Armando Galarraga - Nobodys Perfect: Two Men, One Call, and a Game for Baseball History

NOBODYS PERFECT

TWO MEN, ONE CALL, AND A GAME FOR BASEBALL HISTORY

ARMANDO GALARRAGA
JIM JOYCE
WITH DANIEL PAISNER

Copyright 2011 by Armando Galarraga, Jim Joyce, and Daniel Paisner

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Published simultaneously in Canada
Printed in the United States of America

FIRST EDITION

eBook ISBN-13: 978-0-8021-9559-3

Atlantic Monthly Press
an imprint of Grove/Atlantic, Inc.
841 Broadway
New York, NY 10003

Distributed by Publishers Group West

www.groveatlantic.com

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My part of this book is written especially for my family. They are the ones who believe in me, no matter what.
A.G.

To Kay, Jimmy, and Keri, for their undying LOVE and SUPPORT. To Ellouise and Jim Joyce, my mom and dad... I miss you, Dad! To Tim, Amy, Christopher, Julia, and Jessica. To Armando Galarraga, who is the real story here. To Marty Springstead, for making me the umpire I am today. To the umpires of Major League Baseball, for their support. To Nick, for your inspiration and perspective... spilt milk?
JJ.

To my childrenJake, Hana, and Rose. May the examples of these good men stand as a reminder that, sometimes, humanity happens.
D.P.

From the benches, black with people, there went up a muffled roar, Like the beating of the storm-waves on a stern and distant shore. Kill him! Kill the umpire! shouted someone on the stand; And its likely theyd a-killed him had not Casey raised his hand.

Ernest Thayer, Casey at the Bat

ARMANDO GALARRAGA
My Blessings

JIM JOYCE
Tossing, Turning

ARMANDO GALARRAGA
Caracas

JIM JOYCE
Toledo

ARMANDO GALARRAGA
Rinoceronte

JIM JOYCE
Heading Home

ARMANDO GALARRAGA
Tommyjohn

JIM JOYCE
Fly-Away Arms

ARMANDO GALARRAGA
Like a Video Game

JIM JOYCE
Business as Usual

ARMANDO GALARRAGA
Up and Down

JIM JOYCE
Catch/No-Catch

ARMANDO GALARRAGA
I Can Only Smile

JIM JOYCE
Explosion

ARMANDO GALARRAGA
Big Belly

JIM JOYCE
Safe at Home

APPENDIX
Box Score

On June 2, 2010, Detroit Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga retired the first twenty-six batters he faced in a game against the Cleveland Indians at Comerica Park in Detroit. The twenty-eight-year-old Venezuelan was making only his fourth appearance of the season and hoping to reestablish himself in the Tigers rotation after starting the year with the Toledo Mud Hens, the Tigers Triple-A affiliate, so it felt to him like he needed to make an especially strong showing.

And he was doing just that.

By the middle innings, even a casual fan could sense it was a magical, memorable night. Whatever Galarraga had been out to prove, he had already made his point. And now, as the ninth inning unfolded, he was poised to become just the twenty-first pitcher in the history of Major League Baseball to record a perfect gamea once-a-generation achievement that had somehow been accomplished twice in the previous month. The young pitcher had thrown a mere eighty pitchesonly eighteen of them out of the strike zone. His command was pitch-perfect; his confidence, off the charts.

If Galarraga had set out to show the Detroit Tigers that he could be a dominant pitcher, he had certainly succeeded, and now he was one out away from owning a special place in baseball history and securing his spot with the big club for the foreseeable future.

And then, Galarragas pitch for baseball immortality turned in an instant. Cleveland infielder Jason Donald hit a sharp grounder to the right side of the diamond. Detroit first baseman Miguel Cabrera fielded the ball cleanly and made a neat, soft toss to Galarraga, who had swiftly crossed to cover first. It seemed to the pitcher like he had beaten a hustling Jason Donald to the first-base bag, but first-base umpire Jim Joyce believed otherwise. He called the batter safe, setting in motion an angry swirl of second-guessing and hair pulling among the Detroit crowd.

In Joyces mind, just then, it wasnt even close.

Tiger manager Jim Leyland came out to argue the call. Tiger players screamed at Joyce from the dugout, from the field, from the bullpen. Only Galarraga appeared to take the call in stride, and he returned to the mound with a smile on his face that seemed incongruous with the bitter disappointment that filled the stadium. He said later that he was feeling too happy to feel too sad. But suddenly it was difficult for the young pitcher to focus. The ball no longer felt familiar in his grip, and the idea that he could go back to his game plan and make good things happen was now just out of reach. Still, he managed to coax Cleveland lead-off hitter Trevor Crowe to ground out to third baseman Brandon Inge to end the game, giving the pitcher a one-hit shutout and a cone of spotlight he couldnt think how to fill.

At the same time, veteran umpire Jim Joyce was thrust into a spotlight all his own. A dedicated and respected professional determined to leave his own mark on the game by getting it right each time out, Joyce had a sick feeling as he left the field that he might have just botched the most important call of his career. He ran the play over and over in his mind and worried he might have missed something. It gnawed at him, this worry, left him thinking he had just gotten in the way of history. He went from thinking the play wasnt even close in one direction, to thinking it wasnt even close in the other. He reviewed the play on tape and addressed the media immediately following the game, tearfully admitting he had missed the call and apologizing to Galarraga for erasing his bid for baseball immortality. This is a history call, Joyce told reporters after the game, and I kicked the shit out of it.

Over in the players locker room, Galarraga shrugged off Joyces call, saying, Nobodys perfect. He smiled as he said this, and he continued to smile as he met with reporters in the next hours, days, weeks. It never occurred to Galarraga to blame the umpire for costing him a perfect game. He was having too much fun, the young pitcher remarked in the games drawn-out aftermath, to let a small disappointment dampen his fine performance.

It wasnt about forgiveness, he said, because there was nothing to forgive. It was just one of the breaks of the game. Galarraga was merely grateful for the opportunity to shine on such an important stage, to show his teammates what he could do, and to make an argument for a long major league career. This was my best game so far, he said at one point, and he could only look ahead to more of the same, not back to what he could not change.