• Discussing the Galarraga/Joyce incident

    I’ve been discussing this on my Facebook page but thought I’d put it out for discussion here as well.

    A picture says a thousand words…but my take on it? They want the human element, they got it. You can’t go back and fix past calls, to do this would set a precedent that would have the 1985 Royals upset, among many others.

    Everyone can agree that Jim Joyce messed up, including Jim Joyce. One of the great sub-stories of this huge story is how Jim Joyce and Armando Galarraga, the umpire and the pitcher involved, handled this event.  Both men handled this in a way that frankly we don’t see much anymore, like gentlemen.

    This now has become a bigger issue, not about one call but has brought to the front of the table the long lingering discussion about poor umpiring. I believe that every step should be made to work to develop umpires, to hold them accountable for their performance, and to invest money into developing academies of upcoming young umpires that can step in when aging ones “lose a step”, just like players in the sport they umpire. However, the human element is part of what makes the game great. Are there BIG mistakes made at times? Yes. But replay is a slippery slope. It started with homerun calls, now we want close plays at bases…what’s next, a computerized strike zone? I, like my man Bud Selig, do not want to remove the sanctity of the game. If there’s a quick way to do it where maybe a manager can challenge 1 play a game, then let’s do it. But let’s stop there. I love the different strike zones. I’m a fan of the “unwritten rules”. The variances in the game are one of the things that makes it great. Anyways, I could talk about this all day, as you all know, I “kind of like baseball a little”.

    So let’s hear what you think???
     June 3rd, 2010  Matt Rectenwald   5 comments

    5 responses to “Discussing the Galarraga/Joyce incident”

    • I am IRRITATED! As a Tiger fan, this means a lot to me. Why have rules if you don’t get them right or enforce them? That’s the thing I don’t get about the whole “human element” argument. For instance, some guys will do anything to get an edge, such as use PEDs….that’s a human element, too. Yet there is very little argument that the rules should be fully enforced and applied when it comes to PEDs.

      Another example Recte mentioned is the strike zone. The strike zone is the strike zone, and should always be called the same, or why have a rule?

      Rule 2.00 – The Strike Zone

      The Strike Zone is defined as that area over homeplate the upper limit of which is a horizontal line at the midpoint between the top of the shoulders and the top of the uniform pants, and the lower level is a line at the hollow beneath the kneecap. The Strike Zone shall be determined from the batter’s stance as the batter is prepared to swing at a pitched ball.

      I wouldn’t be opposed to sensors in the uniform and at home plate to measure balls and strikes….or in other words, to enforce THE RULE.

      My point is that in this case, an out is an out. The batter/runner was clearly out as replay shows. Technology proves it. History was denied because of the refusal to accept the TRUTH that technology showed. Why should technology be allowed in some parts of the game, but not in others? All tech does in this case is allow the rules to be enforced BETTER, and that should be the goal. To always enforce the rules of the game the best way possible….or just throw the rules out.

    • As an aside…How impressive is it that before Dallas Braden threw his perfect game on May 9th, 2010, there had only been 18 perfect games thrown in the HISTORY of the game, yet since May 9th, there have been 2 more OFFICIAL perfect games and one more that should have been? Essentially 3 perfect games in a month!! That’s crazy.

    • C-mitch…all I’m saying is that to retroactively change that call is absolutely the wrong decision.

      Did AG get screwed? Yes. Should the call be reversed after the fact? Absolutely not.

      Just saw that Selig almost completely echoes my opinion. The thing about that job that people forget it, sometimes the right call is the hardest to make, because it’s usually unpopular.

    • Have to agree with Matt here, leave the technology out of as much of the game as possible. I dont think there should be any replay’s. use that money to invest in ump training. keeps the game real, yes there will be blown calls.

    • I agree with Matt as well. How many perfect games and no-hitters were blown in years past that we have no clue about because we have no film on them or no replay to watch? The only call made was the live one made by the ump, the human element. Just like Matt has said and I’ll echo here, it’s what keeps this game great. Sure we have technology now, but that does not mean we have to let it ruin the game altogether.


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