Inside the Majors

The beauty of statistics and sports is that, as fans, we can quantify perfection.  No instance holds truer than that of the perfect game, 9 innings without allowing a walk or hit.  Throughout the lengthy annals of Major League Baseball, there have only been 20 to date.   By comparison, there have only been 19 Presidents of the United States since the same date in 1901.  Thus you can see why it is so tragic a blown call by apologetic umpire Jim Joyce, cost Detroit Tigers’ pitcher Armando Galarraga a chance at history.  Galarraga made quick work of the Cleveland Indians through 8 and 2/3 innings until a soft struck grounder off the bat of Jason Donald culminated in a bang-bang play at first.  Slow motion replay clearly shows the ball settling into Galarraga’s glove a half-step before Donald reaches 1^st base.  The subsequent batter grounded out to conclude what should have been an unusual 28 out start. 

The question posed to baseball commissioner Bud Selig: can and should he overturn an obvious mistake?  Joyce has come out and admitted he simply blew the call followed by a tearful personal apology to Galarraga.  The situation is unique because any reversal would not alter the outcome of the game, as Galarraga finished out the game with no further blemishes to his clean sheet.  Baseball traditionalists argue that human error has always been and should always be a part of the game, but why deny a 28 year old young man, with otherwise unremarkable major league credentials a chance at greatness?   Sure, this game, arguably even more than other perfect games, will live in the memories of fans forever, but to see your name etched into the record books side by side with the legends of yesteryear is an experience Galarraga, though deserving, may never experience.

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