Armando Galarraga perfect game

 

In over 100 years of Major League Baseball, only 20 perfect games have been recorded. A "perfect game", in case you're not aware, is when the minimum number of batters (27) come to the plate and are retired. The game is more than a no-hitter or a shutout, though it is both of those. It's perfect, and the names of pitchers who complete perfect games are spoken with highest esteem.

 

The name of Armando Galarraga was about to be added to that list on Wednesday night, June 2, 2010. Pitching for the Detroit Tigers, Galarraga had retired 26 batters. The 27th batter for the Cleveland Indians hit a slow grounder which was picked up and thrown to first base. Everyone prepared to celebrate the first perfect game in Tigers history. Before the celebration began, however, the umpire at first base ruled that the runner was safe. No perfect game, no celebrations.

 

Later Jim Joyce, the umpire who made that call, wept as he admitted he had blown the call. Watching the video made it clear that the runner was out, and that Galarraga had indeed pitched a perfect game. Joyce went to the pitcher and apologized for what he had done. As Hampton Stevens wrote in today's edition of "The Atlantic", "Galarraga, to his enormous credit, forgave Joyce and couldn't have been more gracious in doing so." (Whether Major League Baseball will overturn the blown call and restore the coveted accomplishment remains to be seen.)

 

Stevens went on in his article to make this observation: "In baseball, you can do everything right and still have it all go wrong because of somebody else's mistake. Kind of like life." That's a truth many have learned the hard way.

 

Joseph is a prime example, and his story bears close study. After having already suffered a tragedy by being sold into slavery by his brothers (Genesis 37), he was excelling in his position as overseer of the estate of Potiphar, an official in Egypt. Potiphar's wife found Joseph very handsome and began making advances. Joseph knew how sinful such actions would be and resisted her schemes each time. Ultimately the spurned would-be lover falsely accused Joseph, and the warped values of Potiphar's wife landed the young man in prison. (Read the account in Genesis 39.)

 

Joseph handled his hardships with even more grace than Armando Galarraga. When revenge upon his brothers was in his grasp, Joseph chose forgiveness instead: "But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive" (Genesis 50:20).

 

If you want to see the ultimate demonstration of grace in the face of injustice, consider Jesus' example: "Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted" (Isaiah 53:4). To paraphrase Stevens, Jesus did everything right but saw great struggles because of somebody else's mistakes. Yet among His few words from the cross were these: "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do" (Luke 23:34).

 

Our transgressions of God's laws contributed to the suffering of One whose life was perfect. Does that bring tears to our eyes? Will we go to the Lord to apologize? A meditative reading of Acts 2:36-41 would help us see how we could make an appropriate apology.

 

Timothy D. Hall.