Does he "Deserve" It?
So, I feel the need to be the turd in the punchbowl. Everyone is in a frenzy over gallaraga's "stolen" perfect game. Now they are saying they may overrrule the ruling and give him the perfect game. So here we go. Did he get screwed? Maybe. But maybe not. Do I feel bad for him? Yes. Did he handle it like a great professional (actually not like curent professionals would have handled it, but how you're supposed to)? yes. But I have watched that replay about ten times and maybe I am seeing a different play than everyone else. This was not a flagrant, blown call. This was an extremely close, maybe a tie play. Frankly, it's not entirely clear to me that he was eevn out. Certainly not a "Blown" call.
Here's my point. If we are going to undo calls this close made by an umpire because it robbed this guy of a perfect game, because we are so committed to making sure the records show this accurately, then there are a whole list of much more flagrant blown calls that have altered games, records, championships etc. We somehow feel bad for this guy, because we WANT perfect games. Well, I want small teams to beat the yankees, and I hate the red sox, but that doesn't mean we should lean on the scale to give us the outcome we wished we got. If that call can somehow be reversed and wiped away, then how about actual clear errors made by umps all the time, like our ass-fucking on the mauer foul ball call against the yankees? That actually impacted a series, a game and a championship. And it was a CLEARLY blown call. Should we have been able to replay those last two innings after they had a chance to review? I'm actually serious about this. Either the rules are the rules or they are just the whims of the commissioner. There's a human element that makes umpires sometimes technically wrong on very close calls, and sometimes they blow them because they are just idiots. I think we should do everything we can to eliminate the blatant error, but this one was at best a close call. Seligfuck doesn't want replay. So he doesn't get it.
11 Comments:
Yes, he got screwed and they should not go back and change the record. Just another feather in the cap in favor of some form of replay.
To Galaraga's credit he was about as classy as could be. Imagine if that happened to Clemens? He would exceed the known limits of how big one asshole can stretch.
June 3, 2010 at 9:36 AM
DTK - Can we also add to the list of "blown calls" the one last night that gave the M's the win over our beloved Twinkies? Sure it was close but Hardy had him out, where is the bitching over that on ESPN? More to your point, where is the outrage over Mauer's hit last Fall? Why doesn't anyone talk about that, huh?
I think we need to get working on a set of robots that will take place of both the umps and the players and eliminate all human error and judgement from the game. I can't wait to watch "PX9900" take it's place in the Hall of Fame after batting a thousand.
June 3, 2010 at 9:36 AM
Agreed, dtk. Other than Tigers fans, who's actually saying the Commissioner's Office should be pressured to overturn this call? I really hope none of the talking head types are being that stupid. They should know that's never gonna happen. It's just not done.
Nice call, RTS. I actually was thinking about what would have happened if this had occurred to Dallas Braden last month, instead of to a clearly mature individual like Galarraga. Braden might have attacked the ump with a knife after the game.
I also agree with dtk that it wasn't THAT bad of a call. In that situation, though, you should probably have the mindset of "if it's close, I'm calling him out." Better to err that way (not like the other team's going to protest unless it's just egregious) than the way Joyce did. Credit to him for admitting he screwed up, and apologizing to Galarraga. The call wasn't as bad, or nearly as important, as the Jorge Orta call in the '85 World Series, for which the ump still has never admitted he was wrong.
As Galarraga clearly accepted Joyce's apology, that should generally be the end of the story.
The bigger story should be this: WHAT THE HELL IS UP WITH ALL THE PERFECT GAMES? If this one had counted, we'd have seen 18% of history's perfect games in the last four months. What's going on here?
June 3, 2010 at 10:09 AM
Additional note: Tigers fans should enjoy the fact that their guy's "unofficial perfect game" will be remembered a lot longer than the official perfect games of Buehrle, Braden and Halladay. Halladay will be a Hall of Famer, but 40 years from now, no one will be talking about his PG - he'll just be a number on the list there. People will, however, talk about this, like they talk about Harvey Haddix throwing 12 innings of perfect ball, but losing in the 13th so he doesn't get credited with the perfect game.
June 3, 2010 at 10:13 AM
shit happens. I will personally be APPALLED if they change it. my perspective is that Galaraga may now be more noteworthy in the annals of sport than any other perfect-game-thrower. any self-respecting fan has already committed this to memory and will always remember "the guy from Detroit who got screwed--what's his name?" I'm not sure I can say that about Dallas Braden (Tom Browning of 2010).
June 3, 2010 at 10:17 AM
I'm going to have to disagree with you guys on one point-I don't think the call was that close-in that situation, if the ball beats the runner to the bag, and that clearly did happen, then you call him out- umping 101. With that said, it was a mistake, a terrible mistake, but shit happens in life and in baseball. We currently don't have instant replay for this type of a call, so there should be no overturning this call- no way- I can't imagine that they are seriously even considering this.
Even if people remember this for longer than other perfect games- it still sucks for Galarraga- as I understand it, there have only been 20 perfect games in the history of baseball- to have your name on that list, that's pretty special. For his kids, for his kid's kids- that would be pretty cool. His name will never be on that list- that sucks.
here to here to Jan's call for robots- clearly that is where the game needs to head.
June 3, 2010 at 10:51 AM
Welcome back Tapani! Agree with everything said here, and if dipshit Selig even considers overturning this call, he will go down as the most spineless commish ever (oh wait, he already will).
Interesting side-note, as it relates to Bud. I met a dude this weekend named Keith Wolf, whose dad is Lou Wolf, president and 25% owner of the A's. Keith works for his dad (shocker) and his primary task right now is resolving the A's stadium situation (think Vikings but even more dire).
Anyway, long story short, after; about 10 minutes of sports talk, I asked him what the owners think about Selig. After the usual caveat that sports people seem to ALWAYS use when talking about peers in the industry ("Oh, Bud's a good friend, but..."), Keith tells me that Bud's issue is that he simply doesn't want controversy, so he struggles with every single decision he makes. Contrast him with Goodell, who has been perhaps a little too autocratic, but is so decisive that he has the respect of most folks in the NFL community. Night an day...
Okay...I guess my point is that I'm sure Selig is agonizing over this Galaraga/Joyce situation, when he should have already issued a statement squashing it.
June 3, 2010 at 12:06 PM
Tapper - glad to see the Cubs found a way to not lose to the Pirates: rainout.
I think BG's acquaintance is probably right, and as evidence, apparently MLB is "debating" whether or not it will do anything about this. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/baseball/mlb/06/03/selig.reverse/index.html?eref=sihp
Grow a spine, dude. Kennesaw Mountain Landis is rolling in his grave right now. So an ump screwed up. Big deal.
In just twelve hours after this minor occurrence, I've already grown really weary of all the hyperbole being thrown around. Galaragga "robbed of his place in history." "The worst umpiring mistake of all time." "Justice must be done - reverse the call!1!1!" A million and one "umpires are the worst people in the world" and "I'd spit on him if I had the chance" internet comments.
Get some fucking perspective, people, and save your outrage for things that matter. A perfect game is generally a statistical aberration. You don't get two W's in the standings for a perfect game. This is just not important enough to be making ex post facto rules changes to accommodate sportswriters' wet dreams. The blown call had no impact on the game's eventual outcome, or even the score. All it affected was whether or not Galarraga got his 24 hours of immortality (yes, that was intentionally paradoxical), before everyone forgot about it. As it is, he's now achieved long-term notoriety instead.
June 3, 2010 at 12:40 PM
Galarraga should get a Pobody's Nerfect tattoo.
June 3, 2010 at 1:15 PM
BTW, the other thing lost in all this is that no one is talking about the RIDICULOUS catch that Austin Jackson made for the 1st out of that inning! Not quite on the Willie Mays level, but it was pretty sweet.
June 3, 2010 at 1:38 PM
RTS - I laughed out loud at that the "Pobody's Nerfect" comment.
MCA - Agreed, all this outrage over a f'ing baseball game. Makes sense.
June 3, 2010 at 5:44 PM
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