Commentary by Ray Deering
rpd272@gmail.com
You say there's no crying in baseball? Then you didn't watch the pregame meeting of the umpires at home plate before Thursday's game between the Indians and Tigers.
There was Jim Joyce, the veteran umpire whose erroneous call at first base cost Armando Galarraga a perfect game the night before, unable to contain his tears as he accepted the lineup card from the very pitcher whose chance at baseball immortality he crushed with one inexplicable lapse of judgment.
There was Galarraga, an unheralded pitcher who came so close to treading on baseball's hallowed ground, handing Joyce the lineup card with a smile that obviously shouted to the ages: All is forgiven.
Galarraga shook hands with all of the umpires, and as he started to head back to the dugout, Joyce gave him a strong slap on the back. That, my friends, is what sportsmanship is all about.
Both men are my newest heroes.
Joyce is one of baseball's most respected umpires. Known for his vociferous calls of strikes at home plate, Joyce is beloved by managers and players alike. That could have changed in one moment Wednesday night had he not faced his situation directly and admitted his mistake within a few minutes after the end of the game.
Unlike some umpires whose arrogance stifles any admission that they might be wrong, Joyce looked at the replay in the umpires' room and invited the media into the room, where he admitted his mistake. Then he went to Galarraga to apologize to the pitcher in person.
Galarraga just smiled, told the umpire that everyone is human and asked Joyce to give him a hug. What an appropriate ending to a night that had the baseball world sick to its stomach with grief for both men.
We can all learn from the actions of both of these heroes.
Joyce, who strives diligently to get every call right, realized that he blew perhaps the most important call of his career but never hesitated to take responsibility for his mistake. How many umpires would have done that?
Galarraga accepted Joyce's apology with grace and forgiveness at a moment when many pitchers would have been enraged at having a perfect game taken away by such an incompetent ruling. How many pitchers would have agreed to take the lineup card out to the man who had wiped out his name from one of the most prestigious pages in baseball's record book?
When is Bud Selig, baseball's enigmatic commissioner, going to realize that the technology has been in place for years to keep such a tragic situation from happening. How long would it have taken for a fifth umpire in the press box to look at instant replay and determine that the call was wrong and overrule it? Three minutes at the most?
Instant replay is available on border calls now. Why not give both managers two chances to challenge an umpire's call? Had such a policy been in place Wednesday night, a ton of heartbreak would have been avoided.
And now I wonder: How can we get umpires Joe West, Angel Hernandez and Bob Davidson to follow Joyce's example? We'd have a kinder, gentler game.