Yesterday, in a baseball game between the Detroit Tigers and New York Yankees, Armando Galarraga found himself in rare territory. Not only was he pitching a no-hitter against the Yankees, Galarraga was one out away from a perfect game. A no-hitter is self-explanatory. It is when no batter has reached base safely with a hit during the game. On the other hand, a perfect game not only has zero hits, but no batter has reached base in any manner, whether it be a hit, error or even a walk. Galarraga was in a zone. Though he had completed two seasons at the major league level, after a disappointing 2009 season he was dropped to the Tigers’ AAA minor league team to begin the 2010 season. In May, Galarraga returned to the big leagues. Wednesday night, he had retired 26 of the 27 batters in a row, and was one out away from a perfect game. To put this in perspective, in almost 400,000 completed games in Major League baseball history, there have been 20 perfect games. Amazingly, two of those 20 have taken place within the last few weeks.
The 27th batter grounded a ball between second and first bases, and was fielded by the first baseman. Galarraga covered first and received the throw from a jubilant first baseman, with the pitcher’s foot firmly planted on the base. Both started to celebrate, and then realized the umpire had called the batter safe. The batter, knowing he was out, was holding his head with both hands, disappointed in the unfairness of the play, though the call went in his favor. Galarraga looked at umpire Jim Joyce, smiled and walked back to the pitcher’s mound. After retiring the next batter for a one-hit shutout, Tiger manager Jim Leyland was in Joyce’s face, angrily spewing venom. Joyce left the field, and immediately went to see the replay. The play was close, but it was easy for Joyce to see that he had blown the call. He started crying, knowing that he had changed baseball history and taken away an extremely rare accomplishment with his error. Immediately, Joyce went to find Galarraga. Still crying, Joyce apologized and explained that he had seen the tape. Galarraga told Joyce that everybody makes mistakes! So in a game that should be remembered as one of the few perfect games in baseball history, we saw imperfection. Though no fielders made errors, the umpire did. Though no batters really had hits, the pitcher was a hit, with anyone who watched or heard about the game. Though Galarraga will not be credited with a perfect game, we saw a glimpse of perfection in his reaction.
As a Christian, how would you have reacted in the same situation? Being an athlete and a Christian, I will readily admit that I would not have reacted with a smile and immediate forgiveness. I would have been so angry that something valuable had been unfairly taken from me. While doing that, I would have been forgetting that God is in charge of everything, and the situation only would have occurred if God allowed it for a very good reason.
“For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
Matthew 6:14-15
21 Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?”
22 Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.
Matthew 18:21-22
Isn’t God awesome? Nothing is beyond His control. Galarraga certainly won’t be remembered for throwing a perfect game, as Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig refused to reverse the call. Yet I guarantee Galarraga will be remembered as being the only man ever to throw a perfect game and have it taken from him. I’m sad for the umpire, who will not be remembered for 30 years of good calls. His name will always be remembered for the bad call, though just as Galarraga, Joyce handled the situation perfectly. He asked for forgiveness, admitted his mistake, and cried tears of contrition. We should all be that soft-hearted dealing with our own sins, and just as gracious dealing with the sins of others. What a lesson!
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