Posted by drawmules on Thu, Jun 3, 2010, at 1:26 AM:
The most controversial call by a first base umpire since 1985 may have taken place Wednesday night in Detroit.
A year before I was born Don Denkinger was assigned to umpire first base in the 1985 World Series between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Kansas City Royals.
The Cardinals entered the ninth inning with a 1-0 lead and Tim Worrell on the mound. With no outs, Jorge Orta hit a ground ball to Jack Clark that was eventually tossed back to Worrell at first. Denkinger ruled Orta was safe; however, television replays suggested Orta's foot did not make contact with first base before the ball entered Worrell's glove. The call eventually lead to a run and the Kansas City Royals eventually defeated the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series.
Wednesday night's call by first base umpire, Jim Joyce, didn't cost the Detroit Tigers the World Series. However, it may have cost one of the Tigers players an honor that is just as prestigious as receiving a World Series ring.
Armando Galarraga was one out away from pitching a perfect game as he sprinted to first to field a throw that would be delivered by Miguel Cabrera. Cabrera's throw didn't pull Galarraga off the bag. Cabrera delivered a strike to Galarraga. It should have been the perfect throw that ended the perfect game. But it wasn't.
Shortly after the play was completed Cabrera leaped into the air. He wasn't jumping in triumphant for his teammate, however. He was almost certainly jumping in shock, frustration or disapproval of what his pitcher was about to discover when he turned around. The first base umpire, Jim Joyce, had just called the base runner safe.
The replays show the base runner was almost certainly out.
After the game, Joyce shared his thoughts on the call.
"It was the biggest call of my career, and I kicked the [stuff] out of it," he said. "I just cost that kid a perfect game.
Discussions over what should take place about this incident have surfaced everywhere. Some have suggested the commissioner should change the call since it was the final out of the game. Others have suggested the call should stand because human error is a part of baseball.
Almost everyone that has commented on the issue has acknowledged the call could lead to umpires being required to review more close plays during games.
SHOULD MORE PLAYS BE REVIEWED DURING BASEBALL GAMES?
We are currently living in a world in which it is possible for me to make this post on a website at a two-star motel at 1:20 a.m. Technology is amazing. However, baseball has often been about tradition.
WOULD IMPLEMENTING INSTANT REPLAY ON MORE PLAYS DETROY THE BASEBALL TRADITION BASEBALL FANS HAVE ENJOYED FOR OVER A CENTURY?
I look forward to reading your comments on instant replay in upcoming weeks.
No replay - part of all great competitions is human error whether from athletes or from officals. It is what makes these competitions so great. Players make errors as well in the moments that is why some are paid and some are not. Same goes for officals, Joyce probably won't be doing any all star or world series games this year - this might even push him to retire. Umpires as well as athletes loss something with age, maybe its not by accident that Ken Jr. retired yesterday - maybe same can be said for Joyce???
-- Posted by baseballfan4life on Thu, Jun 3, 2010, at 8:42 AM
Baseballfan4life
Thanks for the reply. I hope we have others. After I wrote this last night I read something very interesting. Sports Illustrated recently published umpire rankings. Joyce was ranked as tge second best umpire in MLB in these rankings.
-- Posted by drawmules on Thu, Jun 3, 2010, at 10:27 AM
as i was watching sportscenter this morning the tigers manager said that Joyce was voted favorite umpire by the players twice and was on the top 25 umpires voted by players another time. He admitted that he missed the call and also said that they should review it and reverse the call and give the kid what he deserves, never seen an umpire say something like that before. The pitcher said that he doesnt care and wants to put it behind him and the team because in his mind and the minds of everybody who saw the play he threw a perfect game.
-- Posted by SemoSports on Thu, Jun 3, 2010, at 11:29 AM
I think that this shows that you have to have replay in the game. We have all the technology to do it, with so many camera angles and quick replay. On calls like these and home runs (which replay is already used for) you just have to get it right. It will not slow the game down much. It will allow for calls to be corrected and erase all doubt on calls in games.
-- Posted by that_1guy on Thu, Jun 3, 2010, at 4:07 PM
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The most controversial call by a first base umpire since 1985 may have taken place Wednesday night in Detroit.
A year before I was born Don Denkinger was assigned to umpire first base in the 1985 World Series between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Kansas City Royals.
The Cardinals entered the ninth inning with a 1-0 lead and Tim Worrell on the mound. With no outs, Jorge Orta hit a ground ball to Jack Clark that was eventually tossed back to Worrell at first. Denkinger ruled Orta was safe; however, television replays suggested Orta's foot did not make contact with first base before the ball entered Worrell's glove. The call eventually lead to a run and the Kansas City Royals eventually defeated the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series.
Wednesday night's call by first base umpire, Jim Joyce, didn't cost the Detroit Tigers the World Series. However, it may have cost one of the Tigers players an honor that is just as prestigious as receiving a World Series ring.
Armando Galarraga was one out away from pitching a perfect game as he sprinted to first to field a throw that would be delivered by Miguel Cabrera. Cabrera's throw didn't pull Galarraga off the bag. Cabrera delivered a strike to Galarraga. It should have been the perfect throw that ended the perfect game. But it wasn't.
Shortly after the play was completed Cabrera leaped into the air. He wasn't jumping in triumphant for his teammate, however. He was almost certainly jumping in shock, frustration or disapproval of what his pitcher was about to discover when he turned around. The first base umpire, Jim Joyce, had just called the base runner safe.
The replays show the base runner was almost certainly out.
After the game, Joyce shared his thoughts on the call.
"It was the biggest call of my career, and I kicked the [stuff] out of it," he said. "I just cost that kid a perfect game.
Discussions over what should take place about this incident have surfaced everywhere. Some have suggested the commissioner should change the call since it was the final out of the game. Others have suggested the call should stand because human error is a part of baseball.
Almost everyone that has commented on the issue has acknowledged the call could lead to umpires being required to review more close plays during games.
SHOULD MORE PLAYS BE REVIEWED DURING BASEBALL GAMES?
We are currently living in a world in which it is possible for me to make this post on a website at a two-star motel at 1:20 a.m. Technology is amazing. However, baseball has often been about tradition.
WOULD IMPLEMENTING INSTANT REPLAY ON MORE PLAYS DETROY THE BASEBALL TRADITION BASEBALL FANS HAVE ENJOYED FOR OVER A CENTURY?
I look forward to reading your comments on instant replay in upcoming weeks.
Replies
No replay - part of all great competitions is human error whether from athletes or from officals. It is what makes these competitions so great. Players make errors as well in the moments that is why some are paid and some are not. Same goes for officals, Joyce probably won't be doing any all star or world series games this year - this might even push him to retire. Umpires as well as athletes loss something with age, maybe its not by accident that Ken Jr. retired yesterday - maybe same can be said for Joyce???
Baseballfan4life
Thanks for the reply. I hope we have others. After I wrote this last night I read something very interesting. Sports Illustrated recently published umpire rankings. Joyce was ranked as tge second best umpire in MLB in these rankings.
as i was watching sportscenter this morning the tigers manager said that Joyce was voted favorite umpire by the players twice and was on the top 25 umpires voted by players another time. He admitted that he missed the call and also said that they should review it and reverse the call and give the kid what he deserves, never seen an umpire say something like that before. The pitcher said that he doesnt care and wants to put it behind him and the team because in his mind and the minds of everybody who saw the play he threw a perfect game.
I think that this shows that you have to have replay in the game. We have all the technology to do it, with so many camera angles and quick replay. On calls like these and home runs (which replay is already used for) you just have to get it right. It will not slow the game down much. It will allow for calls to be corrected and erase all doubt on calls in games.