By now even the most anti-baseball fan has heard about the umpire whose bad call denied the Detroit Tiger’s Armando Galarraga a perfect game and a place in baseball history on the very last out. The call has been reviewed numerous times and there is no doubt Jason McDonald of the Cleveland Indians was out number 27. A perfect game, 27 batters 27 outs, is a rare if not Hall of Fame guaranteeing feat. In the entire history of professional baseball, only 20 pitchers have thrown a perfect game. Armando and his teammate won the contest after facing one more batter but the deed had been done.
While fans, media experts and legislators continue to lobby for MLB commissioner Bud Selig to overturn the call and award Galarraga with his much deserved place in baseball lore, the wronged pitcher and umpire Jim Joyce, have distanced themselves from the furor. In so doing, Galarraga and Joyce are teaching us how to live out some of the most important life lessons ever taught.
Instead of ranting and raving after the call, Galarraga calmly returned to the mound and completed his job. He didn’t stomp around the infield, pout, throw a hissy fit, get in the umpire’s face or seek revenge by throwing at the next batter. He CHOSE to remain calm and quickly went back to work.
While the baseball and Detroit political community sought justice days after the game, Galarraga returned to his post game regimen to prepare for his next start. He did not hold a press conference saying he was robbed, posted nothing on face book or tweeted his indignation to riled up fans. He did not play the discrimination card; demand an apology or a reversal of the call. Here is the heart of his comments on the whole situation….”Nobody is Perfect. Everyone makes a mistake.”
Interesting, instead of berating the umpire who robbed him of the rarest feat in all of baseball, a perfect game, Armando simply stated the obvious and moved on.
What about the perpetrator? Did umpire Jim Joyce make excuses? Did he justify, get defensive, stick to his guns saying everyone else was wrong and he was right? Listen to this…..”I robbed that kid of a perfect game. I messed up.”
The life lessons in this story were first taught many years ago, but it sure is nice to see someone living them out as an example for us all.
“Do unto others as you would have them to unto you.”
“Before removing the speck out of your neighbor’s eye, remove the log from your own.”
“You who is without sin, throw the first stone (baseball).”
“All have sinned and fallen short……'of the perfect game'.”
“Forgive as the Lord has forgiven you.”
“Father, forgive them, for they (umpires) don’t know what they do.”
Neither Armando Galarraga nor Jim Joyce had a perfect game on that historic night, but from where I have viewed this spectacle, both men are teaching us how to “perfectly” respond when life isn’t fair .......... or perfect.
How will you respond?
Peace,
Rick
