This is for you: Youth League Coach who argues with officials, and you College Sports Super fan who blasts student athletes on message boards.
Two men faced a major controversy and remembered that, even Major League Baseball is just a game.
The mess began when a ground ball came off the bat of Cleveland Indians No. 9 hitter Jason Donald. The ball was to the right of Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrerra and starting pitcher Armando Galarraga had to hurry to first base to cover.
Cabrerra shoveled the ball to Galarraga, who caught the ball while beating Donald to the bag. Replays showed Donald was clearly out. However, umpire Jim Joyce didn’t have the benefit of the replay and called Donald safe.
There’s no doubt the veteran ump has blown calls before. Even the best umps make mistakes on the most obvious calls. However, Joyce picked the worst possible moment for a blunder.
Galarraga had retired the first 26 Indians he faced with two outs in the ninth. All that stood between him and an elusive perfect game was Joyce.
“I just cost that kid a perfect game. I thought he beat the throw. I was convinced he beat the throw, until I saw the replay,” Joyce said after the game.
Galarraga stared at Joyce in disbelief. Tigers manager Jim Leyland argued the call. When Galarraga got Trevor Crowe to ground out to end the game Leyland confronted Joyce again and many of the Tigers players also confronted Joyce. But Galarraga kept his cool.
“If I would have been Galarraga I would have been the first one in my face,” said Joyce. “But he never said a word to me.”
Galarraga stayed classy as the cameras rolled following the game.
“There’s no doubt he feels bad and terrible,” Galarraga said. “I have a lot of respect for the man. It takes a lot to say you’re sorry and to say in interviews he made a mistake.”
Joyce set the tone with his unprecedented gesture of sportsmanship. Joyce faced the media, which umpires don’t nomrally do, and quickly admitted he was wrong.
He didn’t have to meet with the media, or admit anything. He could have released a statement simply saying: “I stand by my call.” That’s really all any official owes anyone.
Still, Joyce showed a lot of guts by manning up an doing what’s right. It’s never a good feeling to admit you made a mistake, but the act nearly always garners respect. We are a forgiving nation. We know we aren’t perfect. We just ask that our leaders, our celebrities and our athletes remember that, too.
The biggest gaffes like President Bill Clinton’s infidelity and Mark McGwire’s performance enhancement could have been quickly forgiven with a ‘I messed up. My bad.’
Tigers fans read and listened to the reaction of the two men and were ready for them when Tigers and Indians played the next afternoon.
Major League Baseball had given Joyce the option of not working the game, but he decided to face the music of unruly Tiger fans. What he got was an ovation.
“When I walked out of the tunnel and got applause from the Tigers fans, I had to wipe the eyes,” he said.
The Tigers rewarded Galarraga’s near perfection with a new Corvette in a pre-game ceremony. Then, Leyland called on Galarraga to bring the lineup card to home plate where he met Joyce with a pat on the back. Joyce unsuccessfully fought back tears.
It wasn’t until that moment that I thought sportsmanship was dead. Routinely, I see the worst side of coaches, athletes, parents and grandparents.
None of the situations that cause those peope to act foolishly comes close to botching a perfect game. That call meant more to Galarraga and Joyce than all of the youth league championships in the country. It was more important than — gasp — even a high school football championship. Only 20 perfectos have been thrown in MLB history. Galarraga has been far from it, as he hadn’t thrown a complete game, shutout or no-hitter in his career. This moment meant everything.
Still, even Joyce and Galarraga — two professionals performing at the highest level, remembered sports is just a game.
Maybe from now on, the rest of us can remember that, too.
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Nate Olson is the Sports Editor for the Courier and can be reached at sports@bentoncourier.com or 315-8228 ext. 257.
