I don't believe that in baseball there has ever been a call reversed after the fact. There are several instances where it could have come into play but baseball is one of the last sports remaining with the element of human error. Baseball only uses instant replay to see if a home run was fair or foul or actually cleared the wall. To start to overturn calls days later will undermine the umpires decisions. If Bud Selig was to reverse that call a Pandora's Box of other blown calls would be opened waiting to be overturned. Usually an umpire sticks to his guns and does not admit a mistake (as, as much as we might hate that or disagree with that, he must in order to keep his credibility) but because of the emotion of the evening and Joyce realizing what he had done he admitted he blew the call. As sad and unfortunate that this situation was, all parties involved showed tremendous sportsmanship and that is the feeling we should take away from the game. So to me, he not only threw a perfect game, but acting like a true sportsman. He deserves an ESPY, Sports Illustrated cover, etc for not getting ejected at that point and finishing the game. He probably will be most remembered more for NOT having a perfect game than had he been credited for the perfect game! (spoken by a Red Sox fan, so take it for whatever it's worth!)
From one Red Sox fan to another, this is absolutely true. It's a shame he's not going to get credited with a perfect game, but they shouldn't reverse calls, it's not in the spirit of the game and this has ultimately helped his rep more than a perfect game would anyway. He's getting all the attention and fame he deserves and everybody respects him for being such a good sport in this situation.
Instant replays aren't in the spirit of the game either. Yet instant replay would've fixed this call. Now if you don't support instant replay I understand but you can't say it's tradition for one and not the other.
I think you read his remark incorrectly. Bud Selig will be revisiting the instant replay rules for the future. That is the key - for the future. At the moment it is used in a limited fashion. So the tradition is - not to reverse calls and not to use instant replay in that situation. At least up until now. Selig DID say he would look into all aspects of that play for future seasons. While it won't help this game or take the sting away, there may be a new tradition in the future. How about some other game changing bad calls? One involves the Tigers: Brandon Inge was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and not called. Twins went on to win in the bottom of that inning and head to the playoffs. 2007 NL East playoff game game winning "run" but the replay showed the runner never tagged the plate. 2009 Cardinals vs Rockies blown "catch" There are a million more. Which shows my Pandora's Box theory. Until Selig changes the rules of instant replay we are forced to live within the parameters of human error. I still maintain that pitcher deserves all the awards he can get for rising above the adversity and finishing the game.
Not sure if this has been posted before but he did get a nice reward for his efforts http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/blog/big_league_stew/post/Armando-Galarraga-receives-a-Corvette-consolatio?urn=mlb,245508
I watched the whole game on MLB and seeing the sportsmanship of all the tigers and seeing the umpire still teary-eyed even in the 6th inning made me feel so sorry for both galarraga and Jim Joyce. After seeing an interview with galarraga and seeing how composed he was.....I'm amazed, he's awesome. I am still watching that catch by Austin Jackson in centerfield you could really see the determination of him to keep the perfect game going.... In my books, I watched the 21st perfect game in history. Btw: that car was a nice reward wasn't it?
