Armando Galarraga’s Bad Luck After Near-Perfect Game
Detroit Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga, who was robbed of a perfect game by umpire Jim Joyce on June 2, 2010 has been on a roller coaster ride of emotions and struggled since then.
Galarraga pitched 8⅔ perfect innings, retired 26 straight Indians' batters, but lost the perfect game on the 27th batter after what was ruled an infield hit.
Clelevand’s rookie Jason Donald hit a ground ball to first Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera, who tossed the ball to Galarraga, who was covering first base.
Everything happened so fast that the first base umpire Joyce incorrectly called Donald safe. This ended the perfect game and no-hitter for Galarraga and strung on a series of bad luck.
The umpire's blown call was surely frustrating after video replays clearly showed that the runner was out.
However, the 28-year-old right-hander received a 2010 Corvette convertible from General Motors for his near-perfect game before the start of the following home game against the Cleveland Indians.
Then an admission of guilt came from the 23-year veteran Joyce, who issued a direct apology to Galarraga, saying that the call was incorrect.
"I just cost that kid a perfect game," Joyce said afterward. "I thought he beat the throw. I was convinced he beat the throw, until I saw the replay."
“I don’t blame them a bit or anything that was said. I would’ve said it myself if I had been Galarraga. I would’ve been the first person in my face, and he never said a word to me.”
But somewhere along the way, the “what if” phenomena started to come into factor for Galarraga who, up until now, managed to keep his cool.
If he had completed the perfect game, he would have added his name beside some of the all time greats, becoming the 21st pitcher to throw a perfect game.
If he had completed the perfect game, it would have also been the second perfect game in just four days, Roy Halladay having thrown his on May 29.
If he had completed the perfect game, it would have been third perfect game of the season, as well as the fourth perfect game in just over ten months.
All of a sudden, the 28-out perfect game- as fans in Detroit refer it to- which saw Galarraga threw 67 strikes out of 88 pitches, was starting to remind him of the injustice that was committed and kept his mind off upcoming games.
Less-than-perfect since then
In his last start with the Tigers on July 6, he allowed 10 hits and three earned runs in 6.2 innings against the Baltimore Orioles, the worst team in the majors.
After posting a 1-1 record in six starts after that game with a 5.61 ERA, the Tigers optioned Galarraga to the Triple-A Toledo Mud Hens, a Minor League Baseball team.
While it was ostensibly to keep Galarraga pitching over the All-Star break, it was not exactly the destination one would expect after posting such solid numbers and dominating performance just a few weeks back.
Trying to make the best out of a bad situation, Galarraga went about his business and tried to get back to the majors.
Galarraga, 3-2 with a 4.45 ERA in 10 appearances (nine starts) for the Tigers this season, yielded three hits and one walk with two strikeouts against the Yankees' Triple-A affiliate. He threw 43 pitches, 27 for strikes.
"He did fine," said Tigers manager Jim Leyland. "He got his pitches in and threw the ball extremely well. I think he'll be ready to go on Tuesday."
With Leyland’s new found confidence in the 28-year-old right-hander, Galarraga is sheduled to return to the Tigers' rotation on Tuesday night against the Rangers at Comerica Park.
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