It’s already been six years since Jim Joyce became infamous for making one of the worst calls in the history of baseball, a call that would take away a perfect game.
Armando Galarraga was far from having a perfect career, sporting a 4.78 ERA. But on June 2, 2010 he was perfect. He simply never got the credit.
While pitching for the Detroit Tigers that day against the Cleveland Indians, Galarraga retired the first 26 batters in the game. With one, final out to go, he stepped on first base for what appeared to be the final out, clinching the perfect game. Only umpire Jim Joyce didn’t see it that way. He called Indians runner Jason Donald safe.
Lucky for us, there’s now instant replay. But in 2010, even with all the cameras, instant replay wasn’t yet a thing baseball was willing to work with. Thank Jim Joyce for the change.
Of course now, today, the play would easily be reviewed and overturned. I’m sure Joyce wishes he would have had that option in 2010. He tearfully apologized to Galarraga after that game reportedly saying, “You were perfect. I was not.”
The game is now known as the first “28-out perfect game.”
Josh Helmuth is the editor of Crave Sports. Follow him on Twitter or like the channel on Facebook here.
Photo: Getty
