An imperfect moment in time
The moment: Armando Galarraga, Jim Joyce and Jason Donald
Armando Galarraga seems to have pitched a perfect game for Detroit 16 years ago today, but that is before first-base umpire Jim Joyce inexplicably calls Cleveland’s Jason Donald safe on an infield groundout-turned-hit with two outs in the ninth inning.
Television replays clearly show Donald is out, but that does not matter as Major League Baseball will not fully adopt instant replay reviews and challenges for another four years in 2014.
The moment after the imperfect moment
Galarraga then retires Trevor Crowe on another grounder to complete a 3-0 shutout and the most disappointing one-hitter in baseball history.
No one, though, is more disappointed than Joyce, whose call costs Galarraga his otherwise just place in history before a Wednesday night crowd of 17,738 in Detroit.
For his part, Galarraga feels bad not for himself but for Joyce, whom he briefly sees in passing after the game.
“I saw a guy who still feels terrible,” Galarraga gracefully tells MLB.com in 2020 on the 10th anniversary of his almost-perfect game. “(Joyce) had his head down and said he was sorry. I put myself in his shoes.
“I was trying to think of how we can focus on the solution and not the problem. Let’s not point fingers,” Galarraga says. “You have to understand: Don't erase a guy’s 25-year career for one mistake. We all make mistakes. I understand how professional he is. He has a lot of respect from a lot of players, all the strength that he had, all this experience. He had a lot of pressure on his shoulders.
The next day’s pregame lineup exchange
“And in that position, for me everything was flowers, for him everything was negative. A lot of people said really negative stuff. We clicked at that point. We didn’t know at that point the news was going to be so big.”
The news continues the next day as Tigers manager Jim Leyland sends Galarraga — rather than himself or a coach — to home plate for the pregame lineup exchange.
The plate umpire that day is Jim Joyce.
He and Galarraga end the pregame meeting with an embrace.
A perfect end to an imperfect moment.
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