Another Perfect Game.....not quite

[shecky]

Care to elaborate on why you feel this way?

Sure. The games are played by people who make mistakes. They are officiated by people who make mistakes. You live with it. Now it seems there needs to be an absolute right and wrong. You always hear that sports are a metaphor for life and teach great lessons (I think that's wrong, BTW; competition relates more closely to what life offers but I digress), like how to handle being wronged either maliciously or not.

I don't want a sport that is perfect. Nothing is perfect.

This isn't about Galarraga's personal life. This is about the game of baseball. We cannot, and should not speculate on what would merit recognition for living a life well lived. Each of us has a different opinion on what that would be.

No doubt. I was merely accentuating the fact that Galarraga has moved on better than people who weren't remotely involved in this.

Galarraga chose pitching to be his career. Pitching a perfect game would be the ultimate achievement for a pitcher. To accomplish this nearly impossible feat, and not be recognized for it, is an abomination. What we should be looking for is the truth. The truth is the runner was out. It's not a judgment call, and shouldn't be. Selig could use his authority to correct an obvious error. It's not an abuse of power and nobody could say he wasn't justified in overturning a call which even the official who made the call, recognized was incorrect.

No, it's not the World Series. I think it's much more important. Not only does someone win the World Series every year, someone HAS to win the world series every year. It's guaranteed!

So forgive me if I don't share you opinion that baseball ought to ignore reality and embrace faulty calls. It should be doing what it can to recognize the truth.

So what's next? Replacing the home plate umpire with a computer to call the strike zone to the exact letter of the law, from knees to letters? It would be an abuse of Selig's power to undermine a well respected umpire who made a mistake and acknowledged it. Move on. It's over.

Perfect games are great for those who throw them and those who are involved. But let's face it, of the 20 that have been thrown in MLB history, how many can most people point out off the top of their heads? Very few. The two this year (which goes to show how diluted the talent pool has become), Larsen's game in the 1956 World Series and, well, let's see. Hmmm.

To me, the truth is all games have human elements to them. It should remain that way.

 

[Homercidal]

Sure. The games are played by people who make mistakes. They are officiated by people who make mistakes. You live with it. Now it seems there needs to be an absolute right and wrong. You always hear that sports are a metaphor for life and teach great lessons (I think that's wrong, BTW; competition relates more closely to what life offers but I digress), like how to handle being wronged either maliciously or not.

I don't want a sport that is perfect. Nothing is perfect.




No doubt. I was merely accentuating the fact that Galarraga has moved on better than people who weren't remotely involved in this.


So what's next? Replacing the home plate umpire with a computer to call the strike zone to the exact letter of the law, from knees to letters? It would be an abuse of Selig's power to undermine a well respected umpire who made a mistake and acknowledged it. Move on. It's over.

Perfect games are great for those who throw them and those who are involved. But let's face it, of the 20 that have been thrown in MLB history, how many can most people point out off the top of their heads? Very few. The two this year (which goes to show how diluted the talent pool has become), Larsen's game in the 1956 World Series and, well, let's see. Hmmm.

To me, the truth is all games have human elements to them. It should remain that way.

Well put. But I disagree that bad calls are something to be admired. Few endeavors in life are improved with error and indifference. With very little effort, the obvious mistakes could quickly be recognized and corrected, and still leave plenty of the so-called human aspect in the game.

People continually ask where the boundaries of replay will be, and I don't think it would take much effort to decide that. Obviously balls and strikes would not. You can't even argue that with the ump.

Catches, trapped balls, fair, foul, tags, plays at the bags and plate could all be up for consideration. But I'd leave it for the baseball experts to discuss the fine points.

And no, I don't know any other player who has thrown a perfect game. Thanks to the current rules, I couldn't even look Galarraga's name up in the stats book if I wanted to find out. But I think I should be able to.

 

[Beerrific]

Do you think Jim Joyce wanted Selig to overturn the call? I am sure that is a question he would never answer publicly but interesting nonetheless.

 

[Homercidal]

Do you think Jim Joyce wanted Selig to overturn the call? I am sure that is a question he would never answer publicly but interesting nonetheless.

I think, considering his comments and his appearance, he would LOVE for Selig to rule in favor of the truth, if for nothing more than to lessen the threats against him and his family members.

With Replay, he could have simply said, "I missed that one. He's out. Play Ball" (or congratulations, in this case.)

With all due respect for the Umps and other officials in the major sports, they do a fantastic job. But sometimes they do make glaring mistakes. Hat's off to Joyce for facing Galarraga like a man and apologizing for his mistake. Joyce understands the rarity of the perfect game, maybe more than Galarraga does.

 

[Beerrific]

I think, considering his comments and his appearance, he would LOVE for Selig to rule in favor of the truth, if for nothing more than to lessen the threats against him and his family members.

I wonder if his sentiment would be the same if it was not him, but another ump in that position.