Jim Joyce did man up after the game:
“I just cost that kid a perfect game,” Joyce said. “I thought he beat the throw. I was convinced he beat the throw, until I saw the replay.”
“It was the biggest call of my career,” said Joyce, who became a full-time major league umpire in 1989.
I would not be surprised if Selig uses his broad powers to over turn this. Nobody gets hurt, Joyce would be relieved, so what if the #9 hitter of the Indians loses a hit.
The very first thing I thought when I saw the replay was that the umpire was going to have to live with this the rest of his life. I’m so glad to see that Gallaraga and Leyland seem to feel badly for the ump, too.
Don’t get me wrong – if I was pitching or playing for the Tigers I don’t know if I could have controlled myself. Throwing punches, flipping my lid, etc. But the ump apologized, admitted he missed it, and any residual anger needs to be put aside for the sake of the ump’s continued mental sanity.
I also think baseball should have instant replay available for situations like this – an umpire’s eyesight shouldn’t decide games like this.
Is there any remedy for this? Could Selig give Galarraga a perfecto?
@Slideshow Bob: I highly doubt it. You would then have to change the 1985 World Series, the Jeter home run against the Orioles, and the double called foul last year. This will stand. The records books should note this game under perfect games, however.
The Commissioner has broad powers to act “in the best interests of the game,” right? This is a rare case where making the change couldn’t possibly affect any other aspect of the game, because it would have been over. I’m all for the weasel Selig do something worthwhile for once.
@David Pinto: I disagree, DP. Those changes you compare this one to have the potential to change the outcome of the game. This one doesn’t change anything. I think that makes it doable. I agree, not likely, but that’s just because of the nature of the people who run baseball, not any inherent obstacle.
The thing that bothers me… couldn’t one of the other three umpires have done something when it actually happened? If it was really that bad a call (I admit I only saw the replay), couldn’t one of them have at least called a conference?
Sad as it is, the call should stand, though I agree that the game should be kept in the record books as some kind of asterisked perfecto.
Unless you think that Joyce’s blown call was deliberate (and his reaction clearly shows it wasn’t), then it goes down as one of those human error things that make baseball a force of nature. Put it this way — every other pitcher who has ever completed a perfect game did so with human umpiring on the field. They may have (who knows) received some benefit or some extra obstacles from the umpires. Beating the umpiring is as much a part of winning as beating the weather, or a hostile crowd, or the park, or other factors entirely beyond a pitcher’s control.
If a last-minute gust of wind carried a catchable fly ball into the stands for a homer, would anyone complain that the pitcher got robbed? No, that’s part of the game and part of what has to be played against. Same thing here. Joyce made an honest (though egregious) mistake, but errors of judgment are part of the game and always have been.
More people know about Haddix than Witt. Galarraga’s PG that wasn’t will be better remembered than Braden’s or Halladay’s.