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Thursday, June 03, 2010
A Matter Of Justice
The Curmudgeon doesn't write all the essays here, Gentle Readers. Now and then, a subject so charges my condensers that I simply must approach it in my own voice, with all the censors deactivated. Such a subject is before us today.
What subject, you ask? Bide, and you'll see.
On July 23, 1983, in a game at Yankee Stadium, Kansas City Royals superstar George Brett had a home run called back because Yankees manager Billy Martin argued (accurately) that under the rules of baseball as they stood then, Brett's bat was illegally fouled with pine tar. Umpire Tim McClelland agreed and called Brett out, touching off one of Major League Baseball's biggest controversies. Some days afterward, American League president Lee MacPhail reversed McClelland's call, awarded Brett his homer and two runs batted in, and ordered that the game be resumed from that point.
Baseball fans were stunned. The rules had been set aside because a much-loved star had suffered from them. Baseball, America's "national pastime," had been for a century the epitome of fair play under uniform rules. What could this possibly mean?
MacPhail based his decision on the "spirit of the rule," which he claimed was economic: to protect the ball from being thrown out of play. The rationale was so openly artificial that no one accepted it...except Brett and the Royals, who went on to win the resumed game.
All the same, there was general agreement that the rule itself should be struck from the books -- just not retroactively. Ex post facto changes in the rules, it was agreed, would make a mockery of the game.
Everyone in the debate had a point of some sort. But what about the underlying rationale for having rules at all -- rules that are supposed to apply to every player on any field? What about justice?
Yesterday evening, Detroit Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga was one out from immortality, having retired 26 Cleveland Indians batters in order. A grounder to the right side of the infield was fielded by first baseman Miguel Cabrera, who flipped to Galarraga covering first. That provided the final out for the season's third perfect game...or at any rate, it should have. Umpire Jim Joyce blew the call, declaring runner Jason Donald safe at first. That call deprived Galarraga and his Tiger teammates of a guaranteed spot in Cooperstown's Baseball Hall of Fame.
Baseball fans nationwide are in an uproar over this. Video of the play indicates clearly that Donald was out by half a step. Joyce didn't just blow the call; he blew it by a substantial margin, The stakes could only have been higher if a playoff spot or the World Series itself were at risk. The umpire himself admits all this, and was abject in apology to pitcher Galarraga in the aftermath. Galarraga himself exhibited pure class; his most piercing remark about the episode was also the shortest made by anyone: "Nobody's perfect."
But what about justice?
What the American League did for Brett and the Royals in 1983, it can do for Armando Galarraga and the Tigers in 2010:
- On the strength of the video evidence, reverse Joyce's call.
- Declare runner Jason Donald out at first.
- As that would constitute the third out of Cleveland's half of the ninth inning, declare the game complete -- and perfect.
Indeed, whereas Lee MacPhail exerted unjustified discretion in setting aside a plainly worded rule of baseball to award Brett his homer, the league would merely be exerting replay correction, such as it routinely uses in disputed home run calls, to correct Joyce's error. The game's outcome would not be affected. Neither umpire Jim Joyce nor runner Jason Donald would be tarred with having spoiled an unprecedented event. And Armando Galarraga and the Tigers would have what's rightfully theirs.
If the league doesn't do this, it will have reverted sotto voce to a posture that it set aside twenty-seven years ago at Yankee Stadium: the policy of "umpire sovereign immunity," wherein the umpire is the game's absolute monarch and can do no wrong.
Baseball umpires have chafed at being evaluated retrospectively by the use of video evidence. Having reigned supreme for so long, they dislike to have their accuracy, or their judgment, called into question by third parties. But in this, they were, and are, alone among major league sports officials. It's time for that status to be taken from them.
Reverse Joyce's mistaken call.
Award Armando Galarraga and the Tigers the perfect game they deserve.
Allow Americans to believe that Major League Baseball, America's national pastime, really does enforce fair and evenhanded play, rather than one rule for superstars and another for everyone else.
It's a matter of justice.
Comments
And it seems Justice has has lost:
“Commissioner Bud Selig won’t reverse an umpire’s admitted blown call that cost Armando Galarraga a perfect game.
Selig said Thursday that Major League Baseball will look at expanded replay and umpiring, but didn’t specifically address umpire Jim Joyce’s botched call Wednesday night.
A baseball official familiar with the decision confirmed to The Associated Press that the call was not being reversed. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because that element was not included in Selig’s statement.”
Posted by Jim Sullivan on 06/03/2010 at 06:18 PMForgot the link:
http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/37479309/ns/sports-baseball/
Posted by Jim Sullivan on 06/03/2010 at 06:26 PM
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