Jim Joyce: Portrait Of An Umpire As An Honest Man
Thursday, June 3, 2010 at 2:56PM 
Veteran Ump Admits Gaffe,
Apologizes To Galarraga
By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season
Whomever's on the dirty side of Floyd Landis' allegations that Lance Armstrong used performance-enhancing drugs during his cycling reign, I hope you've been able to turn on a television the last 24 hours.
Or any other athlete accused of any type of wrongdoing, really. Whether you're on the embarrassing end of steroid rumors, drug or weapons allegations or perhaps charges that you sexually assaulted a college-age girl at a college bar in a college town, you could probably learn a thing or two from Jim Joyce.
Who's Jim Joyce, you ask?
He's the guy with the worst case of nausea of anyone in America today. And he's probably a bigger man than you are.
What should have been the 27th and final out of Armando Galarraga's perfect game for Detroit Wednesday night was instead mistakenly ruled an infield hit. Umpire Joyce blew the call and he knew it.
He admitted so afterward Wednesday and again before the Tigers' game against Cleveland Thursday afternoon. He was profuse in his remorse, holding back tears and offering up apology after apology. Joyce tipped his cap to Galarraga for his flawless effort, and beat himself up for ruining the young pitcher's accomplishment. He even sought him out after the game to deliver a personal apology ... and a hug.
Americans hate authority. We boo when officials of any sport take the field, court or rink before a game has even started. Not a second has ticked off the clock, yet we've already got a close and critical eye on the men in stripes.
But with Joyce's strong effort to admit his mistake, take the heat like a man and continue to do his job with dignity, something funny has happened. Fellow umpires, colleagues, league officials, managers and players -- even Galarraga -- have expressed their support for Joyce. That's what happens when you're an honest guy. You do it the right way, and eventually good things follow.
Galarraga won't get the due credit for his rare gem, but what's happened since has been nothing short of perfect.
Armando Galarraga, Jim Joyce
Reader Comments (4)
The only person left to do the right thing is Selig. Galarraga deserves to be remembered for having a perfect game. Why have a commish if he can't make the difficult decisions?
If no further action is taken and we're able to move on without any changes to this situation, I think Galarraga and Joyce will both be remembered for a long time. AG won't be in the record books, but I've never even seen a record book anyway. History teaches us in many forms. His sportsmanship will be remembered for many years.
But yes, Selig does need to make some big-boy decisions and bringing in instant reply is a no-brainer.
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