The TV sports recaps, talk radio stations and internet were all deluged late last night with an avalanche of much-deserved criticism for Umpire Jim Joyce last night, who blew a call that would have been the final out of a perfect game for Armando Galaragga. Never before have we had such a clear example of a mistake by an umpire deciding such a historic event. Most garden-variety blown calls are in the middle of unimportant games, and it’s hard to make the case that they decide things in a game as complex and nuanced as Baseball, one with so many variables. But this time there was no debate. The Ump blew the call, and it decided the outcome, period.
But I’d like to add one moment of pause to the tidal wave of criticism being directed at Jim Joyce and Baseball’s reluctance to implement Instant Replay. Yes, the call was blown and Joyce admitted it himself. But watching the play in slow motion, the ball danced around the fielder’s mitt for a few moments before he was able to corral it. I’m not sure if Baseball’s rules address this or to how much detail, but precisely when the catch would be considered made is crucial here. By the time the ball stopped bouncing around his glove and he finally ‘snow-coned’ it, Jason Donald already had his foot on the bag. I don’t think this factored at all into Joyce’s decision, since he hasn’t stated so publicly.
Generally speaking, on plays like this the umps will listen for when the ball hit’s the mitt. Maybe the way the ball danced around Galarraga’s ‘s mitt deadened the usual ‘pop’ sound of a ball hitting a mitt, and that’s why Joyce blew the call in the first place. But watching the play in slow motion, I have to wonder if a booth review would have been conclusive enough to overturn the call on the field. It’s something we see all the time in Football, where the review booth has to decide when a player is determined to have ‘possession’ in relation to where he is on the field. In this case, when the ball is considered ‘caught’ in relation to where the baserunner is. If it’s when the ball hits the mitt, then he was out by half a step. If it’s when the ball stops moving, you could argue that the tie goes to the runner.
I’m not opposed to replay, the time managers spend arguing with umpires is more than what it would take to get the call right. You wouldn’t even need to hire an extra umpire for each game, the official scorer could perform the job as part of his duties. When a matter of rules is encountered (as I’ve discussed above) the Official Scorer and Crew Chief could be hooked up by wireless cell connection to discuss specific rules, all you need is the Crew Chief hooked up with an earpiece. It’s something most average citizens have these days, Baseball not using it for game-deciding plays is unconscionable.
But on this particular play, I’m not sure replay would have overturned it. It depends on when a Catch is considered made, when the ball hits the 1B mitt or when it stops moving within his glove. I don’t know the answer, so if anyone has a clarification for me on this I’d appreciate it. Seeing the actual rule as it is worded would be most helpful, since these things are often subject to some interpretation.
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11 Responses to A Perfect mistake, and a word of caution
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TIQ IQ
Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig absolutely has to apply common sense here, and award Armando Galaragga a perfect game. Selig must use his authoritative powers and overrule the blown call by Jim Joyce
http://philiptortora.blogspot.com/2010/06/major-league-baseball-should-reverse.html
I think that Selig should both award him the perfect game, and start to overhaul baseball’s instant replay rules. This post that I wrote is very relevant today:
http://www.theyankeeu.com/2009/10/baseball-should-adopt-a-challenge-flag-system-8685
Very slippery slope having Selig overturn the results. I know this isn’t a playoff game and it didn’tmake any difference in the standings but I just think it opens up a can of worms that we don’t want to touched. I have always been in favor of replay though if done correctly.
Selig doesn’t have to overturn any results. All he has to do is have MLB officially consider this a perfect game, nothwithstanding the fact that 28 batters came to the plate. He does not need to undo the final batter or adjust the pitchers WHIP. What is at issue is how history views the game. And guess what, we can write history anyway that we please. Most of the world considers this to be the 21st perfect game in MLB history (and third in 24 days) all that is left is an offical proclamation by Selig. Given that Joyce has admitted the mistake and the fact that the outcome of the game does not need to be changed, just the way it is veiewed for history’s stake, the solution is very simple. MLB should get this right by Friday.
I really don’t think the issue here is instant replay. I think it’s the incompetence of MLB umpires. Ever since Richie Phillips took away any oversight, the umpiring quality has been dipping. We managed to get rid of the strikes on pitches 15″ off the plate that made Glavine’s (among others) career, but we still have amoeba strike zones and really bad calls made in almost every game.
Until there’s oversight of some kind, the situation won’t improve a bit.
I noticed the ball dancing in the glove too last night and wondered if this was the rationale for Joyce’s call. I umpired High School Baseball for six years and we considered it a catch when the player demonstrated and maintained control of the ball until the play was complete. For example, if an outfielder dives for ball, catches the ball, but then drops it will sliding on the ground, then it wouldn’t be a catch. However, if the field completes the dive and drops the ball will getting up, it would be ruled a catch.
Anyways, Joyce’s call last night was not a easy as the media and fans would like you to believe. Good umpires are trained to let the play develop before making the call and if Joyce felt that the ball dancing in the glove didn’t constitute control, then I can understand the call.
I saw the ball, “dance”, as well but after watching it multiple times it was clear Galaragga had control, foot on bag well before the runner got to the bag. It only danced after he’d caught it for the out and allowed the web to open a bit.
Unfortunate situation but I’ve been shocked at how classy Galaragga has been about it, I know I wouldn’t have handled it as well as he has. I thought Joyce was a stand up guy to publicly and privately apologize for blowing the call while making no excuses.
I guess I don’t understand the calls for Selig to give him a perfect game anyway. Perfect games are always a combination of a quality pitching performance combining with a healthy dose of luck. Galaragga wasn’t any more unlucky than undoubtedly numerous pitchers that have lost no-no’s and perfect games because of a broken bat blooper, bad call behind the plate or at first or when one of his fielders botched a play.
“Galaragga wasn’t any more unlucky than undoubtedly numerous pitchers that have lost no-no’s and perfect games because of a broken bat blooper, bad call behind the plate or at first or when one of his fielders botched a play.”
I disagree. This was not a ball four that was very close, this was an out on a play that is correctly called 99.99% of the time. The closest thing I can think of was CC’s no-hitter 2 years ago when the official scorer called an error a hit. In that case at least it was debatable whether it was a hit or an error (and the official scorer was given a chance to review the play), here the Ump messed up. The pitcher must be perfect and the fielders must be perfect and that occurred. In my mind this is a perfect game. The only significance to a perfect game as opposed to a one-hitter is MLB history. That is something within Selig’s power to adjust.
Joe O:
How is a really bad call at first any worse than a really bad call behind the plate if both result in a batter at first base? Calling an obvious strike a ball that walks a batter instead of ringing him up is the same and I’m sure that’s happened a few times before. A broken bat pop-up that lands in the one spot in the outfield it wouldn’t be caught is atrocious luck and I’m sure many no-hitters and maybe a few perfect games were foiled by that type of bad break. What about the awful call Joyce made when he called Damon safe in the bottome of the eighth? That led to two runs instead of ending the inning and ended up giving the Tigers a 3 run cushion they shouldn’t have had. Did that make it easier on Galaragga? Did it give him more rest or allow him not to worry about 1 run tying the game?
If this is a perfect game then should we go back through history and make sure nobody lost no-hitters or perfect games due to umpire error in the past? What if the blown call was in the first inning? What if the one hit was only a hit due to the park the game was played in or a really strong wind? Harvey Haddix want to know, “What about me?!?!?”. After all it’s not his fault his team couldn’t score.
I’m all for instant replay but it’s not part of the rules now so you can’t revise history in one selective case and just ignore every other game because they aren’t perfect game situations. What if it was a 1-0 game and that bad call led to a 2 run rally that won the game for Cleveland? Would anyone be asking the commish to reverse the outcome? Of course not but imagine if the Tigers lost the division by 1 game? Which is more important a perfect game of a spot in the playoffs?
My big question is how did the official scorer NOT give Cabrera an error on the throw so that Galaragga had a no-hitter at least. I think an error call would be very defensible on the poor throw that handcuffed Galaragga. It was an ordinary effort play that Cabrera should have made and in reality was bailed out by Galaragga making a nice play.
Don W:
I am discussing the situation at hand. You are giving the classic slippery slope argument. My point is we do not need to change the result of the game. The 28th batter’s stats should count. But this was clearly a perfect game. I agree there are bad calls all over. I am not suggesting the commish fix every or even any bad call. I am asking the commish to recognize this as a perfect game.
“My big question is how did the official scorer NOT give Cabrera an error on the throw so that Galaragga had a no-hitter at least. I think an error call would be very defensible on the poor throw that handcuffed Galaragga. It was an ordinary effort play that Cabrera should have made and in reality was bailed out by Galaragga making a nice play.”
On this point I disagree. The offical scorer saw it the way the rest of the country did (with the aid of instant replay) and saw that the runner was out. Given that the runner was out and the throw was on target there is no error to award to a fielder (he cant put an error on the ump). What you are asking the official scorer to do seems worse to me than asking the commish to recognize this as a perfect game.
Don W.
You commented that “after watching” the play “multiple time, it was clear that Galaragga had control, foot on bag well before the runner got to the bag.” The irony is that you, me and everyone else had the luxury of multiple replays and slow-motion to definitively make the call, while Joyce has one shot at it. When I first watched the play I thought that the runner was safe; however, when I say the replay that focused on the pitcher and the catch I wasn’t so sure. Slow-motion confirms he was safe; however, with a relatively close play at first with a dancing ball happening so quickly and only one shot at it, I can understand Joyce’s call.