Thursday, June 3, 2010

Definition of class


We don't see this very much but we should. Armando Galarraga pitched a perfect game and the ump blew the call on the final out. But Armando did not scream and yell or demand for Umpire Joyce to be fired. He shrugged it off and said he was happy his team won. The umpire admitted in tears he blew the call but Armando said it did not matter and to have a nice day.

But somebody decided Armado deserved something for the effort:

Armando Galarraga receives a Corvette consolation prize
By 'Duk
Bob Barker and Rod Roddy couldn't have planned it better themselves.
In the wake of Armando Galarraga's(notes) perfect-game-that-wasn't, Chevrolet and the Detroit Tigers rightly decided that the jilted pitcher deserved a grand gift anyway.
[Photos: See Armando Galarraga in action]
So a new Corvette was driven behind home plate prior to Thursday's game with the Cleveland Indians and presented to the man who has been nothing but class in the face of Wednesday's disappointing and unjust finish. That'll ease the sting a bit.
Even better, the feelgood moments didn't end once Galarraga was handed the keys to his shiny new whip. With Jim Joyce scheduled to work home plate for the day, Galarraga then carried the lineup to the tearful ump and shook his hand. Joyce remained emotional and responded with a thankful pat to Galarraga's arm.
There was a mixture of cheers and boos during the exchange, but in retrospect, I think we should give a standing ovation to everyone involved. Joyce's blown call on what would have been the 27th out had the potential to be a very ugly stain on the game, but both Galarraga and Joyce have combined to put a positive spin on the situation. That Galarraga has achieved an admirable sense of serenity so quickly is really rather remarkable and there's no way to argue that he hasn't earned every mile he'll drive on that new set of wheels.

No comments:

Post a Comment