Jim Joyce is human. He made a tough call last night on that ground ball to first base which ended the perfect game for Armando Galarraga with two outs in the ninth inning. I am not saying he made the right call but I’m not saying he made a bad call either. Everyone else is saying that and that is their opinion while mine is he made the wrong call. We all do sometime.
It has been less than 12 hours since this all took place and there have been numerous stories popping up about how he blew history. His Wikipedia page was vandalized. I’m sure he had to change his cell phone number already. No offense to the city of Detroit but I can guarantee there has been a death threat or two. The website firejimjoyce.com was created.
Why do I think he deserves a break? He clearly knows he messed up and he did not make the call he did to put himself in the forefront. He wept after the game knowing that he robbed Galarraga of a piece of history. Do you think Joe West wept after tossing out Mark Buehrle after calling two bogus balks? Do you think Bill Hohn wept after tossing out Roy Oswalt only later to find out Oswalt was mad at himself? I doubt it.
People are saying he should be fired, suspended, thrown out of baseball. I think we need more like him. Every umpire has made at least one bad call along the way, some many. That is part of the human element of the game and it is inevitable. It was unfortunate that Joyce’s came when history was about to be made.
Here is the real sad part. When officials or referees make bad calls in other sports that can affect outcomes, they are bailed out by instant replay. If instant replay were part of baseball, that call would no doubt have been overruled and Galarraga would have gotten his perfect game. Will this instance be the deciding factor for bringing in replay to baseball? I don’t know.
Joyce is a model umpire for the game of baseball. He has worked two All-Star games, seven Division Series, four League Championship series and two World Series. He obviously knows what he is doing. Someone like West should take note of what Joyce did after the game as West is more concerned about selling his hillbilly CD that the integrity of baseball.
When Joyce takes the field this afternoon in Detroit, he should get a standing ovation for his actions and statements when it was all said and done because it was rare. The egos of umpires, officials and referees are out of control and Joyce showed that he is above that. And above that I mean a human with feelings.
I’m not sure how I would feel if I were in Galarraga’s shoes. I know there would be disappointment, there has to be. He handled it as classy as possible as he said afterward that mistakes happen. After Joyce personally apologized, Galarraga gave Joyce a hug. He was denied a spot in history and gave the man who was responsible a hug.
I’m rooting for that kid the rest of his career because as much of a class act Joyce is, Galarraga stands on the same podium.