Nobody's Perfect....

"He's pitching against time. He's pitching against the future, against age, and even when you think about his career, against ending. And tonight I think he might be able to use that aching old arm one more time to push the sun back up in the sky and give us one more day of summer." ~ For Love of the Game

....even when you really are. Just ask Armando Galaragga.

For those of you non-sports fans out there, Galaragga is a pitcher in the MLB for the Detroit Tigers. Last week, he was on track to throw the perfect game.

For those of you who are really non-sports fans, the perfect game for a pitcher is where no runner gets on base. He doesn't have to strike every batter out, but the ones who do get a hit must be out at 1st base. I'd suggest watching Kevin Cosner in "For Love of the Game" to get a visual.

Perfect games are hard to come by. Only 20 have ever occurred in the history of professional baseball. This isn't a big deal. It's a legacy.

So back to Gallaraga. It was the ninth inning. He had already gotten two outs. One more out, and the perfect game, and his legacy, were in the books. He throws to a batter who hits a grounder. No problem--it's quickly fielded and thrown the first baseman. Then it happens. THE CALL. Safe. People are outraged--dismayed--there was no way the guy was safe and this would ruin Gallaraga's perfect game. The umpire had made the call, the batter was safe, and the perfect game was over.

Turns out, the ump was wrong. The video clearly shows that the player was out. Gallaraga threw the perfect game, but won't get credit for it. The umpire feels bad. Really bad. He's apologized and admited he made a mistake.

As for Gallaraga, he could have been a jerk and called out the ump, whined all over national tv and played the victim. He didn't. He sucked it up, accepted the apology, told the media that nobody's perfect (ironic) and everyone makes mistakes, and went back to work. In a world of famous movie stars and athletes who seem to get whatever they want and whine when anything doesn't go their way, Gallaraga is one of a kind. Good for him. And he didn't walk away empty handed. GM gave the pitcher a corvette.

Maybe he didn't have the perfect game in the books, but it seems to me like he played this situation out perfectly.