Top of the ninth, 3-0 Tigers, Mark Grudzielanek is up for the Indians with no outs and smokes a ball to left. It looks like it could be a home run or at least a gapper. Rookie center fielder Austin Jackson comes flying across the outfie
ld and makes a Mayes-like catch to preserve Armando Galarraga's perfecto. Unbelievable catch. As good as Dewayne Wise's catch last year in the Buehrle game in my book. One out. 59 year-old catcher Mike Redmond comes to the plate and hits a grounder to short. The shortstop could have ran it to first and still got Redmond out. Two outs. Now it gets interesting. Jason Donald comes to the plate. Donald, a recent call-up from AAA Columbus is not a great hitter. His average is at .280, but was as low as under .200 a week ago. Donald hits a chopper in between 1st and 2nd. Miguel Cabrera, the 1st baseman fields it and throws to Galarraga who is covering the bag. It is a very close play, but in this situation, any umpire is calling the runner out. Crazy Colonel Mustard-looking Jim Joyce bucks the trend and calls the runner safe. My initial reaction is mixed between sympathy for Galarraga, relief for the Indians, and letdown as a baseball lover. The one feeling I'm sure of is one of respect for Joyce for seeing the runner was obviously safe (had to be right?), and having the balls to make the call.Here is the kicker: the runner was out! Replays showed that Donald was out by at least a half step at 1st base. I understand umping is a difficult thing to do. For those that have never worn the "blue", it is harder than it looks and it is basically a no-win situation, however, it is a job that he is hired to do, and do correctly. After seeing the replays I was in shock. The always classy and intelligent Indians announcers were in shock. The Indians announcers on STO are very realistic in their views, so it came as no surprise they felt Donald was out and Joyce royally screwed up. How could a guy mess this up? Galarraga just threw the 21st perfect game in baseball history. He signed his name in the record books, then Joyce came by with one of those big PinkPet erasers you needed in 1st grade, and erased it. He failed at his job and he failed miserably. If someone like a doctor screwed up like this, people die. If a teacher screws up this bad, he (or she) has to be sleeping with a student. If a mechanic screws up this bad, the customer's car blows up right when driving it out of the garage. This will go down as one of the all-time great umpire screw-ups. ESPN's Tim Kurkjian said it was the worst call in regular season MLB history. I agree.
After the replays were shown numerous times and the disgruntled Detroit crowd was in a frenzy, I feared for Joyce's life. Literally. I didn't think a fan would kill him, security would be ready for that. I thought Jim Leyland or Jeremy Bonderman would kill him. The Tiger's bench was livid, and rightly so. There is no way Major League Baseball can send out that same four man crew with Joyce to do the noon game tomorrow in Detroit. It could end very badly. I would like to point out that Joyce has came out and admitted his mistake after seeing the replay. That is a difficult thing for an umpire to do and I commend him on his honesty and wish him the best from here on out. However, this is a story that will be talked about for years and will be big news for the next couple of days. This could be a big spark in the argument for instant replay. I know replay may make games a whole 5-10 minutes longer, but if it avoids something like this, then I say bring it on.
After all the hoopla and controversy surrounding Joyce's call ends, I'll still have to sort out if a baseball lover and die-hard Indians fan like myself should cheer for them to be perfected, or want them to break it up. Once again, keep in mind, this is happening in June. If it is happening in a critical game, then no way I want the Indians to be perfected. If I was sitting in Comerica Park on this June night I would have been for perfection. I would want to witness history in person. I wasn't in Comerica Park. I was in my chair with my dog watching my beloved Tribe play sub-par baseball as usual. About the eighth inning, I started to contemplate my feelings on the perfecto. At the start of the eighth, I wanted the Indians to break through. Carmona was pitching outstanding but was still behind 1-0. The Tribe only needed a bloop and blast for the lead. Detroit put up two insurance runs in the eighth that wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for a bad call at first by our friend Jim Joyce. So heading into the ninth it was 3-0 Detroit. The baseball purist in me wanted the perfect game. The Indians fan in me felt enough embarrassment had been felt by the 2010 Indians and just wanted them to get a hit. After Jackson's catch in center, I was cheering for the perfect game. After Redmond's lazy grounder I wanted a Jason Donald hit. I was truly in a glass case of emotion. Then came the Donald play, and I was doubly heartbroken. Poor Galarraga, who was a class act after the fact, got his night taken away, and the Indians had a chance to show they could go 28 up and 28 down, which was history in itself.
I decided my answer to this quandary would in fact be a cop out. The answer for a truly die-hard fan is: It depends on the situation. If it was 8-0 Tigers, then I cheer for the perfect game and tip my cap. If it is 1-0 Tigers then I cheer for the Indians to not only break it up, but come back and win the game. If it is 8-0 Cubs, I cheer for the Indians to score 9 runs and win, or for the Cubs pitcher to get stung by a bee on the pitching hand, swell up, and walk a guy while unable to grip the ball. Everything depends on the situation. Seeing your team being perfected through eight innings is no different. Sometimes I cheer for history, sometimes I cheer for Tribe Time. Hopefully I don't have to make this decision again for a while. Get some hits Indians.
