Galarraga walking away in disbelief that the MLB can accept such malarkey as reasonable functionality
The history of a game between the Indians and Tigers that occurred June 2nd, 2010 could be read a whole lot differently and with better spirits than it will be written. Two men will forever go into the record books with blemishes on their record, one much more egregious than the other.
A single play at a base isn’t always reason to completely rethink the approach to integrating technologies into a game whose professional history runs deep into the 19th century. I just don’t think it’s correct to accept the idea that human error is a part of the game when it comes to the rules that govern that game. We have the ability to implement these technologies, they merely need expansion.
Armando Galarraga pitched 8.2 innings of perfect baseball before Jim Joyce ruled that Jason Donald was safe at first when Miguel Cabrera threw to his pitcher covering the bag. The fans at the stadium, the home audience, and Jason Donald himself knew that Galarraga had beat him with the baseball to first, but Joyce had seen otherwise. Instant replay, a technology used for television broadcasts and large-scale stadium displays for decades, was able to show the fans at home the play again from multiple angles in slow motion, furthering the idea that Donald was out.
After the game had ended and Galarraga finished with a complete game shutout having given up one hit, Joyce eventually apologized to the pitcher whom he had robbed of a historic outing. He said that he was sure he’d made the right call until he saw the video replay. That quote alone should tell Major League Baseball that there’s a problem with this situation; the umpire was able to see that he had made a terrible mistake, a monumental error, through his obviously incorrect call. The real problem is that it wasn’t even close at the base, and the ramifications are enormous.
Had some larger-scale instant replay system been in place, this uproar could have been avoided. Jim Leyland or Manny Acta could have come out of their dugouts and approached the officiating staff asking for a review of the play. 10 seconds of watching the recording of the play at 1st, even at full speed, could have salvaged the perfect game. We could have stopped having this dreaded conversation, been unaware of Jim Joyce’s existence, and moved on with our lives.
Instead, Jim Joyce has to feel remorse that he blew an obvious call and, in his own words, “cost that kid a perfect game.” Joyce will now have that hanging over his head for the rest of his life. Galarraga was unable to throw a perfect game, which would have made it the 2nd in less than a week’s time, and the 3rd in less than a month. I’m concerned because this could have been monumental, there hasn’t been two perfect games in the same season since 1880 before this season, and this could have been the third in the same season. Such feats will most likely never been achieved again, which is why this ordeal strikes me as offensive.
Rather than having a realistic outcome to this situation, we have to wonder when the MLB is going to stop rejecting technology like a bastard child. They need to accept the fact that it is unreasonable that someone watching the game from hundreds (if not thousands) of miles away can better judge a play at first base. I find it outright disrespectful to the players in professional baseball, as well as the owners and especially the fans, that Galarraga’s perfect game can be shrugged off with the notion that “nobody’s perfect.” Considering what was up for grabs here, that’s downright despicable.
You sir, are an idiot.
I made what I consider to be a pretty valid point, what’s idiotic about what I said? I’d like some elaboration, because a statement such as that should be backed up.
I just had this conversation yesterday. And as a disclaimer, I’m NOT a baseball fan (I find it exceedingly boring, and only watch when I have insomnia). That said, I’m intelligent enough to understand the benefit of Instant Replay, and further understand why it’s not only a good idea, but should AWLAYS be available in the case of a dispute.
To have instant replay available and choose to stubbornly refuse to allow it is asinine. Yes, Baseball is the Holy Game Of America, but c’mon, people — we’re in the friggin’ 21ST CENTURY!!! What is this obsession with hanging on to outdated, unfair methodologies simply because That’s The Way They’ve Done It Since The Early 20th Century? Why should ANYONE be robbed of a valid, hard-earned achievement because people with their heads in the sand would rather stubbornly cling to Olden Tymes? Would ANYONE who experienced the early days of the internet with dial-up service go back to such antiquated technology now that broadband is readily available? Should we all refuse to buy digital cameras (or ditch the ones we already have) because people have been using film for many decades longer than digital cameras have been in existence? Should horse races give up on technology to rule on a “photo finish” and instead rely upon some guy who might have gotten a bug in his eye at the exact moment two nose-to-nose horses cross the finish line? It’s hard to believe that anyone would support such ass-backwards thinking, but that’s EXACTLY what’s happening with the IR issue in baseball.
This very debate is utterly ludicrous; there is absolutely NO logical, reasonable explanation to knowingly refuse to allow modern technology where the use of such technology can insure ACCURACY to everyone’s benefit. Sure, let the umps make the best calls they can (as the refs do in football, for example), but in the rare case of a close call, let the teams have a certain number of instant-replay views per game (to prevent a situation where EVERY call has to go to IR, just as they do in football), or in some other way design the rule to make the IR as fair as possible to BOTH teams (the suggestion that IR shouldn’t be allowed because it will add even MORE time to an already-snail’s-pace sport is just plain silly; adding another minute or two isn’t going to ruin anyone’s day, and is beyond question worth the minuscule amount of time to Get It Right). I’ve also heard the argument that allowing IR is basically admitting that humans are fallible. Well, guess what…THEY ARE!!!! And that’s exactly why Gallaraga had a perfect game (and other record) needlessly stolen from him.
To knowingly allow baseball players to have their hard-earned achievements be utterly stolen from them is a disservice to the players, the fans, and the entire sport. I look forward to hearing a LOGICAL reason for refusing to allow IR, but am confident that such a reason simply doesn’t exist (I encourage any one of you to prove me wrong). And this stubborn refusal to embrace the 21st Century and instead cherish completely wrong, career-damaging calls is one more reason that there won’t be any baseball on MY television (unless I’m having trouble sleeping, of course).