Granholm declares Galarraga's gem a perfect game
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/06/03/art.tigers.gi.jpg caption="Detroit pitcher Armando Galarraga was robbed of a perfect game Wednesday night."]Washington (CNN) - Just one day after Detroit Tigers' pitcher Armando Galarraga was robbed of a perfect game by a heartbreaking missed call, Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm is ripping up the scorecard and proclaiming the game perfect.
Noting that umpire Jim Joyce admitted he was mistaken in calling Indians player Jason Donald safe at first base with a perfect game on the line in the ninth inning, Granholm is fixing the mistake, even if Major League Baseball won't.
"Now, Therefore, be it Resolved that I, Jennifer M. Granholm, governor of the state of Michigan, do hereby declare Armando Galarraga to have pitched a perfect game, and I join Tigers fans all across the globe in saluting his unassailable accomplishment – the first perfect game in Tigers history," the proclamation reads.
Outcry against umpire Jim Joyce has been fierce Thursday. The New York Times called the botched call "easily the most egregious blown call in baseball over the last 25 years."
And the umpire himself – while not allowed to view an instant replay during the game – knew the score afterward.
"I just cost that kid a perfect game," Joyce said. "I thought he beat the throw. I was convinced he beat the throw, until I saw the replay."
(Read the proclamation below)
"Whereas, pitching a perfect game is considered one of the crowning achievements of sport, attained only 20 times in the history of Major League Baseball; and,"Whereas, a perfect game is defined as when a pitcher or pitchers retire each batter during the course of a game lasting at least nine innings; and,
"Whereas, Armando Galarraga retired all 27 players in order, a feat no Tigers pitcher has ever accomplished; and,
"Whereas, an umpire's missed call resulted in Armando Galarraga being charged a hit that clearly should have been an out; and,
"Whereas, the umpire graciously admitted his mistake after the game ended; and,
"Whereas, video replays unmistakably show Galarraga to have retired all batters;
"Now, Therefore, be it Resolved that I, Jennifer M. Granholm, governor of the state of Michigan, do hereby declare Armando Galarraga to have pitched a perfect game, and I join Tigers fans all across the globe in saluting his unassailable accomplishment – the first perfect game in Tigers history."
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Bravo! The Comish needs to do the honorable and correct this horrendous error. And kudos to Galarraga for not throwing a tantrum even though he would have been justified in doing so.
You go Gov. At least someone is showing some sense. What a shame that was!!
Gov. Granholm, rocks! Way to go Gov.
Instant replay should be required in all sports. The NBA took it upon themselves to review questionable calls via instant replay and there wasn't a huge debate about it. They just went and did it. Referees and umpires don't always get the call right.
OK. Now we can go back and overturn every blown call in MLB history.
lol...typical democrat.....they all think they can change everything "just because they say so". What a bunch of dunces democrats are. No wonder sane people point and laugh at them. Blown umpire calls are part of the game.
Great call Governor. Hopefully the MLB commissioner corrects the call too.
That makes me feel better! The first for Detroit, way to go Armando!
Obviously Granholm is grasping for votes for her party.
How nice! Especially when the unemployment rate in Michigan is almost 15%. Good thing for term limits. Maybe she should be worrying about the Michigan economy and not get involved in a missed baseball call. One of the worse governor's this State has ever had. Certainly no friend of the working class as she hailed herself to be. Oh Canada!..................
OK, first, I think MLB should make the same decision, but I hate the arrogance displayed by Gov. Granholm. To think that her "declaration" has any meaning whatsoever is arrogance of the highest level. I would happily support her petitioning the MLB to have the call reversed and the game recognized as a perfect game in the record books, but writing a proclamation claiming it will be recognized by the state as a perfect game is just rediculous.
What an asinine thing to do. While it is clear to me that the runner was out and there are reasonable grounds to award Galarraga a perfect game, what good does it do for a governor to make such a declaration. Last time I checked, MLB stood for Major League Baseball, not Michigan League Baseball. I'm sure would give Galarraga great comfort to know that the governor granted him a perfect game even if (in the end) Major League Baseball does not.
Since she has time for meaningless acts, can Gov. Granholm pass a resolution that the oil spill disaster in the Gulf never happened?
I hope baseball reverses the call. The kid deserves his place is history! I understand the governor's attempt at supporting her state but baseball's leadership has to make the call and I hope they do the right thing!
ANOTHER reason Baseball NEEDS instant replay review for critical events besides home runs!
Hockey has it, football has it.
Umps make mistakes, now this ump has to live with this the rest of his life when instant replay would have cotrected this obvious mistake.
This is one that the MLB commissioner should overrule. The call was clearly wrong, and the next batter was retired. For the pitcher, this was likely a once in a lifetime achievement, and the only honorable thing to do is to give him his perfect game officially.
Galarraga is a class act! He could have easily made a huge stink about this and just rip the first base ump...but he didn't. He was right...no one is perfect but this game should have been. Hope to see him get another one in his career.
So good to know that the Governor of the Great Sinking State of Michigan has time for all this. Lady, do your job for a change.
It would be nice if both teams, players and management, petitioned the Commissoner of Baseball to have the game awarded to Detroit. It could be done. It should be done.
Nice touch, but baseball is baseball and part of the charm is that umpires are not perfect. If you look at it objectively, umpires undoubtedly have also called runners out when they were safe. They certainly have mistakes on ball and strike calls.
I don't think any less of what Galarraga accomplished because the umpire missed the call. He pitched an incredible game.