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Armando Galaragga came within one out of a perfect game Wednesday night, deprived of the milestone on a call the first base umpire says he got wrong.

Armando Galarraga tries to get Jason Donald out at first base for the last out of his perfect game. Umpire Jim Joyce ruled Donald safe.

CAPTION

By Kirthmon F. Dozier, Detroit Free Press

Tigers players and manager Jim Leyland angrily berated Joyce after Trevor Crowe made the final out, claiming replays showed Donald did not beat the throw.

Minutes after the game, however, Leyland and Galaragga both said they believed no one felt worse about the controversial call than Joyce.

Galaragga said Joyce apologized to him for getting it wrong.

I just cost the kid a perfect game," said Joyce , who became a full-time umpire in 1989. "I thought he beat the throw. I was convinced he beat the throw until I was the replay. It was the biggest call of my career."

Center fielder Austin Jackson make a running, over-the-shoulder catch in deep center field to apparently save the perfect game on a ball hit by Mark Grudzielanek leading off the ninth.

Galarraga then got Mike Redmond to ground out to shortstop before Donald's grounder.

Galarraga smiled after receiving Cabrera's throw, then smirked a bit seeing Joyce's call. Cabrera was more emphatic, his gesture turning from exultation to angry disbelief after Joyce's call.

After Galarraga finished his one-hitter, there was stunned silence in Comerica Park. Galarraga took the high road in a post-game interviews with Fox Sports Detroit and the MLB Network.

"I don't know what to say (about) the decision in the ninth inning," he said. "I'll have to see the replay. "But I feel really good right now.

"That was my best game, so far. I hope I'll keep going like that."

Galaragga said he thought at least a no-hitter was within his grasp after Jackson's running catch.

"When he got that catch it was like, c'mon. When I saw that play, I said, "You got it now, you got it.'"

Said Tigers manager Jim Leyland: "Jimmy's a good umpire. But he probably got it wrong."

Galaragga pitched the game of his life -- 88 pitches, first-pitch strikes to 20 batters, the first 26 retired. It just wasn't quite perfect.

So Galarraga fell a hair shy of duplicating the feats achieved earlier this season by Oakland lefty Dallas Braden and Philadelphia Phillies ace Roy Halladay, whose perfecto came just four days ago at Florida. It would have been just the 21st perfect game in major league history -- but the fourth in the last calendar year, counting Mark Buehrle's gem last July for the Chicago White Sox.

By Paul White

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USA TODAY confirmed via e-mail from John M. (Jay) Brennan, Griffey's lawyer, that an announcement was to be made in Seattle before tonight's game against Minnesota.

Mariners President Chuck Armstrong and manager Don Wakamatsu said shortly thereafter that Griffey would not be reporting to Safeco Field tonight and handed out a statement from Griffey announcing his retirement.

"I've come to a decision today to retire from Major League Baseball," Griffey said in the statement.

He said that nobody from the Mariners had asked him to retire and that he felt that with his reduced playing time this season, he would not be able remain sharp enough to contribute off the bench. He said he did not want to become a distraction to the team.

He retires with 630 home runs, fifth on the all-time list. But he did not have any this season and was batting .184 in 118 at-bats.

Griffey was stung earlier this season by a published report that he'd been asleep in the clubhouse during a potential pinch-hitting appearance. Shortly thereafter, the Mariners traveled to Tampa for a series with the Rays in which he spent time at his Florida home.

He walks away with six seasons of at least 40 home runs, hitting a career-best 56 in consecutive seasons, 1997 and 1998. He also drove in 147 and 146 runs in those seasons.

Perhaps Griffey's ultimate legacy will be the notion that he saved baseball in Seattle, a concept that gained steam when he helped power a stunning stretch-drive run in the 1995 season, one that resulted in the Mariners' first playoff appearance ever. The season culminated in a stirring five-game victory over the Yankees in the Division Series. The Mariners won that series in the aged Kingdome, but public support for a new stadium spiked after their surprise playoff appearance, and Safeco Field opened four years later.

By Paul White

[Edited 6/2/10 19:14pm]

[Edited 6/2/10 19:31pm]

You gotta feel for the ump. He just made a bad call but he owned it like a man.

He'll be in my prayers.

On the other note, I'll miss Griffey. If that cat hadn't been injured so much after going to Cincy, there's no telling how many records he'd own today.

RodeoSchro said:

You're right. If Griffey hadn't begun breaking down at age 30, he may have broken Hank Aaron's home run record by the age of 36 and the whole steroid era would have been an amusing yet pathetic sideshow. Even so, Junios had an amazinhg career. He will be missed.

a buddy of mine said it best:

no clocks, no instant replay. part of what makes the game of baseball great.

Dauphin said:

a buddy of mine said it best:

no clocks, no instant replay. part of what makes the game of baseball great.

That's a load of crap. Every other sport has traveled into the 20th century. Baseball should do the same.

Don't give me that "Human Error is a part of the game" bullshit.

We have the technology, so they should be able to use it.

Actually, it's not a load of crap. We can watch and review it as spectators. We can experience the drama during the heat of the moment, then the class in which the players, coaches, and umps maintain when things settle down.

THOSE are the types of things that make sports exciting and fun to play. Drama, honor, class, competition.

That said....

I had another friend who put another twist on it:

Look at all the pitchers who have perfect games and then consider Galaraga. ONe of these things is not like the other, one of these things doesn't belong.

Paris9748430 said:

Dauphin said:

a buddy of mine said it best:

no clocks, no instant replay. part of what makes the game of baseball great.

That's a load of crap. Every other sport has traveled into the 20th century. Baseball should do the same.

Don't give me that "Human Error is a part of the game" bullshit.

We have the technology, so they should be able to use it.

um, no it shouldn't. It is part of the game.

It's part of why it isn't like the other sports. 90% of the time umps do their job well. Even though the record books won't show it...he threw perfect and now has his very own trivia question in MLB history.

It was good to see the ump apologize.

Did they have to wake Ken up for his press conference?

RodeoSchro said:

You gotta feel for the ump. He just made a bad call but he owned it like a man.

He'll be in my prayers.

On the other note, I'll miss Griffey. If that cat hadn't been injured so much after going to Cincy, there's no telling how many records he'd own today.

Absolutely. After the game he sought out the pitcher and the manager and apologized. On the "owning it" part I couldn't agree more. He fessed up to it and there's absolutely no one on the planet that feels worse about it than he does.

All that being said, you simply can not blow that call with two outs in the 9th. You blow that call in the first inning, whatever, things happen. 9th inning - two outs, perfect game. Inexcusable.

Any way - what's funny is, because he got the next guy out, you could actually spin this story into the best perfect game of all time.

Headline should read: 28 up - 28 out.

Fenwick said:

RodeoSchro said:

You gotta feel for the ump. He just made a bad call but he owned it like a man.

He'll be in my prayers.

On the other note, I'll miss Griffey. If that cat hadn't been injured so much after going to Cincy, there's no telling how many records he'd own today.

Absolutely. After the game he sought out the pitcher and the manager and apologized. On the "owning it" part I couldn't agree more. He fessed up to it and there's absolutely no one on the planet that feels worse about it than he does.

All that being said, you simply can not blow that call with two outs in the 9th. You blow that call in the first inning, whatever, things happen. 9th inning - two outs, perfect game. Inexcusable.

Any way - what's funny is, because he got the next guy out, you could actually spin this story into the best perfect game of all time.

Headline should read: 28 up - 28 out.

That is EXACTLY what my friend and I said last night.

It's good to see pitching be dominant again. If only they would eliminate 4 or 6 teams and raise the rubber again, I'd be in MLB HEAVEN!

JerseyKRS said:

Paris9748430 said:

That's a load of crap. Every other sport has traveled into the 20th century. Baseball should do the same.

Don't give me that "Human Error is a part of the game" bullshit.

We have the technology, so they should be able to use it.

um, no it shouldn't. It is part of the game.

It's part of why it isn't like the other sports. 90% of the time umps do their job well. Even though the record books won't show it...he threw perfect and now has his very own trivia question in MLB history.

It was good to see the ump apologize.

Hey my friend

The instant replay debate is an interesting one. As you know I've loved baseball since I was a little kid. You would naturally think all of us "purists" would rebel against the idea of instant replay.

But I'm not as deadset against it as most true fans of the game are. I think the argument for getting the call right when there is a very easy way to insure it is/was shouldn't be dismissed in the name of tradition and/or slowing the game down.

Maybe it could be instituted like football but in a lesser scale.

No balls and strikes. You get one challenge per game.

Heck - you really want to slowly migrate it in, one challenge per series with each team. And it can only be used for fair/foul safe/out type calls.

Not saying I'm completely sold on it, but I do think it's worth considering.

JerseyKRS said:

Fenwick said:

Absolutely. After the game he sought out the pitcher and the manager and apologized. On the "owning it" part I couldn't agree more. He fessed up to it and there's absolutely no one on the planet that feels worse about it than he does.

All that being said, you simply can not blow that call with two outs in the 9th. You blow that call in the first inning, whatever, things happen. 9th inning - two outs, perfect game. Inexcusable.

Any way - what's funny is, because he got the next guy out, you could actually spin this story into the best perfect game of all time.

Headline should read: 28 up - 28 out.

That is EXACTLY what my friend and I said last night.

It's good to see pitching be dominant again. If only they would eliminate 4 or 6 teams and raise the rubber again, I'd be in MLB HEAVEN!

AMEN! I know more people enjoyed the game when there were 50 home runs being cranked out by folks like Brady Anderson, but I am with you 100% on this.

Get the teams that can't draw out of the way, figure out a way to make SOME sort of level playing field salary wise and raise the rubber.

Fenwick said:

JerseyKRS said:

um, no it shouldn't. It is part of the game.

It's part of why it isn't like the other sports. 90% of the time umps do their job well. Even though the record books won't show it...he threw perfect and now has his very own trivia question in MLB history.

It was good to see the ump apologize.

Hey my friend

The instant replay debate is an interesting one. As you know I've loved baseball since I was a little kid. You would naturally think all of us "purists" would rebel against the idea of instant replay.

But I'm not as deadset against it as most true fans of the game are. I think the argument for getting the call right when there is a very easy way to insure it is/was shouldn't be dismissed in the name of tradition and/or slowing the game down.

Maybe it could be instituted like football but in a lesser scale.

No balls and strikes. You get one challenge per game.

Heck - you really want to slowly migrate it in, one challenge per series with each team. And it can only be used for fair/foul safe/out type calls.

Not saying I'm completely sold on it, but I do think it's worth considering.

I'm absolutely in favor of instituting it on some level. No balls and strikes calls EVER, though. I think one challenge per game is too much, but I like the idea of one per series. I absolutely do not like the idea of a penalty for a failed challenge. That should have nothing to do with what the players are doing on the field, which is playing the game. A fail would be just that, "nope, sorry...we were right...continue play".

Leave it up to the managers to decide when to use it, if they use it all.

Nice idea, Fenwick.

I'm dying to get Bud out of the commisioners chair. I hates him.

Fenwick said:

JerseyKRS said:

That is EXACTLY what my friend and I said last night.

It's good to see pitching be dominant again. If only they would eliminate 4 or 6 teams and raise the rubber again, I'd be in MLB HEAVEN!

AMEN! I know more people enjoyed the game when there were 50 home runs being cranked out by folks like Brady Anderson, but I am with you 100% on this.

Get the teams that can't draw out of the way, figure out a way to make SOME sort of level playing field salary wise and raise the rubber.

the biggest problem I have with so many teams is it has truly watered down the talent. Because of that, there are kids pitching now that have no business being up. They should be in the minors. Eliminate 50-60 pitching spots in MLB and all of a sudden bullpens get better, rotations get stronger, the list goes on.

I'm living in a baseball mindset though, not a corporate profit one....

JerseyKRS said:

Fenwick said:

Hey my friend

The instant replay debate is an interesting one. As you know I've loved baseball since I was a little kid. You would naturally think all of us "purists" would rebel against the idea of instant replay.

But I'm not as deadset against it as most true fans of the game are. I think the argument for getting the call right when there is a very easy way to insure it is/was shouldn't be dismissed in the name of tradition and/or slowing the game down.

Maybe it could be instituted like football but in a lesser scale.

No balls and strikes. You get one challenge per game.

Heck - you really want to slowly migrate it in, one challenge per series with each team. And it can only be used for fair/foul safe/out type calls.

Not saying I'm completely sold on it, but I do think it's worth considering.

I'm absolutely in favor of instituting it on some level. No balls and strikes calls EVER, though. I think one challenge per game is too much, but I like the idea of one per series. I absolutely do not like the idea of a penalty for a failed challenge. That should have nothing to do with what the players are doing on the field, which is playing the game. A fail would be just that, "nope, sorry...we were right...continue play".

Leave it up to the managers to decide when to use it, if they use it all.

Nice idea, Fenwick.

I'm dying to get Bud out of the commisioners chair. I hates him.

Thanks bro.

Because I'd really like to limit the influence/intrusion of instant replay, I originally thought of a one per rolling 7 games type of thing. But you couldn't do that because if one team used their challenge earlier in the week against a different team, you could actually have a series later in the week where one team comes in with a challenge and one doesn't. Non bueno.

So I think you'd simply have to do a one per game or one per series type of thing.

Absolutely agree on the no penalites thing too. Your penalty is you used your challenge and now you don't have one anymore.

On the Bud front, it is absolutely amazing to me that he has got a free f*ing pass from all the crap that has gone down on his watch.

Pause for dramatic effect...

AMAZES ME!!!!

If you were CEO of a company that had that many problems going on, WHETHER YOU KNEW ABOUT THEM OR NOT, isn't that your responsibility? And yet this douchebag continues to get a free ride.

I think the reason I feel as strongly about it as I do is when you compare the umpire's reaction from last night to Selig's. The ump last night just owned it. Fessed up and said no excuses, I f*ed up. Selg's been called on it a few times over the years and assface central has actually gotten snarky/uppity with the reporters who have asked him about it. The f*ing nerve.

JerseyKRS said:

Fenwick said:

AMEN! I know more people enjoyed the game when there were 50 home runs being cranked out by folks like Brady Anderson, but I am with you 100% on this.

Get the teams that can't draw out of the way, figure out a way to make SOME sort of level playing field salary wise and raise the rubber.

the biggest problem I have with so many teams is it has truly watered down the talent. Because of that, there are kids pitching now that have no business being up. They should be in the minors. Eliminate 50-60 pitching spots in MLB and all of a sudden bullpens get better, rotations get stronger, the list goes on.

I'm living in a baseball mindset though, not a corporate profit one....

This gets back to the other baseball thread about salary caps.

Six/eight/ten teams in the league trade proven talent for prospects EVERY YEAR at the all star break. The proverbial salary dump. And every year the same six to eight teams are buyers, (my beloved Red Sox included). It's just stupid.

So the teams you are talking about have no money and/or won't pay to put players on the field, so everyone from the 39 year old veteran who should have left the game 4 years ago to the 23 year old kid who should still be in the minors are forced to play.

Yet the Yankees and Red Sox field all star teams at virtually every position.

And there's Bud, doing nothing about it.

Money talks....

I feel really bad for Galaragga and really bad for Joyce. He owned up to it and I'm sure he's received and will receive lots of flak for this.

The MN Twins lost last night's game on a blown call. Maybe it is time for an instant replay of some sort.

728huey said:

RodeoSchro said:

On the other note, I'll miss Griffey. If that cat hadn't been injured so much after going to Cincy, there's no telling how many records he'd own today.

You're right. If Griffey hadn't begun breaking down at age 30, he may have broken Hank Aaron's home run record by the age of 36 and the whole steroid era would have been an amusing yet pathetic sideshow. Even so, Junios had an amazinhg career. He will be missed.

Exactly. He would have eclipsed Bonds, Mac & Sosa if his body hadn't betrayed him. He's still a HOFamer in my book.

In my opinion, I hold the crew chief just as responsible for that blown call. He should have gathered everyone together to discuss the play and then decided what to do from their. I am not for instant replay when it comes to balls or strikes, but in a case such as this, I think it is warrented.

[Edited 6/3/10 7:45am]

shorttrini said:

In my opinion, I hold the crew chief just as responsible for that blown call. He should have gathered everyone together to discuss the play and then decided what to do from their. I am not for instant replay when it comes to balls or st

WFAN just reported the commissioner's office is reviewing the call.

uPtoWnNY said:

shorttrini said:

In my opinion, I hold the crew chief just as responsible for that blown call. He should have gathered everyone together to discuss the play and then decided what to do from their. I am not for instant replay when it comes to balls or st

WFAN just reported the commissioner's office is reviewing the call.

They have too. That ump completely missed that call. It is said that umps go by the sound of ball to glove as we as sight. With all of noise in a stadium, how in the hell, can u rely on sound?

Now Congress is getting involved. Don't those morons have better things to do?

IMO, the call should stand. Bad calls are part of the game, like jersey said.

Before today's game, an emotional Jim Joyce (the ump) came onto the field with his crew. Armando Galarraga (the pitcher) brought out the line-up card and shook hands with Joyce and the others at home plate. The crowd gave them a standing ovation.

We don't see it often these days, but this is how grown-ups are supposed to act.

Genesia said:

Before today's game, an emotional Jim Joyce (the ump) came onto the field with his crew. Armando Galarraga (the pitcher) brought out the line-up card and shook hands with Joyce and the others at home plate. The crowd gave them a standing ovation.

We don't see it often these days, but this is how grown-ups are supposed to act.

Absolutely brilliant. Can't wait to see it tonight.

This thread doesn't interest me in the slightest, and still I click on it just so I can drool over your avatar.

lawd.

uPtoWnNY said:

Now Congress is getting involved. Don't those morons have better things to do?

IMO, the call should stand. Bad calls are part of the game, like jersey said.

I would agree if the play was closer, but the runner was obviously out. Like I said before, the crew chief should have taken control of the matter. By not reversing the call, Bud Seiling is sending a bad message to the players of the game.