Missed Call Costs Detroit's Galarraga Perfect Game
Galarraga was perfect through 8 2/3 innings and just needed to get Jason Donald out to be the 21st pitcher in the record books with a perfect game. Donald grounded a ball to the right side where first baseman Miguel Cabrera fielded the ball and tossed it to Galarraga covering first base. After a small delay first base umpire Jim Joyce signaled that Donald was safe. Say goodbye to the perfect game and no hitter as well.
Oh but wait one moment, instant replay showed that Donald was out and Galarraga should have been out of the inning and had his perfect game. Tigers manager Jim Leyland would come out and argue the call, to no avail. Galarraga would get the next batter, Trevor Crowe, and walk away with a one hit shutout.
Galarraga is in his fourth Major Legaue season and has a record of 21-18. He has spent the last three seasons with the Tigers and won 13 games for them in 2008.
If Jim Joyce hadn't missed the call this would have been the third perfect game tossed this season, which has never happened in Major League Baseball history. The A's Dallas Braden and the Phillies Roy Halladay had the other two.
Let the cries for expanded use of instant replay begin, now.
Sources:
ESPN.com Indians and Tigers boxscore June 2, 2010
baseball-reference.com, Armando Galarraga page.
Published by Darren Pare - Featured Contributor in Sports
I am an author from Orono, Maine currently working on writing my second book and promoting my first one, 33 Summers. I am married and have two children. I am a freelance writer who has a passion for sports... View profile
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2 Comments
Post a CommentPersonally, I think Joyce's hesitation was a sign of panic. He was probably thinking about the importance of the call and how badly he wanted to get it right and in a moment of pure uncertainty, made the first call that came to his mind. At least he was man enough to admit that he blew it. I wish MLB could reverse the call and grant the perfect game, since it was obviously legit. You're right...replay would have saved it.
Hey Darren, thanks for the comment and great article. I just fanned you. I'm also uber jealous of your location. I've wanted to spend some time in Maine for most of my adult life. Sadly, I'm about as far away as possible.