Yeah, I said it and I don’t care who agrees or
disagrees. It’s the truth, and that’s the way it is. The biggest issue here
isn’t even the call. Players, managers, and fans always have, and always will,
argue any call that they feel they were wronged on. The problem here is the
issue of perfection.
The issue was that the call would have been the last
out of a perfect game, and that’s why everyone is upset. If the call had come
in the third inning, people would have complained, but it would be a dead issue
and over with. If it happened to ruin a no-hitter, there would have been
complaints and arguments, but nothing more than normal day-to-day arguing about
baseball. If it had ruined a shutout, it would be forgotten about today.
The issue is that it would have been a perfect game,
and the call ‘ruined’ that. Because giving a pitcher a perfect game is much
more important than actually having an umpire get the call right.
There were many commentaries and comments that the
commissioner (I used lower case on purpose there) should have overturned the
call, and “given” the perfect game to Galaraga. How’s that? Give it to him?
That’s right? I don’t think so, not by a long shot. You don’t give ‘anything’
in baseball just because someone thinks it should be that way. If that’s true,
the ’85 Cardinals get to be World Series champs, the ’91 Braves won their
Series, and the ’69 Mets have to concede to the Orioles. Roger Maris has to
give back his MVP trophy and 61 homeruns because it should have gone to Mantle
instead.
Stupid, stupider and stupidest. We live in reality,
not in what we want reality to be. There are no do-over’s in baseball, or in
life. You get a second chance, but not a do-over. Just doesn’t work. Galaraga
doesn’t deserve the perfect game because he didn’t pitch one.
We are, however, dealing with just my opinion right
now, and even I don’t believe my opinion alone is strong enough to carry the
day. So, as they say, let’s go to the video.
Let’s start with the basics. Jim Joyce was in the
perfect position. He was exactly where he was supposed to be. He started the
play in perfect position, he moved into the perfect position after the ball was
hit, and he was in the perfect position to make the call. He was looking
straight on at the bag, the runner, and Galaraga’s glove. No complaints about
that one.
Second point everyone seems to forget. That was not a
routine play. It was hit into the hole between first and second, and Cabrera
had to go a long way to field it, and Galaraga had to get to the bag to make
the play. This was not an easy tapper back to the mound or an infield pop-up.
This was a difficult play and assuming the out just because it was a groundball
is asinine.
Thirdly, Miguel Cabrera, who was one of the most vocal
about the call, caused the call as much as anyone else. Cabrera should never
have fielded that ball. He’s not a good defensive first baseman to start with,
and he proved it. He was moving away from the bag, had to stop his momentum,
turn, and try to hit Galaraga on the run. Granted, he made a good play on it,
and the runner “could” have been out. Cabrera would have been better off
letting the ball go through to the second baseman, who was moving towards the
bag and had a better throw to make.
Now, those second and third points are not faults, and
did not cause Galaraga to lose the perfect game. They contributed to what
happened and different outcomes to either one of those could have definitively
decided the issue one way or the other, without leaving us such a close play to
call. I’m not blaming Cabrera. He made the play, and it was a good one, but it
wasn’t good enough. Because his throw came from a different angle, and the
angle of that throw, more than anything, enabled the batter to be safe.
Last point before we get to the heart of the matter.
Jim Joyce and his call. Watch the video at the .10 second mark. Look at Joyce’s
right hand. It appears to me that he starts to make a fist to call the out, and
then immediately goes into the spread to make the safe call. Something happened
to make Joyce go from the out call to the safe call immediately, and there was
no hesitation. He was in perfect position to make the call, started to make
what would have been a right call, and then went with what was the right call.
Look again at the .33 second mark, and see what you think.
Now, the reason Joyce went from making a possible out
call to a correct safe call? Easy. Galaraga never caught the ball until after
the runner passed the bag. The ball hit his glove, but he did not make a clean
catch and the runner was safe. Joyce started to call the runner out when he
though Galaraga caught the ball, and then called him safe when he saw that he
had not caught it cleanly. There is no fault here on Joyce for missing the
call, because he didn’t. There is fault here to Galaraga for not making the
play.
Start watching the video at the .09 second mark. After
it appears that Galaraga has caught the ball, and after the runner has crossed
the back, he jerks his left elbow up and bends his wrist into his body. Watch
it again. Watch it again starting at the .33 second mark. You’ll see it ever
more clearly. If you’ve ever played baseball, you know exactly why he did that.
For the most definitive look, start watching at the
1.26 mark. When his foot is on the bag and it appears he has caught the ball,
he hasn’t. You can clearly see the entire ball (well, half of the ball, just
like the moon) in the glove. That is not a catch. Just because the ball is
hidden by the glove does make a catch. The ball has to be secured in the glove,
not hidden from view from everyone but the umpire. That’s the point where Joyce
starts to make a fist, because he’s assuming the ball will be secured in the
glove.
But it isn’t. You can clearly see the ball loose in
the glove, and Galaraga hitches his arm up and turns the glove into his body to
snatch the ball and secure it. Again, if you’ve ever played baseball, you know
exactly what I’m talking about. By the time he secures the ball, the runner has
passed the base and is safe. Which is what Joyce called him, and it was an
excellent call. And exactly the right call.
I’m going to make a guess here, and I’ll be honest
it’s only that, but it sure looked to me as though Galaraga was doing his best
to sell that call, knowing full well he didn’t catch the ball cleanly. Not that
I blame him, I would have done the same. What I do blame Galaraga for is
knowing he didn’t catch the ball cleanly, yet letting his teammates and manager
continue to argue the call after the fact. It was completely unnecessary and
uncalled for.
By the way, kudos to Jim Leyland for being a complete
dick, as he usually is, after the game, and screaming at the umpires. Hey, Jim,
you won the game. Isn’t that the point?
I know that after the game, Jim Joyce came out and
said he blew the call. I don’t believe it. Mostly because MLB doesn’t allow
it’s umpires to comment on issues like this and any controversy in the games,
so the fact that he did it here is somewhat suspicious. I guessing again, but
I’m putting it down to the heat of the moment. When you have 30,000 fans and a
team screaming for your head, and the call’s been replayed several hundred
thousand times, the stress can get to anyone. Most people want to automatically
believe he screwed up the call, so that’s what they’ll do. No matter what he
said at the time, no one was going to buy it.
Joyce was fighting a lost cause, but I don’t believe
for a minute that he thinks he blew the call. He made it immediately and
clearly, no hesitation at all. He did everything right. The only problem is
that it wasn’t what everyone else wanted.
It would have been great if Galaraga had thrown a
perfect game. I’m all for that. The fact is, he didn’t, and he has no one to
blame but himself for not catching the ball correctly.
If you really want to be made at someone, be made at
the official scorekeeper for giving Jason McDonald a hit on the play. Even
though Galaraga and the throw beat the runner to the bag, the fact that he was
called safe should have been evidence that it was an error and not a hit.
Galaraga doesn’t have, and doesn’t deserve, a perfect game.
But he did lose out on a no-hitter. Don’t blame Jim
Joyce for that one.
