Let me say this—I am not a Detroit Tigers fan, but I am a baseball fan. And that is why the game I just watched left an angry and deflated feeling inside of me.
Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga was throwing a perfect game. Keep in mind, Phillies pitcher Roy Halladay threw one just a few days ago.
So I tuned in to the ninth inning on ESPN. The first batter of the inning hit a deep fly ball that I thought would fall. It fell, but into the CF's Austin Jackson's glove. Whew. Then came the second batter of the inning—ground ball.
So here we are, one out from a perfect game. The fans in the stands are going crazy, I’m on the edge of my seat, and up comes Jason Donald, a relative unknown.
He hits a grounder that Miguel Cabrera, the first baseman, fields. Galarraga goes to first to cover the bag and taps the bag with his shoe way before the batter touches the base.
Galarraga and Cabrera start to celebrate.
But the umpire, Jim Joyce, calls the runner safe. Blown call. No perfect game. So gut-wrenching.
Not only did he lose the perfect game, but he lost it on the wrong call. It just sinks a deep pit inside of you. MLB needs to review that play and reverse the call. They won’t though, and even if they did, Joyce still took away the celebration. This is still bothering me, and I'm a Mets fan.
I can’t imagine how the Tiger players and their fans must feel like.
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