Perfect game ruined by blown call.

[sparkeyjames]

In this case you can say that a blown call clearly took a perfect game away.
2 out 9th inning ground ball between first and second. First baseman fields ball throws to pitcher covering first and the runner is safe! Until you view the replay that is. Umpire admits he blew it after seeing replay. Fat lot of good that does.

Edit: Detroit Tigers vs Cleveland Indians. Armando Galaraga pitching for Detroit has perfect game but blown call takes it away. Gif animation is the play with the blown call. Runner was called safe replay shows clearly out.

[LCHIEN]

what teams, what pitcher?

[sparkeyjames]

what teams, what pitcher?

Sorry forgot to mention that. Detroit Tigers with Armando Galaraga pitching the near perfect game against the Cleveland Indians. Tiger still won the game with a shut out. Still not the same as having a perfect game.

[LCHIEN]

There's no arguing he threw a perfect game... The outcome would have been no different since the game was essentially over. MLB should just go ahead and give it to him for the record.

[Uncle Cracker]

Unfortunately, the League cannot change a safe call to an out, except on protest (which must be made immediately), which in turn can only be made on an umpire's misinterpretation of a rule, and only if the petitioning team ends up losing the game. Those are the rules, and there are no exceptions, regardless of how much egg is on the face of the officials. The human element has always been part of the game, and umpires are nothing if not human.

Many have said that instant replay use should be expanded (it's now only used to determine whether a home run is fair or foul), and I believe the umpires (and only the umpires) should be able to use it at their discretion, such as is done in the NBA. None of this "coach's challenge" bullspit...

That said, as an ex-HS umpire, I can tell you that most umpires, with that kind of situation on the line, are gonna call the runner out, even if he's two steps past the base... This was a blown call of astronomical magnitude, and nobody feels worse right now than the guy who blew it... This will dog him for the rest of his life.

[gsmittle]

That said, as an ex-HS umpire, I can tell you that most umpires, with that kind of situation on the line, are gonna call the runner out, even if he's two steps past the base... This was a blown call of astronomical magnitude, and nobody feels worse right now than the guy who blew it... This will dog him for the rest of his life.

No kidding. I remember when Don Denkenger blew the call that cost the Cardinals the Series over Kansas City. (Yes, I know that was Game 6 and yes, the Cards could have won Game 7, but that's beside the point.) Denkenger showed a lot of class the next week when he was on St. Louis radio taking questions and explaining how/why he made the call he did.

Call me old school—I don't think instant replay should be used for anything. It's the umpire's judgement call, and he/she's usually in the best place to see the play. The rule is, the call stands, and as UC says, nobody's beating themselves up more than the ump in question.

The only call I can ever remember being overturned was the George Brett "pine tar incident," and in that case the league office was clearly wrong.

Way back when I was a Little League coach, I was constantly impressed by how many calls our high-school-age umpires got right. It's not an easy thing; especially at the major league level.

SEMI OFF-TOPIC SIDEBAR:

One game the ump made what I thought was a blown call, so I called time and trotted out to the ump, a high-school kid. His eyes were the size of dinner plates, and when I got out there I said, "This is the point where I'm supposed to stomp and yell and scream and argue. I'm not gonna argue the call, but I will tell you from where I stood the runner looked safe. Now, shake your head and tell me the call stands and let's play ball." He did, and we finished the game. Moral of the story—the umpire is always right, even when the umpire's wrong.

Like I said, I like my baseball old school.

g.

[LarryG]

According to this story from the Associated Press, commissioner Bud Selig has the power to reverse the call.

I don't know that he SHOULD, though -- partly because of tradition (I too favor the "bad calls are part of the game" approach), partly because it seems like it could be opening a huge can of worms (probably lots of video evidence of other blown calls, in other games, floating around out there).

OTOH, if ever there was a time for a special ruling, this has to be it. A perfect game is the most elusive stat in baseball, and it's not like the video leaves any room for doubt.

[Cochese]

In 1991, a panel headed by then-commissioner Fay Vincent took a look at the record book and decided to throw out 50 no-hitters for various reasons.

There's tradition for changing it, too. I say change it.

[unknown poster]

There is no excuse for not consulting replay when it is available. MLB wants to know why "America's Game" is only the fourth most popular sport, it's crap like this.

It is dishonest to allow mistakes to stand when you have the ability to review the play and know the truth during the game.

Thankfully Selig will retire soon and his replacement will have the opportunity to modernize baseball.

[gsmittle]

There is no excuse for not consulting replay when it is available. MLB wants to know why "America's Game" is only the fourth most popular sport, it's crap like this.

It is dishonest to allow mistakes to stand when you have the ability to review the play and know the truth during the game.

Thankfully Selig will retire soon and his replacement will have the opportunity to modernize baseball.

A lot of people complain that baseball moves too slowly. Imagine how much slower the game will be when there are constant reviews.

g.

[billwmeyer]

Since this makes no difference in the outcome of the game, Detroit won when he coolly got the next batter to ground out, I think it should be overturned and a perfect game awarded.

I was very impressed with how this was handled by the players. The Pitcher smiled at the call! I would have been down his throat. The umpire reviewed the play after the game, and went directly to the tigers clubhouse and apologized to the pitcher and the manager.

Today Gallaragas the pitcher took out the line up card to the umpire who made the call and shook hands. That is class! The umpire was reportedly in tears.

By the way, George Brett said he was glad the pine tar incident happened. He said if it wasn't for that, he would be known as the player who missed most of the 1980 World Series because of this hemorrhoids.

Bill

[BrazosJake]

There is no excuse for not consulting replay when it is available. MLB wants to know why "America's Game" is only the fourth most popular sport, it's crap like this.

It is dishonest to allow mistakes to stand when you have the ability to review the play and know the truth during the game.

Thankfully Selig will retire soon and his replacement will have the opportunity to modernize baseball.

Man, what've you been smoking? Baseball isn't slow enough already?

Just say no to Instant Replay. It's already ruined football. OK, not all by itself, but it has been a significant contributor, especially the infamous "Booth Review".

Top 10 things that should be barred from the NFL:
1. Instant Replay
2. Mics on the officials
3. Domed stadiums
4. Artificial turf
5. The last 8 expansion teams (return to the 26 that existed prior to 1976)
6. 16-game regular season. Go back to 14.
7. 2nd & 3rd wildcards.
8. Brett Farve (retire, you egomaniac!)
9. Daniel Snyder (speaking of egomaniacs)
10. Jerry Jones (the ultimate egomaniac who continues to hold America's Team hostage while depriving us of a real head coach!)

And while we're at it, death to the DH!

[jabe]

MLB should adopt instant replay technology!!! Overturn the call and give him the perfect game.

[Uncle Cracker]

If Selig does indeed have the power to overturn the call, then they should take it away from him. That is too much latitude. A review board can look at, and overturn, rules misinterpretations, but that's as far as it should go at the administrative level. The umpiring crew on the field should retain the last say regarding judgments, but should at their option only, be able to look at a replay to make sure a decision is the correct one in cases like this. That would constitute very little in the way of a delay, and right is more important than fast.

[Kristofor]

You can argue that over the course of 162 games the bad calls will even out on average. Of course I can argue that if it changes the outcome of one single game it may well be significant. Detroit had to play game 163 last year to see if they were in or out of the playoffs. Same thing with Chicago the year before...

It took me about 3 seconds to see that he was out. There are faster ways to have a review than what they do in football. Take the time and get the call right. Want to shave time off the game? Call strikes from the knees to the letters!