IM-PERFECT 28 IN A ROW!

GREG BOWMAN

I've never been a fan of instant replay in baseball because I  believe it takes the human element out of the game. But after Wednesday's travesty at Comerica Park, I have become a believer.  Perhaps the worst call I've ever seen in all my years of watching baseball cost Tiger Pitcher Armando Galarraga a perfect game.   Galarraga  seemed destined to get the first perfect game ever thrown by a Tiger hurler, especially after an amazing catch by centerfielder Austin Jackson.   But on what should have been the third out,  first base umpire Jim Joyce called the runner safe at first.  Replays clearly showed the runner was out,  but the play stands.  And I'm not aware of anything in the rules that would allow the play to be reversed, even though  we see it happen in other sports.

To his credit, umpire Joyce admitted he was wrong and even apologized to Galarraga, who was a class act and accepted the apology, adding that no one was perfect.   Manager Jim Leyland also says players and managers make mistakes too that sometimes cost teams games.    But I think this is different.   There have only been 20 perfect games in baseball history, including two this year, and it's a crime that Galarraga would be deprived of that honor on a blown call.   Many Tiger fans remember Milt Wilcox retiring the first 26 batters in 1983 before losing his perfect game and no hitter with two out in the ninth.   He never came close again, so who knows if Galarraga will get a second shot at baseball history.  But fans who were at the park or saw it on tv know that Galarraga pitched a perfect game, no matter what the umpire said.

Baseball already has replays for home run calls, and I think it's time to add plays like this to the mix, so that the umpires can get it right.