Nobody's Perfect

Reading a good book at the moment titled, "Nobody's Perfect". It's about Detroit Tiger Armando Galarraga's "Perfect" game last year, which was rendered not-so-perfect by umpire Jim Joyce, who blew what would have been the last call of the game by calling an Indian runner safe when he was clearly out.

I recall watching the game with my wife live as MLB Network cut in, and being as shocked as the rest of the nation when the play went down. The look on Galarraga's face when Joyce's arms flew up to signal safe was priceless -- a smile and amazed expression which had to belie the pitcher's true feelings. The moment brought home a universal truth about baseball...for a Perfect Game to be pitched, not only must the pitcher and fielders be perfect, but sometimes the umpires, too.

I have had the good fortune of meeting 2 of the 3 people involved in this infamous play. The Indians batter who was credited with the infield single was Jason Donald, a former Phillie minor league prospect whom I met at Spring Training in 2009. He was a gentleman to me and my family. Jim Joyce found himself umping at Citizens Bank Park for the very next series after his blown call, and I was on the Phillies ground crew for one of the games against the Padres. Just after the final out was recorded, I approached Joyce on the field, shook his hand, and told him that how he handled the whole situation was courageous and honorable, and that he was a credit to the profession. He humbly acknowledged me and said he appreciated it very much.

The book is very interesting and traces the paths of Galarraga and Joyce through the early part of their careers until their fortuitous intersection in 2010. I highly recommend the book for true baseball fans.