The very definition of robbed

[Bando]

For those who are living in a cave and haven't seen, Armando Galarraga of Detroit threw a perfect game tonight. Except the ump botched the last out and he instead got a 1 hit shutout. The umpire even apologized after seeing the replay. This has gotta sting.

Video here: deadspin.com/5553970/armando-galarraga-absolutely-robbed-of-a-perfect-game

[tashoya]

I saw that last night as a break-in to the game I was watching. Horrendous. The umpire should be suspended. He's got one job in that situation and he royally crapped it.

[tashoya]

As an addendum, Galarraga apparently went over and hugged Joyce because he felt bad for the UMP! Classy kid.

[The Stig]

To be fair, Joyce actually went to Galarraga and apologized after he'd seen the replay. But Galarraga was indeed a true class act about it all night.

You feel bad for the kid, and you feel bad for the ump (who by all accounts is an excellent ump), but what can you do? To me this is certainly a lot less egregious than the recent cases where umpires have been creating confrontations and throwing people out of games just to satisfy their own ego. Stuff like that is unacceptable. At least this was a simple honest mistake. A major mistake for sure, but still nothing more than that.

I don't always agree with Curt The Walking Ego Schilling, but I think his take on this is pretty accurate: espn.go.com/mlb/notebook/_/page/bbtn100603/baseball-tonight-clubhouse

[PhillyHoya]

If you were Joyce, you give the kid the call no matter what. Even if the guy was safe by a foot instead of the other way around. Sometimes you have to throw someone a bone after 8 2/3 of perfect ball.

[hoyarooter]

Jun 3, 2010 10:22:52 GMT -5 PhillyHoya said:

If you were Joyce, you give the kid the call no matter what. Even if the guy was safe by a foot instead of the other way around. Sometimes you have to throw someone a bone after 8 2/3 of perfect ball.

Have to disagree with this. If the runner is safe, he's safe. You can't gift a pitcher a perfect game. Of course, in this case, the runner was out.

This was really unfortunate, but in some respects, it will make Gallaraga a more memorable player than if he had been given credit for the perfecto. Everyone remembers Harvey Haddix, and Gallaraga will be remembered in the same vein - the perfect game that wasn't. More people will remember him than, say, Len Barker.

Class move by Joyce to apologize. Don Denkinger should take note.

[TBird41]

joeposnanski.com/JoeBlog/2010/06/02/the-lesson-of-jim-joyce/

[Jack]

Gotta say, blown call excepted, everyone involved in this situation has handled themselves exceptionally well (well, except for Gov. Granholm making a ridiculous proclamation - what's next, she declares the Lions were 16-0 last year?). As usual, Joe Posnanski has a wonderful take on the situation:

joeposnanski.si.com/2010/06/02/the-lesson-of-jim-joyce/

[Nevada Hoya]

Jun 3, 2010 9:51:01 GMT -5 The Stig said:

You feel bad for the kid, and you feel bad for the ump (who by all accounts is an excellent ump), but what can you do? To me this is certainly a lot less egregious than the recent cases where umpires have been creating confrontations and throwing people out of games just to satisfy their own ego. Stuff like that is unacceptable. At least this was a simple honest mistake. A major mistake for sure, but still nothing more than that.
quote]

An example of the umpire acting to satisfy his own ego might be the case yesterday during the the national junior college baseball championships. Bryce Harper of the College of Southern Nevada, and probably the first to be picked in the major league draft (by Washington), was called out on strikes. He didn't say a thing, but apparently drew a line in the dirt with his bat. I guess that is a case of showing up the ump, so he dramatically threw him out of the game. The replay showed the ball six inches too far inside to be called a strike. Since Harper had one previous game in which he was thrown out, he has to sit the next two games. Consequently, his college career might be over, unless his team can rally in the losers division. The series has been getting a lot of coverage because of Harper, and the ump probably saw his chance to make a name for himself.

[jerseyhoya34]

NV - I think more than a few umps would eject a hitter for doing something like that.

[hifigator]

The talk down here is whether and if Selig should change the call. He has the authority to do that and will make an announcement later today. As of now, it is just speculation over what he will say, but it wouldn't surprise me for him to change the call. I see the obvious problems with this. In general I am pretty strongly against changing things after the facts. Stripping teams of wins, coaches of victories, players of awards after the fact is typically a shallow and ineffective action. In this particular case however, I don't have a problem with it. This was the very last out and he was out. So the game ended. Whatever happened after that is irrelevant. I draw a big distinction between this and when a seemingly harmless infeld single is bobbled but ruled a hit, only to several innings later be the only blemish on an otherwise no-hitter. For that matter, if this exact same thing had happened in the 8th innnint, then I don't think you could change it. Pretend that the play was in the 8th, but then unfolded as it did, with Gallaraga retiring the next batter for the 3rd out in the 8th and then went on to pitche a perfect ninth. While it might be just a painful to have missed perfection by a blown call, there's no way of knowing that it would have unfolded the same way had the call not been missed. Gallaraga might have been nervous in the 9th. Or maybe coming up in a slightly different order, the pitching sequence would have been different. The batting strategy would have been different etc... I just don't think you could come in and change something in that situation, even though you might sentimentally like to. But in this particular situation, I think you can justify changing the call, most likely forever linking Gallaraga and an asterisk.

[jerseyhoya34]

Here's one - what happens if the next hitter in the 9th inning got a legitimate hit?

[hifigator]

That would have been a tougher situation for sure. Or even worse, suppose the next guy walked and then the following guy hit a three run dinger. Now we are tied at 3 for a game that "already ended." That would certainly complicate things. And in that case, it would certainly be tougher for Selig to justify changing the ruling. Can you imagine how people would feel if not only did the blown call cost the kid the perfect game, but if it opened the door and led to an Indian comeback win. That would be a mess.

[hifigator]

I heard that Joyce is working behind the plate today and that the Tigers had Gallaraga take out the official scorecard, to a standing ovation. I think it would be kind of funny to have him argue the first close call. They always talk about how some managers get kicked out of games to fire up their team. Well if Gallaraga were to go out there and get tossed, I think that would fire up the team and the fans for sure.

[sleepyjackson21]

Better than perfect in my book. 28 up and 28 down. Well done.

[Nevada Hoya]

Jun 3, 2010 13:25:12 GMT -5 @jerseyhoya34 said:

NV - I think more than a few umps would eject a hitter for doing something like that.

I guess so. But I don't follow baseball these days except for one or two players, so I don't know the protocol. Heck, I even had to ask my brother-in-law what a walk off home run is. It turned out to be what I knew as a game winning home run.

[hifigator]

I still think they should have had Gallaraga go out and argue the first close call. That would have been hilarious for him to continue complaining and ultimately to get tossed.

[TBird41]

Jun 3, 2010 14:37:43 GMT -5 Nevada Hoya said:

Jun 3, 2010 13:25:12 GMT -5 @jerseyhoya34 said:

NV - I think more than a few umps would eject a hitter for doing something like that.

I guess so. But I don't follow baseball these days except for one or two players, so I don't know the protocol. Heck, I even had to ask my brother-in-law what a walk off home run is. It turned out to be what I knew as a game winning home run.

Yeah, Nevada, that's a pretty egregious breach of protocol by Harper and was pretty much meant to show up the umpire. If he was pointing to where he thought the pitch was, there might be more of a case, but there are very few umpires, especially in amateur ball that wouldn't toss someone for drawing a line like that.

[hifigator]

On the Harper issue, I would need to see the footage. If he sort of quietly drew the line as he then continued on to the dugout, then I don't think he should have been tossed. Umpires have to remember that as the season nears the end, emotions run higher. The importance of each game and each play for that matter is intensified. So it's only natural to be a little more ticked off on a questionable call. Again, without seeing it, I can't say for sure, but unless he was very demonstrative or vocal, then I don't think he should have been tossed.

[Nevada Hoya]

Exactly, what does drawing the line mean in this case? Also, the umpire made a grand gesture in ejecting Harper. Was Harper's gesture so egregious that it merited the umpire's show? Harper's team lost yesterday, so his amateur career is over. They lost 9-8, when one of their players lost a fly ball in the sun, which if caught, would have been the last out. I guess the next batter hit a "walk-off" home run. Harper's suspension did not help at all, and you could argue with him in there they could have won that game and maybe the game before. Now we will never know. But you DC residents should expect something special, if he can manage to stay in the game.