More Then A Perfect Game

With two outs in the 9th inning baseball was about to possibly witness something that has never happened before. Jason Donald grounded a ball to the first baseman Miguel Cabrera, Cabrera then threw to Armando Galarraga for what appeared to be the final out as he ran to cover first from the mound. However, first base umpire Jim Joyce ruled the hitter safe. Galarraga was denied a perfect game (which also would have been a record 3 in one season) on what was a blown call. Fans booed, players argued and when it was all said and done Galarraga got the next batter Trevor Crowe out and settled for a complete game one hit shutout.

Now comes the part of sports that has been missing for a long time and this is where I give two people alot of credit. Armando Galarraga did not bitch and moan, he was proud of what he accomplished and he realized that the umpire making the call is human and all humans make mistakes. Just after the game ended first base umpire Jim Joyce asked to speak with Galarraga. He appeared before the pitcher and with tears in his eyes apologized. You could tell that Joyce was heart broken having made the wrong call and ruining a night that should have been a part of baseball history.

Although there will be no perfect game in the record books, I think we all learned a valuable lesson. Jim Joyce admitted he was wrong, and it showed how bad he felt about it. Armando Galarraga, who had history snatched away from him with a blown call, accepted Joyce's apology and was quoted as saying "We all make mistakes and no one is perfect."

For any of you fans out there who are still upset and continue to write threats towards not just Joyce, but also his family who have nothing to do with this, take a second and think... are you perfect? Ever make a mistake at your job or in your everyday life? I think these two guys should be praised for the way they handled this. It shows kids who we should really look up to and why.

Then the story gets better the next day. Galarraga was presented with a 2010 Chevrolet convertible for his near accomplishment the night before. Then Galarraga jogged out to home plate to hand Jim Joyce who was the home plate umpire for the game the Tigers starting lineup; something usually done by the manager. They patted each other on the back and Jim Joyce again had trouble holding back tears. In a time that was tough to show class, these two showed more then I have ever seen before.

Stay Classy New Hampshire!