The legendary NFL coach, Vince Lombardi, once said, "Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence." He was exactly right. Except some times, at least in certain sports, perfection is attainable. As of this past fall, there have been 23 perfect games in major league baseball history. A perfect game occurs when a pitcher (or a combination of pitchers) pitches a victory that lasts a minimum of 9 innings in which no opposing batter reaches base (recall that the opposing batter can reach base with a walk, a hit, getting hit with a pitched ball, or an error). And, since the modern era of major league baseball (generally considered the 1900 season - prior to that, it took 8 balls to get a walk and a batter was not awarded first base if he was hit by a pitch).Twenty-three perfect games - since 1900 there have been over 181,000 major league baseball games. If you consider that the pitcher on each team has a chance to pitch a perfect game, then there have been over 362,000 opportunities to pitch a perfect game. In other words, a perfect game only happens about 0.006% of the time! The last pitcher to do it was a player named Felix Hernandez, who pitched a perfect game on August 15, 2012 for the Seattle Mariners. So, maybe Coach Lombardi was still correct - perfection is rarely, if ever, attainable, even in baseball!
Imagine then, if you were a pitcher who was pitching against the 27th batter and you were just one out away from becoming one of a very, very select few who have pitched a perfect game. Just imagine how excited and how nervous you would be. Then imagine that you threw a great pitch to the batter, who hits a slow grounder that was fielded perfectly, and you see the ball reach your first baseman's glove just before the batter touches first base. Out number 27! You'd be pretty excited, wouldn't you? Now imagine that instead of hearing the umpire yell, "Out", the umpire says "Safe" instead. There goes your perfect game. There goes your no-hitter. There goes your one chance at immortality. Imagine how you would feel if you looked up on the scoreboard to watch the replay, and the batter was clearly out. Imagine.
The Detroit Tigers pitcher, Armando Galarraga found himself in exactly that situation on June 2, 2010. He was pitching in his home stadium, Comerica Park in Detroit, Michigan. Galarraga pitched an incredible game - he retired the first 26 batters that he faced and was one out away. Cleveland Indians hitter, Jason Donald, hit a grounder and was called safe at first by the umpire, Jim Joyce. Galarraga retired the next batter for the last out - he faced 28 batters and threw only 88 pitches (67 strikes and 21 balls) for what is now called the "28-out perfect game" or the "imperfect game."
Joyce realized afterwards that he had made a mistake. He could see the replay too. But there was no such thing as instant replay in major league baseball at that time. The call stood, and Galarraga lost his perfect game. Joyce tearfully apologized to Galarraga afterwards. And what did Galarraga do? He forgave him. He told the reporters after the game, "Nobody's perfect." Just like that.
Galarraga later said that Joyce "probably feels more bad than me. Nobody's perfect. Everybody's human. I understand. I give the guy a lot of credit for saying 'I need to talk to you.' You don't see an umpire tell you that after a game. I have him a hug."
"I know that I pitched a perfect game. I believe I got it. I said before, I got a perfect game. I'm going to show my son. Maybe it's not in the book, but I'm going to tell my son, 'One time I got a perfect game.' I'll show him the CD," Galarraga continued.
The very next day, Joyce was the head umpire and walked to home plate to receive the line-up cards from the two managers. Galarraga walked up to Joyce and handed him the Tigers' line-up card. The two shook hands, while Joyce could barely hold back the tears. The pitcher gave Joyce a pat on the back, and the audience gave Joyce a standing ovation. A full pardon. Forgiveness. Imagine.
Next time you feel that you have been wronged. Remember that we are all human. "Nobody's perfect." We all make mistakes. And then remember that in order to reach perfection, we must forgive. Remember Armando Galarraga. And forgive.
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