Armando Galarraga

Let me be the voice of reason here.

Nobody—not even Jim Joyce—is denying that he botched the biggest call of his life.

He has been nothing but apologetic about the mistake.

On June 2nd, 2010, Armando Galarraga pitched a perfect game. The first in the Detroit Tiger's illustrious history. 

This 28 year-old native Venezuelan didn't pitch a perfect game, though. At least not according to the record books. 

Jim Joyce, the firstbase umpire that night, called the runner safe. On the last out, in the last inning, of what should have been a perfect game.

Last night, as I was sitting at home, I saw the news come across that Ken Griffey Jr., one of the best players in the game, at least in this era, had retired.

I remembered watching his first years in Seattle and being so awestruck by not only his effortless left-handed swing but also by the speed he had in the outfield. He made highlight reel play after highlight reel play that will continue to be watched by the next generation of fans.

Not only that, but he survived the steroid era and proved that a player can be great without using illegal supplements to do it.

Commissioner Bud Selig is going to have a very interesting press conference.

Commissioner Selig needs to address two issues.

First, Commissioner Selig needs to commend Armando Galarraga for how he conducted himself last night. Galarraga should have been heralded this morning for the perfect game he threw against the Cleveland Indians last night.

Bud Selig needs to ponder whether Armando Galarraga should be given his perfect game, which was taken from him by umpire Jim Joyce when he made a horrific call that ruled Jason Donald was safe at first base even though he was clearly out.

Yesterday was a day that had a little of everything, but the one thing most fans will remember will be umpire Jim Joyce making a safe call on a play that should have been the last play of a perfect game for Armando Galarraga.

Never before have I heard a home crowd irate after their pitcher just fired a one-hitter. Unfortunately, that was the case in Detroit last night.

Detroit Tigers’ pitcher Armando Galarraga was working on trying to become the third pitcher in the last month to throw a perfect game. He had retired 26 batters in a row in a truly dominant performance.

Then came up Cleveland Indians SS Jason Donald.

As a baseball fan, witnessing a perfect game is something you want to see, even if it's happening to your own team.

Granted, being on the losing end of a perfect game isn't as fun as being on the winning end, but when something that rare happens in front of you, it makes for a special evening.

What makes the almost-perfect game thrown last night by Armando Galarraga so interesting from a Cleveland Indians fan's standpoint is that the Indians ended up benefiting big time from what will go down as one of the worst blown calls in history.

An hour and forty-four minutes is the time it takes to go from beleaguered AAA pitcher, to a man who nearly flirted with perfection.

Let’s retract that.

An hour and forty-four minutes is the time it takes to go from beleaguered AAA pitcher, to a man who threw a perfect game.

And don’t let Jim Joyce try to tell you otherwise.

In fact, he won’t even tell you otherwise.

For the first time in his life, Armando Galarraga was ready to put himself into the record books.

Ready to become the 21st man to throw a perfect game, Armando faced 28 batters, all of them failing to reach base. Until, second to last batter ( unfortunately), reaches base safely on a base hit, but what should have been the third out of the inning.

Umpire Jim Joyce clearly missed the call, which has brought the entire MLB world in shock and anger.

In what will only be considered the biggest blown call in the history of Major League Baseball, Armando Galarraga's perfect game was brutally stolen from him by the cold-hearted first base umpire, Jim Joyce.