Armanda Galarrago was just one out from making history: his very first perfect game (which would've miraculously marked the third of this season and the 21st ever) with two down and Jason Donald at the plate.Sadly, first base umpire Jim Joyce called Donald safe on a bang-bang play, and the Detroit Tigers righty will now have to settle for a one-hit shut out by a score of 3-0 over the Cleveland Indians, regardless of his perfect performance and a ridiculous, Willie Mays-style game-saver by outfielder Austin Jackson that marked the first out of the ninth.
Jim Leyland, along with every single fan at Comerica Park, was not impressed. EVERYONE was rooting for a perfect game at that point. Even the Tribe fans. Leyland was surprisingly calm in his post-game conference, calling Galarraga's performance "perfect" and Joyce's call "a crying shame." The Tigers skipper went on to say that "it's time to move on and come back and play tomorrow."
Of course, no one feels crappier about the whole deal than Joyce himself:
I don't know what to do. I cost that kid a perfect game... biggest call of my career and I kicked the **** out of it.Ya sure did.
Anyway, in case you missed it, Pro Rumors has the video. And apparently, it doesn't matter what happens in real life, since the Governor can always just issue proclamations via Twitter...
Update: There's no crying in baseball... unless you screw up bigtime.
[6 lb. 8 oz. Baby Joba] | [Was Watching] | [Foul Balls] | [Walkoff Walk]
10 comments:
That was the most bullshit call I have ever seen in my life.
Accidents happen.
What. An. Ass.
Baseball needs replay or a challenge system.
At least Joyce admitted he was wrong, that took a lot of balls.
It's time for MLB to allow instant replay for more than disputed home runs. Had it been allowed tonight, the Tigers' manager and pitcher could have gone to the umpire and said, "We think the runner's out. Review the video and see for yourself." Review is done and voila! Perfect game!
Hey Sooze: can you cross out Jim Joyce and plug in Dale Scott's name when you have the chance? Thanks!
REPLAY! REPLAY! REPLAY!!!!
There have been far too many blown calls lately, and umpires have their ego inflated heads up their asses these days. We should NOT know the umps names, but sadly, Jim Joyce, "Cowboy" Joe West, Phil Cuzzi, etc. are all becoming well known to casual fans of the game. All of the other major sports use it, and Bud Selig needs to know, that yes, keeping the purity of the game is important, but the fact that a game like this goes down in the books as a one hit shut out, rather than a perfect game is total bullshit.
At least Jim Joyce had the stones to man up, take his lumps from Smokey Jim and the rest of Detroit, and apologize to a VERY classy Armanda Galarrago. I cannot believe he bit his tongue and has handled the situation like he has. It says a lot about the kind of player he is.
I've seen the replay like 10 times. It was a close play. In fact, I'm not sure why everyone is so certain Donald was out. It was that close.
Here's hoping that ol' Bud does the right thing and rule that Galarraga pitched a perfect game.
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