competition. And if it refuses to bend when a mistake that will forever change 2 people's lives could be corrected, then it is taking itself far too seriously.
UPDATE:
Naturally, as I was writing this, the news broke that Bud Selig has said that the ruling will not be changed. What's worse, one of my favorite baseball writers, Tom Verducci, spoke out in favor of this decision. Give me a break.
This is the last straw for me with Bud Selig. Baseball needs a leader, not someone who simply aims to not make waves that would tarnish his legacy. Selig has proven for the last time that he is soft and non-progressive. Baseball remains stubbornly tied to its false "tradition" in ways that other sports are not and I think it's time that it had a leader who was willing to wield some discretionary power for the good of the game. It's time to move on, Bud. This was a chance for you to take a stand, as you didn't do with steroids or that silly all-star game tie. You are blowing it, but I can't say I'm surprised.
I'm equally as disappointed in Verducci. God forbid someone bend the rules of the GAME that he has devoted his life to covering. He acts as if an unprecedented ruling change would undermine his life's work. Get off your high horse and realize that baseball is a game...a distraction to help us escape our mundane day-to-day lives. I hate to get all sentimental, but Terry Mann's description of what baseball means could not have been written any more perfectly:
"The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game: it's a part of our past, Ray. It reminds of us of all that once was good and it could be again."
This was written in the late '80's, but this sentiment is changing. Baseball has gotten swept up in modern society's tendency to over-analyze absolutely everything. Even this controversy has been turned into an epic firestorm by our good friends at ESPN when MLB could have made the necessary ruling within an hour after the game before the pundits could even begin to get charged up. We seem to have forgotten why we loved baseball and are just looking for more points to argue about on TV. Everyone's homework assignment is to watch Field of Dreams and fall in love with the romance of baseball all over again.
Of course, it also occurs to me that I can simply choose not to follow MLB's ruling. It's not like there is an official trophy handed out for a perfect game. We aren't even talking about the difference between a win and a loss - ultimately the only outcome that really matters. We are talking about a list of people who have accomplished something particular for which there is no prize other than being on the list. So, Galarraga should rest easy knowing that he threw a perfect game and that, like me, most baseball fans believe that there are 21 names on that list, not 20 - just like many fans consider Hank Aaron to be the all-time home run king. Baseball exists because of its fans anyway, so their opinions are really the only ones that matter.
Verducci gives props to Selig for not doing the "popular" thing and changing the ruling. This statement once again overstates the responsibility of the commish to protect the ancient, hallowed, mystic integrity of baseball's rules and records. I hate to break it to you, Tom, but Selig already messed up the record books pretty badly by turning a blind eye to steroids for 15 years. But baseball fans do not need to be protected from themselves. Obama shouldn't make a decision just because it's the popular sentiment, but Selig ABSOLUTELY SHOULD. His duty is to the fans because without fans, there is no MLB. If he continues to forget this, baseball is in for a rude awakening. It has already lost the number 1 spot in Americans' hearts to football and basketball could catch them too if they continue to alienate fans.
I am surely making this into a bigger deal than it is, but in some ways, this incident represents everything that is wrong about the direction baseball has been taking. This incident woke me up to the fact that I have grown disillusioned by what ESPN and MLB have conspired to do to my beloved game: turned it into something devoid of the magic it once had and screwed up the priorities of the people running it. Perhaps this change was unavoidable as baseball became big business, but that's not gonna stop me from lamenting it.
The last thing I have to say is Jim Joyce should hold his head high and not be blamed by anyone. He did exactly what he was supposed to do: call it as he saw it. He made an error with a lot on the line, as any official could have done. I heard another top writer Tim Kurkjian claim that umpires get that call right "10,000 times out of 10,001". This is complete and utter baloney. Kurkjian is a smart man. He knows damn well that even saying "99 times out of a 100" would be generous. But my point is that Joyce did his job and this mistake was well within the margin for error we accept by willingly including human judgement in the scoring of a game. I am not saying that we can't hold umps to high standards, nor am I arguing against an increased presence of instant replay to remove some of the human error. But don't blame Joyce for missing a call, blame MLB for not fixing it when it is well within their power to do so regardless of what Bud Selig would have you believe.
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