EXTRA INNINGS A Life Lesson from Armando Galarraga and Jim Joyce

June 2nd, 2010. . Detroit, Michigan. vs. . Armando Galarraga, a 28-year-old Venezuelan, was on the mound for Detroit. Jim Joyce, the best umpire in the Majors according to an ESPN Magazine poll of players, was the first-base umpire. Galarraga, cruising along with a masterful pitching performance, was throwing a perfect game with 2 outs in the 9th inning. In the thousands of previous games, there had been only 20 perfect games. (A perfect game is one where the has allowed no one to reach base via base hit, walk or an error.) Twenty-six straight batters retired, one to go. Ground ball to the right side of the infield. The first baseman fielded it and threw to Galarraga covering first base. The runner was clearly out, but umpire Jim Joyce inexplicably called him safe. Galarraga’s perfect game erased. Sports Illustrated called it one of "most absurd injustices in the history of ". Watch this at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vM7sEmAidcI 17,000 fans knew it was a horrible call and let Joyce know it. Even the batter knew he didn’t beat the throw. The other umpires later told Joyce they thought he missed it. Within 2 hours his wife and kids at his home in Beaverton, Oregon received over 50 threats on social media, including death threats. But there was one person who didn’t join in on the verbal attack—Armando Galarraga. His reaction to the call was a smile of disbelief, then he turned and walked to the mound to get his 1-hit shutout. No stomping, yelling or cursing. After the game, Galarraga responded to a reporter’s question by saying, “the umpire probably feels more bad than me. Nobody's perfect. Everybody's human. I understand. I want to tell him not to worry about it”. Jim Joyce was sure he was right until he got to the clubhouse and saw the replay. He was beside himself as he saw that he had blown the call, and through tears admitted to a group of reporters that he had made a mistake that “cost that kid a perfect game”. He asked Detroit officials if he could apologize to Galarraga in person. A few minutes later the Tiger’s General Manager came to the umpires' room with Galarraga. The best umpire in the majors was crying as he apologized in Spanish and English. Galarraga walked up to Joyce, hugged him, forgave him and said, "We are all human. Don’t worry about it". After a sleepless night, Joyce faced the music the next day and took his place as the home plate umpire for the game. It is customary for the manager or coach of each team to go to home plate and give their lineup cards to the umpire crew. In a classy gesture, , the Detroit manager, sent Galarraga to do this task. He and Joyce shook hands. Jim Joyce teared up again, and they gave each other a pat on the back and started the game. Watch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRxEF-V4fio Jim Joyce, a man of integrity, honesty, and character “manned up”, admitting his error without making excuses. Armando Galarraga likewise showed class and character in a very unfortunate situation, forgiving the one who had wronged him. These 2 men demonstrated something bigger than baseball, bigger than a perfect game. Pete Aman 5/21/19