One of the worst calls in the history of sports has been cemented by possibly the worst decision in the history of sports. And somehow, I'm not surprised.
Bud Selig announced today that he will not overturn the call that ruined Armando Galarraga's perfect game last night, which adds another layer of incompetence to his inept regime as commissioner of MLB.
Jim Joyce, you messed up big time. But -- and I can't believe I'm saying this a night after I witnessed what I did -- Bud Selig, you just messed up even worse.
Pouring salt into a wound? Try shooting a bazooka into a fire pit.
This was a unique situation that should have been dealt with in a unique manner. A pitcher got robbed last night on the final out of the game. Galarraga knew it. Joyce knew it. Selig knew it. All the commissioner had to do was invoke the power that he had and overturn the call. Galarraga would have officially gotten what is rightfully his. Joyce would have been relieved of his egregious error and could have breathed easier for the rest of his life, knowing that the power of reason had prevailed and prevented his ineptness from denying a pitcher a piece of baseball immortality. It was the logical and correct decision.
Too logical, I guess, for clueless Bud.
This isn't the first time that Selig has been the poster boy for ineptitude in sports. Flash back to the 2002 MLB All-Star game in Milwaukee, where the game went into extra innings as both teams used up pitcher after pitcher. In the middle of the 11th inning, with each side having only one available pitcher left, AL manager Joe Torre and NL manager Bob Brenly met with Selig to discuss the situation. Selig ultimately determined that if the NL didn't score in the bottom half of the inning, the game would end in a tie. As the bottom of the frame progressed, the crowed booed mightily and serenaded the commissioner with chants of "Let them play! Let them play!" As the camera panned to Selig, the commissioner, in what will go down as one of the enduring images in all of baseball, responded with a pathetically comical shrug of the shoulders, epitomizing his utter incompetence and lack of command over the situation. The game ended in a tie.
Eight years later, who would've thought that that infamous All-Star game would be so mightily trumped by an even more egregious display of Selig's buffoonery?
Well, here we are.
Now, to those defending Selig's decision: sorry, but I'm not buying the "Pandora's box", "this would open up a can of worms," "where do you draw the line?" schtick. That's ridiculous. First, overturning this particular call would not have affected the outcome of the game. Second, this could have set the tide in motion for implementing a new and specific policy on instant replay... WHILE CORRECTING THIS PARTICULAR DEBACLE! Please tell me, what would've been so bad about correcting this call, acknowledging that the system currently in place is ill-equipped to deal with umpire error, and coming up with a workable policy to be used from here on out? Selig's already shown this innovative, quick-thinking spirit (well, for him, anyway) back in August 2008, when he implemented the current policy of instant replay for home runs. That went into effect immediately, to be used for the rest of the '08 season and the playoffs. Selig could've done a similar thing here.
He had the ball in his court -- a clear opportunity to right the wrong, to extricate the league from this quagmire.
But instead, Selig struck out...again.
What a coward.
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Jeff, like a lot of people, you seem to be outraged about this, whereas Armando Galarraga is not. I really enjoyed Joe Posnanski's post (http://joeposnanski.si.com/2010/06/02/the-lesson-of-jim-joyce/) commenting on Galarrag's class in the situation:
ReplyDelete""And when my young daughters ask, “Why didn’t he get mad and scream about how he was robbed?” I think I will tell them this: I don’t know for sure, but I think it’s because Armando Galarraga understands something that is very hard to understand, something we all struggle with, something I hope you will learn as you grow older: In the end, nobody’s perfect. We just do the best we can.""
Gallaraga knows he pitched a perfect game. So does everyone else. Perhaps the lesson here is not "there was a bad call and it should be corrected", but rather, "bad calls are a part of sports the same way mistakes are a part of life" -- we have to deal with them.
Plus: the dude was given a 2010 Corvette from the Tigers..
Undoubtedly, Galarraga showed major class in this situation and handled it with the utmost professionalism. You're definitely right about the fact that we all know that he pitched a perfect game (a 28-out perfect game, to boot), and that maybe that should be good enough.
ReplyDeleteBut my main gripe is this: it would be sooooo simple to just overturn the call. As I wrote in the blog, this is a unique situation that should be dealt with in a unique manner. Just overturn the call, and everyone goes home happy -- Galarraga, Joyce, and the fans. There would be no losers. Selig's equivocating and being like "Oh, yeah, we should definitely look into expanding instant replay" just makes him look indecisive and incompetent. MLB, like all pro sports leagues, needs bold, decisive leadership. Selig failed to provide that.
But yeah, getting that Corvette is not a bad consolation prize.
Plus having the Governor and a senator from Michigan vouch for you and introduce legislation to try to get the call overturned epitomizes the respect that people now have for Galarraga.
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