No perfect solution

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–”Nobody’s perfect!” is the famous last line delivered by Joe E. Brown to Jack Lemmon in Billy Wilder’s classic 1959 comedy, “Some Like It Hot.” But from now on, whenever I hear that phrase, I’ll think of Jim Joyce. He was the first base umpire Wednesday night in Detroit whose mistaken call on what should have been the final out cost Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga a perfect game.

I have been thinking about Joyce ever since I watched the replay on a video screen in the Yankee Stadium press box of Galarraga stepping on the bag at first ahead of the Indians’ Jason Donald. Everybody’s reaction in the box was the same, to clap their hands or slap themselves in the head and yell, “No!” I can only imagine what the reaction at Comerica Park was as Tigers fans were prepared to celebrate the first perfect game ever pitched by a Tiger. A friend of mine there told me Thursday that people stayed at the park for about half an hour just hanging around in disbelief of what they just saw.

I enjoyed a few beers with Jim Joyce and another umpire, John Hirschbeck, in Boston one night after a Yankees-Red Sox game with my old friend, Joe Giuliotti of the Boston Herald. I don’t remember the year, but it was some time in the mid 1990s when Wade Boggs and Jimmy Key were Yankees teammates because they were sitting at a table not far from us.

Joyce entertained us with wonderful stories, and both umpires spoke passionately of their profession. I remember Boggs saying to me the next day at Fenway Park, “You and Joe were with two of the best in the business last night. Just don’t tell them I said that.”

Well, Boggsy, Jim Joyce needs to hear that today. His career of nearly a quarter of a century and among the finest of anyone in his trade has been reduced to one faulty decision. Think of the guts it took for him to go to Comerica Park Thursday and work the plate. The person who brought out the Detroit lineup card was none other than Galarraga, who has displayed more class the past two days than anyone could expect.

Yankees manager Joe Girardi said he didn’t want to “open a can of worms,” but he suggested that the powers that be in Major League Baseball look closely into the situation.

“You’re talking about a historical event,” Girardi said. “It doesn’t really change the outcome of the game. If it’s something that happens in the third inning and runs are scored, you’re talking about changing the whole game. [Wednesday] is probably as unique a situation as you can get with the last out.”

There is strong sentiment around the game for commissioner Bud Selig to reverse the call. But would doing that turn Galarraga’s performance into a perfect game? Everybody saw Donald stand on base and a 28th batter, Trevor Crowe, make the 27th out. How do you get rid of all that?

It is no more a perfect game than Ernie Shore’s famous “imperfect game” of 1917. He came into a game for the Red Sox against the Washington Senators after the starting pitcher, Babe Ruth, was ejected by umpire Brick Owens for arguing balls and strikes following a leadoff walk to Ray Morgan. With Shore on the mound, Morgan tried to steal second base and was thrown out. Shore set down the next 26 hitters in a 4-0 Boston victory, but Morgan’s reaching base kept the game from being perfect.

Yes, the “Pine Tar Game” decision by American League president Lee MacPhail in 1983 is a precedent that an umpire’s decision can be overturned. However, MacPhail’s ruling was based on what he called the spirit of the law rather than the letter of the law. That logic cannot be used in this case. What Joyce did was simply a blown call, one that was verified by video replays, which are not used in baseball except for home run disputes.

Here are a couple of things I don’t understand. Manager Jim Leyland and other members of the Tigers expressed outrage at the call, but Detroit did not file an official protest with MLB. Even stranger, why didn’t the other umpires caucus to ensure the right call was made? Granted, it was Joyce’s call, and he was right on top of the play, but surely one of the other umps had a decent view of it. At least talk it about it, guys.

You can argue all day about bringing instant replay into the game, but the fact remains that there are already in place avenues to explore in cases of dispute. I just do not see how you can make a perfect game of a game that was not perfect. As Seymour Siwoff, president of the Elias Sports Bureau, told me years ago, “You have to score what you see.”

What we all saw was unfortunate. It was a heart-breaking decision for Galarraga, who is frankly taking it a lot better than most people, and a devastating one for Joyce, who tearfully admitted his blown call to the pitcher. Mariano Rivera and Derek Jeter were among the Yankees players who called Joyce the best umpire in the game, a sentiment echoed by Girardi.

“I’ve known Jim Joyce a long time,” Girardi said. “He’s a very good umpire and works very hard at what he does. I feel bad for him today. That’s something you don’t really want your career marked by.”

I couldn’t agree more, but even Joyce knows that erasing what actually happened is impossible.