6.04.2010

Mr. Selig: Do What's Right

I know, I know... LONG time no blog. Well, to be honest, this took a back seat to life which has been pretty hectic for quite some time. However, with the current dispute going on in MLB over Jim Joyce's blown call at first base on the 3rd out of the 9th inning that cost the Detroit Tigers' Armando Gallaraga a perfect game on Wednesday night, I felt the need to weigh in...

I LOVE baseball and have ever since I can remember. Sure, I'm a die hard Yankee fan, but I pay my cable company so I have the ability to watch any game I want to. And on Wednesday evening I was watching history be made at Comerica Park in Detroit. However, when Joyce (who I have always respected as an ump - he's one of the better ones) called Jason Donald safe at first as Gallaraga held the ball in the same glove he used to retire the previous 26 batters he faced that evening, I about lost it. It was clear as day that the ball reached first prior to Donald and even Donald sat there with his hands on his head in disbelief. Amazingly, Gallaraga kept his cool and proceeded to retire an unprecedented 28th batter.

At this point, I began to go around the horn so to speak to see what the rest of baseball was saying. No matter which game I turned on - Yankees, Brewers, Phillies, White Sox, etc... - the story was the same: the commentators had abandoned their calls to speak about the injustice in Detroit. Even ESPN commentator, analyst, and former Big Red Machine marvel Joe Morgan hopped on the horn to provide his two cents on the situation during ESPN's Wednesday night baseball.

Following the hoopla, Joyce reviewed the play and outwardly admitted, with very colorful language, that he made a mistake - a BIG one. This was a move of amazing sportsmanship; along with Gallaraga (who was in AAA just a couple of weeks ago) who took the blow so graciously that it appeared superhuman. The two met the following day as Joyce took his place behind the plate in the official handing over of the line-up card with the media circus in full tow. These two gentlemen have handled this situation so well that I am truly and utterly amazed at Bud Selig's ability to overlook the possibility of making things right by overturning the call. Heck, even the official score keeper that evening tried to find a way to score Donald safe on an error just to keep the no hitter in tact.

This is the first time in my 30+ years of this love affair that I can say, with certainty, that something should be done. Why? Because it will NOT change anything other than a currently recorded and admitted mistake that kept a historic moment of the game off the books. If Seilg overturns the call (as I believe he should)...

The winner and loser of the game remain the same.

The standings do not change.

Gallaraga gets his perfect game.

Joyce doesn't carry this for the rest of his life.

Granted, if this had happened in the 7th or the 8th inning, it would be a completely different story. However, we're talking about the LAST out of the FINAL inning of the game. Seriously, do people really believe that if Selig overturns this that folks will come forward asking for other moments to be changed? I would think not. This is because EVERYONE, including the umpire who made the call, knew it was a bad call in much less than the requisite 12 hours that are given if any type of appeal should be made.

So come on Bud, rather that have meetings about adding instant replay to baseball (which I believe should NOT happen) read the rule book - rule 9 specifically. Even more specifically, read 9.02(a) where it says that the umpire's decision is final. Given that Joyce (the umpire) said that the runner was indeed out (decision), a change in call should be made.

This is certainly a sad state of affairs; and I hope that at the end of the day Emperor Selig can come off his high horse long enough to do the right thing here. Especially since this blunder has overshadowed the news that Ken Griffey Jr. (one of the finest players the game has ever known) called the Mariners Wednesday night, while driving to Orlando, to say he was retiring...

Fin.