After 2010 blown call, Tigers' Galarraga could still have perfect game | Letter

On June 2, 2010, Armando Galarraga, the 28-year-old starting pitcher for the Detroit Tigers, was robbed of a perfect game by an umpire who grotesquely blew the game’s final call. Yet Galarraga remains victimized by the stubborn indifference of major league baseball. No, he did not wind up in a foreign prison or an emergency room, but justice still matters. All the time. When we tolerate injustice, it is a slippery and dangerous slope. And this one is bad precedent, if not worse.

On the surface, sports are obsessed with fairness: instant replays, in-game challenges, flagrant fouls, and video reviews. But they also have a stubborn affinity for unjust behavior. For starters, many sports have a checkered history with racism. Black players were banned from the major leagues until Jackie Robinson’s debut. And, apparently, the National Football League blackballed quarterback Colin Kaepernick for his peaceful kneeling protest over racism and police misconduct. Other examples have filled volumes. Could Galarraga be one of them?

Detroit Free Press sports front page on June 3, 2010.

The game of baseball has embraced on-field cheating and gamesmanship more than most sports. Spitballs, stolen signs, blown calls, and other shenanigans became a romantic part of the game long ago. Nonetheless, the major leagues stubbornly resisted in-game video replays for far too long.

When Galarraga achieved his perfect game milestone, a television audience viewed it in real time, millions caught the replays, and virtually everyone in the stadium saw it live. On purpose or not, the first base umpire blew it. The final Cleveland batter hit an infield grounder and was clearly thrown out at first base. Perfecto. Galarraga himself caught the throw while covering the bag. Inexplicably, the umpire called “safe.” Even the runner seemed surprised. At the time there had been only 20 perfect games in all of major league history. Did baseball fix this obvious mistake? No. Yet flaunting an historic injustice is anything but cute, just “following the rules,” or otherwise unavoidable.