Armando Galarraga: Not Perfect, But Divine

"To err is human, to forgive divine" -- Proverb

If you aren't a baseball fan, then this column probably won't be terribly interesting. But I will tell you (at the end, after you click through) a magnificent video of Alan Moore's The Watchmen done as a 1980's Saturday Morning Cartoon.

The facts: We've had an odd slew of perfect games the last year and a half. Mark Buehrle threw a perfecto last August 23rd. Dallas Braden, previously only known for ripping into Alex Rodriguez, joined the elite club on May 9th. Even more recently, Roy Halladay tossed a perfect game on May 29th. To put all of this in perspective, Halladay's gem was the 20th perfect game ever thrown, going back to the 1870's. A better statistician than I could calculate the odds against three such games being pitched happening so quickly.... And it almost got even more ridiculous.

Armando Galaraga is a pitcher for the Tigers with less than two dozen lifetime wins. Yesterday (June 3rd), he seemed poised to become #21 as he retired the first 26 batters. He induced Cleveland's Jason Donald to hit into a relatively routine grounder. Umpire Jim Joyce called the runner safe, ending the bid for perfection (and for a no hitter). Instant replays, however, clearly show that Donald was out.

There has been, unsurprisingly, a bit of an outcry about all of this. Some fans think the call should be overturned by the commissioner, whereas other fans think that Jim Joyce's head should be placed on a high post outside Comerica Park. Joyce's mistake has been dubbed by some sportswriters as the worst blown call of all time

As interested as I am in baseball, I'm more interested in people. Bill Joyce's response to the incident was in my mind even more unusual that a blown call of that magnitude. He admitted he was wrong. "It was the biggest call of my career," he told reporters, "and I kicked the **** out of it. I just cost that kid a perfect game." In tears, he received permission to speak to Galarraga after the game and apologized in person.

Most umpires, when they blow calls, are unrepentant. Doug Eddings, for example, made an unquestionably bad call in the 2005 National League Championship Series regarding a dropped third strike. Replays clearly showed he was wrong; his reaction? "We saw a couple different angles, and if you watch it, the ball changes direction, so I don't see how you guys can say it's clearly a caught ball." He was the only observer of the replay video to feel this way.

My point? Joyce made a mistake. He acknowledged it and apologized without being asked. He showed obvious emotion and regret. Even more notably, Galarraga accepted the apology. "You don't see an umpire after the game come out and say, 'Hey, let me tell you I'm sorry,' " Galarraga told reporters. "He felt really bad. He didn't even shower."

Leaving aside Joyce's personal hygiene, Galarraga's choice to take the high road - and the human road - impresses me more than his near-perfection on the mound. Before today's game, Joyce and Galarraga met at home plate and shook hands.

Given Galarraga's grace, one might hope that fans would be as forgiving....but that's not the case. They've begun targeting his wife and kids. "I wish my family was out of this," Joyce told reporters. "I wish they would direct it all to me. It's a big problem. My wife is a rock. My kids are very strong. They don't deserve this." I'll leave the last word to my sportswriting idol, Rob Neyer:

"So, enough with the death threats and the Wikipedia vandalism and everything in between. If, in the clear light of the next day, you're actively demonizing Jim Joyce, you've got far bigger problems than being deprived of a perfect game. Find a free clinic. Get some help."

Luckily, Rob Neyer's insights into psychology are better than my own insights into baseball.

And - to those non-baseball fans who stuck through:

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