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Armando Galarraga was denied a perfect game on June 2, 2010, due to a controversial blown call by an umpire. This incident highlights ongoing issues of fairness and justice in Major League Baseball.
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.
Armando Galarraga was robbed of a perfect game due to a blown call by an umpire during a game against the Cleveland Indians.
Major League Baseball has shown indifference regarding the injustice of Galarraga's blown call, leading to ongoing discussions about fairness in the sport.
Similar injustices in sports include the exclusion of Black players from major leagues until Jackie Robinson's debut and the NFL's treatment of Colin Kaepernick for his protests against racism.
Fairness is crucial in sports as it upholds the integrity of the game, ensuring that all players have an equal opportunity to succeed without being affected by unjust decisions.

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Detroit Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga lost his perfect game on this play, when umpire Jim Joyce ruled Cleveland Indians' Jason Donald was safe at first base Wednesday, June 2, 2010 at Comerica Park.
As Martin Luther King noted, it is never too late to do the right thing. The botched Galarraga outcome is egregious because it is historic, unfair and easy to fix. The play at first should have been the final play of the game. It still could be. The MLB commissioner has the power to intervene by declaring the game over as soon as the ball beat the runner to first. As the final out, no do-overs or other cumbersome remedies are necessary. There is even precedent for the American League president overruling umpire decisions: Kansas City Royals star slugger George Brett.
The Galarraga injustice is even easier to fix. All the commissioner has to do is declare the game over when the ball clearly beats the runner to first. The perfect game is then preserved, substance wins over form, and justice is done.
As America’s oldest major team sport, baseball is a revered part of the American experience. If baseball embraces justice, it means something. This is why baseball racism was especially egregious. When the whole country watches an obviously perfect game get stolen from the pitcher in real time, with baseball merely snickering, it matters.
Fix it, Commissioner Rob Manfred. Why continue to rob Galarraga, the Detroit Tigers, and baseball history? Foot dragging sends a dubious message and begs the obvious: why was George Brett afforded an elaborate do-over, while Armando Galarraga is swept under the rug with little more than a whoops?
Eldon Ham
Glencoe, Illinois
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Armando Galarraga could still have a perfect game | Letter