Whistleblower Wednesday: Galarraga’s Almost Perfect Game

Date: June 2, 2010
Teams: Detroit Tigers 🐅 vs. Cleveland Guardians ⚾
Pitcher: Armando Galarraga – one out away from a perfect game. That’s 27 batters, 27 outs. No hits, no walks, no errors. Baseball immortality.

The Crime Scene:
Bottom of the 9th. Two outs. Jason Donald hits a slow grounder. First baseman Miguel Cabrera fields it, throws to Galarraga covering first. CLEARLY OUT.
But umpire Jim Joyce calls him SAFE.

Cue: 17,000 Detroit fans collectively screaming, "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!"

💬 Player Reactions:

• Armando Galarraga (Pitcher):
  “I understand. Nobody’s perfect.”
  (Literal angel on earth. Would’ve been justified in launching that ball at Joyce’s car.)

• Jim Joyce (Umpire):
  Broke down crying post-game: “I just cost that kid a perfect game.”
  (Respect for owning it. Still—get glasses.)

• Miguel Cabrera (1B):
  Froze mid-celebration. Looked like someone just told him Santa wasn’t real.
  (Because apparently, neither is accountability.)

👥 Fan Reactions:

• Tigers fans:
  Brought signs to the next game that read “26 + 1 = Perfect” and “It’s Still Perfect To Us.”
  One guy tried to Photoshop Joyce into every sports tragedy. Impressive work.

• Baseball fans everywhere:
  Demanded the call be overturned. Spoiler: it wasn’t. Because MLB lives for pain.

• Opposing fans:
  Even they felt bad. That’s how you know it was egregious.

🐧 Pete’s Commentary:

“Look, I’m not saying Joyce threw the game—but I am saying Stevie Wonder could’ve made the right call and sung a banger about it after.”

“Galarraga had ice in his veins, perfection in his grip, and then here comes Jim ‘Oopsie-Daisy’ Joyce to yeet baseball history into the trash. If I had a dollar for every brain cell missing from that decision, I’d still have enough to buy Joyce a decent pair of bifocals.”

“He robbed us of the 24th perfect game in history. TWENTY-FOURTH. I’ve seen t-ball games with more integrity.”

📝 Penalty Pete’s Final Ruling:

Offense: First-degree robbery of greatness.
Sentence: Must personally engrave Galarraga’s name on a custom Perfect Game trophy—and polish it weekly.
Alternate Punishment: Forced to ump behind a dunk tank every Little League season.

Got another ref or ump who deserves a good dragging?
🔔 Submit your nomination to the Ask Pete box—anonymous or rage-filled, we accept all flavors of fury.