Armando Galarraga's near-perfect game


In a Major League Baseball game played on June 2, 2010, at Detroit's Comerica Park, Detroit Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga nearly became the 21st pitcher in Major League Baseball history to throw a perfect game. Facing the Cleveland Indians, Galarraga retired the first 26 batters he faced. His bid for a perfect game was ruined one out short when first-base umpire Jim Joyce incorrectly ruled that Indians batter Jason Donald reached first base safely on a ground ball. Galarraga instead finished with a one-hit shutout in a 3–0 victory. He faced 28 batters and threw 88 pitches, striking out three. The game is sometimes referred to as the "28-out perfect game", the "almost perfect game", the "extra perfect game", the "imperfect game", or simply the "Galarraga game".
Joyce was tearful and apologetic upon meeting with Galarraga after the game after realizing that he had made an incorrect call. Galarraga was forgiving and understanding of the mistake, telling reporters after the game, "Nobody's perfect." Many others throughout Major League Baseball subsequently voiced their support for Joyce. The sportsmanship demonstrated by Galarraga and Joyce earned them widespread praise for their handling of the incident.

Game summary

Detroit scored a run on a second-inning solo home run by Miguel Cabrera. Two more runs scored in the eighth inning when Austin Jackson singled, then advanced on an infield hit by Johnny Damon. Jackson and Damon both then scored on a single by Magglio Ordóñez and a throwing error by Shin-Soo Choo.
In the top of the ninth inning, Tigers center fielder Austin Jackson executed an over-the-shoulder catch on the run to retire Cleveland's Mark Grudzielanek for the first out and preserve the perfect game. Jackson's play has been compared to DeWayne Wise's leaping catch at the wall in the ninth inning that preserved Mark Buehrle's perfect game in 2009.
After Mike Redmond grounded out for the second out of the inning, Jason Donald hit a soft ground ball that first baseman Miguel Cabrera ranged far to his right to retrieve. Cabrera threw to Galarraga, who was covering first base. Donald was ruled safe, but video replay showed that Cabrera's throw beat Donald to the bag. Donald advanced to second and third base on defensive indifference during Trevor Crowe's at-bat, and Crowe grounded out to Brandon Inge, ending the game in a 3–0 victory for the Tigers.

Statistics

Linescore

Boxscore

ClevelandABRHRBIBBSOLOBAVG
Crowe, CF4000001.240
Choo, RF3000000.275
Kearns, LF3000010.282
Hafner, DH3000000.258
Peralta, J, 3B3000010.243
Branyan, 1B3000000.235
Grudzielanek, 2B3000010.283
Redmond, M, C3000000.220
Donald, SS3010000.280
Totals28010031.243

ClevelandIPHRERBBSOHRERA
Hernández89320313.53

DetroitABRHRBIBBSOLOBAVG
Jackson, A, CF4130000.332
Damon, LF4110002.277
Kelly, LF0000000.277
Ordóñez, RF4011000.307
Cabrera, M, 1B4121011.351
Boesch, DH3010010.319
Guillén, C, 2B3000002.265
Inge, 3B3000012.232
Avila, C3010000.192
Santiago, SS3000001.239
Totals31392038.267

DetroitIPHRERBBSOHRERA
Galarraga91000302.57

Source: MLB.com

Historical context

Only four days before Galarraga's near-perfect outing, Roy Halladay pitched a perfect game for the Philadelphia Phillies, and just 20 days prior to that, Dallas Braden threw a perfect game for the Oakland Athletics. Halladay's and Braden's perfect games had been the first pair of such games to occur in the same season during the modern era, let alone the same month. Joyce served as the second-base umpire for Braden's perfect game.
The 20 days between Braden's perfect game and Halladay's was the shortest span between two perfect games since 1880 and there was a chance that for the first time in MLB history there would be three perfect games in such short succession. Had Galarraga's game been correctly called, the four-day span since Halladay's perfect game would have broken that 130-year-old record and marked the only time that three consecutive no-hitters had been perfect games, the only time that three perfect games had occurred in one season, the only time that three perfect games had occurred in a span shorter than a month, the only time four perfect games had occurred in a span shorter than a year and the only time that four perfect games had occurred within a stretch of five no-hitters.
This would have also marked the first perfect game in the Tigers' 110-year history. The 83 pitches thrown before the blown call would have been the fewest pitches in a perfect game since 1908. Galarraga's near-perfect game was the first such game since Mike Mussina's bid for a perfect game on September 2, 2001, which was broken up by 27th batter Carl Everett. It was also the third time for a Tigers pitcher to come so close to a perfect game, as Tommy Bridges missed retiring the 27th batter on August 5, 1932 and Milt Wilcox also could not retire the 27th batter on April 15, 1983.
Galarraga's near-perfect game was the tenth time in major league history that the 27th batter in a game broke up a potential perfect game. One other occurrence also involved a missed call by an umpire, who later admitted to his mistake. On July 4, 1908, Hooks Wiltse of the New York Giants, perfect through 26 batters, hit Philadelphia Phillies pitcher George McQuillan on a 2–2 count in a scoreless game. Umpire Cy Rigler later admitted that he should have called the previous pitch strike three, which would have ended the inning. Wiltse pitched on, winning 1–0 in 10 innings, with the hit batsman the only lapse separating him from a perfect game.

Reactions

Armando Galarraga and Jim Joyce

On tagging first base after Cabrera's relay, Galarraga began celebrating his accomplishment. His immediate reaction to Joyce's on-field ruling was a momentary pause followed by a wry smile at the umpire before returning to the mound. Galarraga told reporters after the game that the outing "was my best game, so far" and said that Joyce "probably feels more bad than me. Nobody's perfect. Everybody's human. I understand. I give the guy a lot of credit for saying, 'I need to talk to you.' You don't see an umpire tell you that after a game. I gave him a hug." He also told reporters, "I know that I pitched a perfect game, I believe I got it. I said before, I got a perfect game. I'm going to show my son. Maybe it's not in the book, but I'm going to tell my son, 'One time I got a perfect game.' I'll show him the CD," further calling his effort "the first 28-out perfect game."
Joyce, a 22-year veteran, who later received death threats from Detroit fans, tearfully admitted after reviewing video of the play after the game that "I did not get the call correct," insisting that he "took a perfect game away from that kid over there that worked his ass off all night." Joyce called the Donald ruling "the biggest call of my career," claiming that "I thought beat the throw. I was convinced he beat the throw, until I saw the replay."
Tigers' manager Jim Leyland said "It's a crying shame. Jim is a class guy. This sounds crazy, but after looking at the play, nobody is going to feel worse than he does. I yelled a bit after the game because emotions are high. You just want it so bad for the kid. I don't think you're as mad at the umpire as mad the kid didn't get it—and he did deserve it." Leyland also said that Joyce's call was part of the "human element of the game." The umpire later said, "I didn't want this to be my 15 minutes of fame. I would have liked my 15 minutes to be a great call in the World Series. Hopefully, my 15 minutes are over now."
Just prior to the next day's game, Leyland sent Galarraga to take the Tigers' lineup to Joyce, who was serving as the home plate umpire that day. The two shook hands and a tearful Joyce gave the pitcher a pat on the shoulder, with a warm reception from the audience. Joyce's accountability and regret, and Galarraga's sportsmanship, were widely praised for turning the unfortunate situation into a positive.