By now I'm sure you are aware of the horribly inept umpiring call by Jim Joyce that cost Detroit pitcher Armando Galarraga a perfect game. It would have been only the 21st pitching gem in baseball history.
Shocking?...yes. Appalling?...definitely. Wrong?.....no brainer. Reversible?....NO!...nor should it be.
This is a well worn argument but I'm going to make it anyway. Baseball is not a game of neatly configured minutes, quarters, and (until recently), inches recorded on video tape to be used as evidence. Baseball is a game of beauty and grace for the simple reason that it is played and officiated by human beings who are by definition; imperfect.
We have become a society that is too easily enamored with statistcs and standardized behavior. We want everything neat, explainable, and air tight. Was it fair? Of course not. But since when is anything fair? And while we're at it; if we are going to argue about fairness, what about managerial decisions that cost a pitcher a shut out? Should the manager's judgment be overruled because it was wrong?
Baseball is a game that has always spoken to a more human and forgiving society. It might not be considered cool to say all of this; but through experience I have learned that Mets fans are a pretty bright and open minded bunch of people. I hope this gets you thinking about our game and what it means to us.
Well, that's it for now.
Camille Uliano (MetManiac)
I have been fighting with people left and right about this. I'm a baseball purist according to most my friends. I do think what happened is wrong and I feel terrible for Galarraga, but I don't think the entire sport needs to bend over backwards. There have been millions of wrong calls made in the game. It happens DAILY. I just dread that one day they're going to start using a machine to call balls and strikes...I hope they don't ruin the beauty of this game...
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