Bad call costs Galarraga perfect game

Wagewar47

Tall, Dark, & Windurstian
Adventurer
Joined
Jan 5, 2009
Messages
88
Age
49
Location
Binghamton, NY
Nation Banner
Windy
Main Job
RedMage-Male
Secondary Job
Corsair-Male
Third Job
Samurai-Male
Server
Quetzalcoatl
Linkshell
TeamVenture/K-nation
FFXI
Wagewar
from AP...

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=Ai8YyNqv4PlP5U69DFF5eX8RvLYF?slug=ap-joycescall

NEW YORK (AP)—Major League Baseball was still deciding Thursday morning whether to review the umpire’s blown call that cost Armando Galarraga(notes) 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(notes) safe, then admitted he got it wrong.

Selig would likely consult with his top advisers before making such a ruling. St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa says the call should be overturned.

Joyce was scheduled to be back at work Thursday afternoon, umpiring at home plate in the game between the Tigers and Indians.

In 1991, a panel headed by then-commissioner Fay Vincent took a look at the record book and decided to throw out 50 no-hitters for various reasons.

The instantly infamous play, which had social networking sites all abuzz, will add to the argument that baseball needs to expand its use of replays. As of now, they can only be used for questionable home runs.

Galarraga bitterly sipped a beer minutes after the blown call negated his place in baseball history. An apology and hug changed his attitude.

Joyce, in tears, asked for a chance to apologize after the Tigers beat the Indians 3-0.

“You don’t see an umpire after the game come out and say, `Hey, let me tell you I’m sorry,”’ Galarraga said “He felt really bad. He didn’t even shower.”

Galarraga, who was barely known outside of Detroit a day ago, and Joyce, whose career had flourished in relative anonymity, quickly became trending topics on Twitter. At least one anti-Joyce Facebook page was created shortly after the game ended and firejimjoyce.com was launched.

“I worked with Don Denkinger, and I know what he went through, but I’ve never had a moment like this,” Joyce said.

Denkinger didn’t have to deal with the wrath of fans on Twitter or Facebook. Denkinger helped tilt the 1985 World Series by blowing a call as a first base umpire, and that followed him throughout his career.

Joyce has been calling balls and strikes and deciding if runners are out or safe as a full-time major league umpire since 1989. He has been respected enough to be on the field for two World Series, 11 other playoff series and a pair of All-Star games.

A split-second decision he made will probably haunt him for the rest of his career.

Joyce emphatically signaled safe when Cleveland’s Jason Donald clearly didn’t beat a throw to first base for what would’ve been the last out in Armando Galarraga’s perfect game for the Detroit Tigers, setting off a chorus of groans and boos that echoed in Comerica Park.

Chuck Klonke, the official scorer Wednesday night with nearly three decades of experience, said he would not change the disputed play to an error from a hit to give Galarraga a no-hitter.

“I looked at the replay right after it happened, and Miguel Cabrera(notes) made a good throw and Galarraga didn’t miss the bag so you couldn’t do anything but call it a hit,” Klonke said Thursday morning. “I watched the replay from the center-field camera, which some people thought showed Galarraga might’ve bobbled the ball, and I didn’t see it that way at all. I have 24 hours to change a call, but I wouldn’t consider it.

“End of story.”

Not quite.

The story has transcended sports, becoming a topic on NBC’s “Today” show Thursday morning and among parents dropping off their kids at the bus stop.

It’s rare for an umpire to acknowledge a mistake in one of the few sports that relies heavily on the human eye, but Joyce did to reporters and later to Galarraga.

“It was the biggest call of my career, and I kicked the (stuff) out of it,” Joyce said, looking and sounding distraught as he paced in the umpires’ locker room. “I just cost that kid a perfect game.”

Leyland was livid during the game when he charged out of the dugout to argue the call and got in another heated discussion with Joyce after the final out.

Later, though, Leyland tried to give Joyce a break.

“The players are human, the umpires are human, the managers are human,” Leyland said.

Galarraga tried to calm his nerves with a beer after the game after almost getting to celebrate the first perfect game in franchise history.

He was vying for the third perfect game in the majors this year, including Roy Halladay’s(notes) gem last Saturday night. He seemed to do his job for the 27th out along with first baseman Cabrera on a play teams work on often in spring training.

Donald hit a grounder in the hole between first and second, Cabrera fielded it and threw to first, where Galarraga caught the ball at least a step ahead of Donald, replays showed.

“I feel sad,” Galarraga said.

Cabrera said he didn’t want to talk about it and Donald answered questions from reporters after a long soak in the tub.

“I didn’t know if I beat the throw or not,” Donald said. “But given the circumstances, I thought for sure I’d be called out.”

The Tigers huddled around one of the two big-screen televisions in their clubhouse, standing stoically and silently as the play was shown over and over.

“I know I played in a perfect game,” Detroit shortstop Ramon Santiago(notes) said. “In my mind, on June 2, Armando Galarraga threw a no-hitter. I’m going to get a ball signed by him.”

AP Sports Writer Larry Lage in Detroit contributed to this report.

----------------------------

My take: I hope Bud Selig overturns it and credits Galarraga with an official perfect game. The umpire did recognize and apologized for the bad call, to his credit. And classy move by Galarraga accepting his apology. It's a judgment call (albeit the wrong call) that happened at the worst possible moment.
 



yeah, he got robbed.

unfortunately the occasional bad call is part of the game, cant really blame the ump to much, it was down to like a quarter of a second difference, and everybody makes mistakes.
 
My take: I hope Bud Selig overturns it and credits Galarraga with an official perfect game. The umpire did recognize and apologized for the bad call, to his credit. And classy move by Galarraga accepting his apology. It's a judgment call (albeit the wrong call) that happened at the worst possible moment.

Selig is too much of a prideful motherfucker who knows the publicity from this bad call will invariably draw more attention to the MLB than it would if he were to overturn the call.

Bud Selig can go eat dicks.
 
Well, since it seems Osyris hasn't seen this thread yet, let me be the first to say: The year of the ump returns.
 
follow up, from AP....

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ap-joycescall

Selig will not reverse umpire’s blown call

NEW YORK (AP)—Bud Selig won’t reverse an umpire’s admitted blown call that cost Armando Galarraga(notes) a perfect game.

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

More MLB Videos 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.
 
Selig is too much of a prideful motherfucker who knows the publicity from this bad call will invariably draw more attention to the MLB than it would if he were to overturn the call.

:facepalm:
 
There's no need to reverse the call. Umps are humans, humans make mistakes. This mistake just happened to come in a context that has astronomical odds of ever happening again.
 
I agree with Valandil, granted selig has made alot of bad decisions in his career... Instant replay hasn't been inducted into MLB yet, now that isn't to say they won't implement it right after the all star break. There have been really bad calls from refs/umps throughout all of sports history, it is just sad because in all honesty this call would have changed history... but not the outcome of the game.
 
As shitty as it is, that's part of the game. One of the things that makes baseball baseball is the fact that there are no calls based on instant replays (aside from when judging a questionable home run). It's all about the call the way the umpire sees it. He admits he was wrong and that was right of him to do, but in that second he made the call the way he made it.

Baseball relies on the human judgment of umpires; not instant replays, to how the game ends up being played. Not instant replays.

But ya know what? He did pitch a perfect game whether the records say he did or didn't. Everyone knows he did, and that's what matters.
 
But ya know what? He did pitch a perfect game whether the records say he did or didn't. Everyone knows he did, and that's what matters.

This right here. Everyone knows he pitched it, whether the call is reversed or not doesn't really matter at this point.
 
Well, look at it this way: he'll have the only 28-out perfect game in history.
 
But ya know what? He did pitch a perfect game whether the records say he did or didn't. Everyone knows he did, and that's what matters.



Exactly, this video here. It doesn't matter we all know he did.

Baseball needs instant replay. People that bitch the game is long enough as is; well the game is long enough as is that sometimes a bad call should be reversed. An umpire's error shouldn't have influence over a game changing moment.
 
its baseball, the pitcher shouldn't have snowconed it lol and made it an easy call
 
Baseball needs instant replay. People that bitch the game is long enough as is; well the game is long enough as is that sometimes a bad call should be reversed. An umpire's error shouldn't have influence over a game changing moment.

Baseball doesn't need it, and it obviously doesn't want it. Mistakes like this, in Baseball, are far and few in between.
 
How is it game changing? They would've won whether it was a perfect game or not.
 
I didnt even know there was a sport forum... Whatever though lol. Whats funny is Angel Hernandez another ump in the league blew a game deciding call that same night and it got no attention.. Now his call directly resulted in the team that should have lost, winning. I think thats more important then this dudes perfect game lol. To make it worse Hernandez had a bad call the night before this game blowing call and when asked about it by the media gave the "No comment" bs. Yes umps are human but this is just rediculous and it has made the sport sad. I do give Joyce credit for taking a beating after making this call. I cant really say i want the call overturned because i plain like baseball. I dont want to break the way the game is played to give this guy a perfect game. But man, if anyone deserves a call to be overturned it is Galaraga. What a classy guy... He actually feels bad for Joyce. If it were me, i am sure i would show my human and error prone side many have mentioned in this thread and beat the shit out of Joyce right at first base, but whatever. The year of the umps my man...
 
Back
Top