Armando Galarraga perfect through 7

[savafan]

3 perfect games in the same season before the all-star break...that's unprecedented.

[kaldaniels]

if it's any consolation more people will remember galaragga than bobby witt

[Hoosier Red]

You know the more I think about Kal, that's exactly the lesson in all of this. Joe Posnanski wrote about Gallaragga's grace and the more I think about it, he ends up ahead of Dallas Braden and Bobby Witt.

Getting a perfect game doesn't really mean anything. The Tigers don't get an extra win, He doesn't see his ERA drop an extra point because the game was perfect as opposed to a one hitter. Essentially it means he'd be in the record books.

There's value in that I'm sure, I'll likely never be in the record books for anything so I can't say I wouldn't print up the list of every perfect game and frame it.

But he's going to have a ball on his mantel signifying the "almost" perfect game. And his kids will see it and know that their dad really threw a perfect game. And the kids kids and kids grandkids. And say 80 years from now, the story will have been passed down 2-3 generations of Gallaraga's and the story teller will explain why there's still a ball for an "almost" perfect game. The best part of the story is that after Gallaraga's son tells his grandson about the blown call. He'll get to say, you know what he did after that blown call when everyone was losing their minds? He smiled, shrugged and got the next guy out.

Even Dallas Braden won't have a story that cool.

[Falls City Beer]

It's a team sport. His team won. Galarraga gets that.

[blumj]

if it's any consolation more people will remember galaragga than bobby witt

Sure, they'll remember him, but they still won't remember how to spell his name.

[dabvu2498]

You know the more I think about Kal, that's exactly the lesson in all of this. Joe Posnanski wrote about Gallaragga's grace and the more I think about it, he ends up ahead of Dallas Braden and Bobby Witt.

Getting a perfect game doesn't really mean anything. The Tigers don't get an extra win, He doesn't see his ERA drop an extra point because the game was perfect as opposed to a one hitter. Essentially it means he'd be in the record books.

There's value in that I'm sure, I'll likely never be in the record books for anything so I can't say I wouldn't print up the list of every perfect game and frame it.

But he's going to have a ball on his mantel signifying the "almost" perfect game. And his kids will see it and know that their dad really threw a perfect game. And the kids kids and kids grandkids. And say 80 years from now, the story will have been passed down 2-3 generations of Gallaraga's and the story teller will explain why there's still a ball for an "almost" perfect game. The best part of the story is that after Gallaraga's son tells his grandson about the blown call. He'll get to say, you know what he did after that blown call when everyone was losing their minds? He smiled, shrugged and got the next guy out.

Even Dallas Braden won't have a story that cool.

[bucksfan2]

Even Dallas Braden won't have a story that cool.

Don't know. 20 years after the fact Tom Browning is known as Mr. Perfect. More people in Cincy probably know that he threw a prefect game than had child support issues. Type Tom Browning into Google and the first drop down is "perfect game" the second is "Cincinnati Reds" in the third is "arrested." Perfect games live on forever, near misses don't.

[RedsBaron]

Do what is right, do the right thing.

This doesn’t call for instant replay. The perpetrator admitted guilt, the video and still photo’s support the confession. Do what is right and give the victim, the pitcher his once in a lifetime, perfect game. Case closed, media go away. The record books have some integrity, win/win.

The more I have thought about it, the more I am leaning in the direction of wanting Bud Selig to do exactly that.
I know, I know---the "horror" of setting a precedent, of "changing statistics" (as if the PEDs era didn't do that), of violating the supposed rule against "do-overs."
I keep thinking of the George Brett "pine tar" game from 1983. Brett was called out-game over, but there was a "do-over," the call was overturned, and the game resumed several weeks later, with Brett's HR being the game winner after the Yankees failed to score in the ninth. Yes, this wasn't an identical situation, and yes, the Royals had filed an appeal, but it was still a reversal, days or weeks later, of an umpire's decision, and in that case it resulted in the game having to reconvene unlike the Galarraga situation.
No one disputes that Joyce blew the call and that Galarraga should have been credited with a perfect game.
The situation as is denies Galarraga what he earned and also subjects Joyce to the stigma of being the umpire who blew a call and denied a kid a perfect game.
Galarraga and Joyce are both worthy of praise and admiration for how they have reacted and behaved following this incident. Galarraga has been gracious and Joyce has been repentant and honest. I would like to see Galarraga get what he deserved and Joyce to get somewhat off the hook for an unfortunate mistake.

[blumj]

Don't know. 20 years after the fact Tom Browning is known as Mr. Perfect. More people in Cincy probably know that he threw a prefect game than had child support issues. Type Tom Browning into Google and the first drop down is "perfect game" the second is "Cincinnati Reds" in the third is "arrested." Perfect games live on forever, near misses don't.

This one will, though, because it wasn't just a near miss, it was a huge blunder of a miss, and those live forever, too.

[savafan]

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=5246454

Commissioner Bud Selig has the power to reverse umpire Jim Joyce's missed call that came with two outs in the ninth inning Wednesday night in Detroit. Joyce ruled Cleveland's Jason Donald safe, then admitted he got it wrong and tearfully apologized in person to the pitcher.

Joyce showed up to work Thursday in Detroit, looking as if he hadn't slept. He appreciated the outpouring of support from umpires, family and friends but lamented strangers lashing out at his wife and children.

"I wish my family was out of this," Joyce said, holding back tears as he spoke nearly two hours before the Cleveland Indians-Detroit Tigers series finale. "I wish they would direct it all to me. It's a big problem. My wife is a rock. My kids are very strong. They don't deserve this."

More at link

[The Operator]

Ahh, threats to the family and kids. Some people take this stuff WAY too seriously. It was a terrible call, but no one's lives should be getting threatened over this.

[OnBaseMachine]

Ahh, threats to the family and kids. Some people take this stuff WAY too seriously. It was a terrible call, but no one's lives should be getting threatened over this.

Agreed. Harassing his wife and kids, and even Joyce himself is ridiculous. I'm a diehard fan too but I could never do anything like that.

[Hoosier Red]

Don't know. 20 years after the fact Tom Browning is known as Mr. Perfect. More people in Cincy probably know that he threw a prefect game than had child support issues. Type Tom Browning into Google and the first drop down is "perfect game" the second is "Cincinnati Reds" in the third is "arrested." Perfect games live on forever, near misses don't.

Yeah, but no one outside of Cincinnati cares about Tom Browning. So my guess is Tiger fans will remember Gallaraga with the same fondness that we remember Browning's perfecto.

By the by, I can only think of one other "not-perfect but perfect" game that matches this in signifigance. As a test, I typed Harvey Haddix into the Google search box and the first drop down is perfect game. I hope Gallaraga's results are the same 50 years from now.

[IslandRed]

Some of the other guys beat me to my point. I don't remember half the perfect games in baseball history off the top of my head, but I remember why Harvey Haddix and Pedro Martinez don't have one, and I'll remember Galarraga's too.

[savafan]

What would Commissioner Landis do?