Happy Endings
I was very heartened to see the reconciliation of Jim Joyce and Armando Galarraga today in Detroit. Tears and handshakes and shiny new Corvettes are the stuff happy endings are made of. It seemed as if good will was restored, if not the perfect game itself, and – romantic sap that I am – I loved it.
The Yankees’ series against the O’s had a happy ending too, as CC, Joba and Mo took care of business, Cano, A-Rod and Granderson continued to flaunt their bats, Jorge once again gave us a bona fide hitter in the DH spot and even Brett Gardner homered. What’s not to love right now if you’re a Yankee fan?
There’s only one more happy ending I’d like to see come true, and it involves my fellow bloggers over at “It Is High, It Is Far, It Is Caught...” A labor of love on the part of its contributors, particularly respected author, humorist and Syracuse Post-Standard reporter Hart Seely, known on his blog as “El Duque,” “It Is High” has made me laugh every single day since I first discovered it. It pokes smart fun at every aspect of Yankeeville, especially John Sterling and his “Thuuuuuu Yankees win” calls. But my favorite feature has been their hilarious “Yankeeographies,” which are original videos about various not-so-great Yankees – from Carl Pavano (“The Bronx Buttocks”) to Richie Sexon (“The Yankee Mayfly”). Well, now the unthinkable has happened: MLB has removed all their videos from YouTube for copyright infringement – without any notice. Read this recent New York Magazine interview with “El Duque” and you’ll get the gist. I’m a published author. I understand copyright infringement. But how can Major League Baseball not love a blog that celebrates the game with humor, never letting it take itself too seriously? I appreciate that MLB hosts my blog, but their banning of my friends’ work upsets me. I want the decision overturned – and soon.
Confessions of a She-Fan 
Jane,
Honest answer…..
You can’t reverse the call and give it to Armando Galarraga, even if public sentiment, and my own would love it.
The integrity and traditon of that last out has to be honored, even when an error is present.
If not, it is dogs and cat living together….Mass hysteria.
The game will rise above this and some good will come.
It opens the lines of dialogue for MLB Comissioner Bud Selig and the Special Rules Committee to peek deeper into a revision of the use of Instant Replay, or anohter form of revitalization like a fifth Umpire in the video booth with a mic, and an earpiece in the ear of the Umpire Crew Chief to promote “getting it right” the first time.
I am getting off my soapbox before I fall and break my neck…..Ohhhhhhhh, ( crack) Dang It!
Rays Renegade
http://raysrenegade.mlblogs.com
I have to admit I had tears in my eyes when I read about Galarraga taking the line-up card out tonight. I don’t care what the record books will show, he DID pitch a perfect game and the grace and humility he has shown over the last 24 hours will ensure that it’s not forgotten any time soon. Ditto for Jim Joyce. Both men have been wonderful. Galarraga may not have gotten his PG, but I’m sure he’s gotten a whole army of new fans because of the way he has carried himself through all this.
It’s definitely a thrill to see everything falling into place for the Yanks. I’m so happy to see Posada back in the line-up. I just hope that his coming back isn’t going to cut down Cervelli’s playing time too much.
Not cool about your friend’s website. Surely MLB has got better things to worry about!!
that was a fun and not stressful sweep. let’s hope it will continue against more challenging teams.
glad peggy had a win on her birthday. i love a win the day before so you read a good paper and obviously the day of. peggy had both!
cc seemed good not great. hopefully great will come in the playoffs! weird to have mariano start with a walk and then hit a batter. glad to see the good joba. jorge and grandyman back makes this an awfully nice lineup!
barbara
I enjoy your soapboxes, Renegade. But maybe you misunderstood the post? I wasn’t saying that Selig should reverse the Galarraga call, although it would be sweet for Armando. It would cause way too much chaos within the game, with teams whining about having more decisions reversed. I was asking that MLB lift their ban on the videos featured on the “It Is High” blog and YouTube.
Exactly right, juliet93. Both men have earned points, especially Galarraga. What a class act. So glad he was given that shiny new car and so much praise from all corners of sports. I think Posada will DH for awhile (what an improvement over Marcus Thames!) while Cervelli continues to catch. And then, gradually, we’ll start to see Cervelli take on more of the everyday catching with Posada backing him up. Girardi has to handle it just right, to avoid any kind of resentment. I feel the same way about MLB that you do. Let the humorists do their thing without restriction!
A very fun sweep, Barbara. We’re beating the teams we should be beating. Toronto should be a tougher test, so it’ll be interesting to see how we do there. Very weird to have Mo start off the ninth the way he did, but it was also reassuring to see him buckle down and get the next three outs!
I really don’t know what to say about this situation. I was watching live and I felt HORRIBLE for Galaragga. I understand the integrity of the game, but darn-it, the man threw a perfect game and it should be recognized. Regardless, I’ll always look it as the 21st perfecto in history.
In other news, the Yanks are on fire, and I couldn’t be more happy. Cano is the man, A Rod rules, Jeet’s awesome, Granderson is playing how he should, Cervelli and Gardner are nice surprises, and to top it off…Posada is back. Things are turning around for us. All is right with the world.
Great stuff, Jane.
– Brian
http://brianchaires.mlblogs.com/archives/2010/06/i-love-america-and-the-yankees.html
First of all, the perfect game was the biggest news ever – everyone I spoke with today wanted to talk about it. Everyone thinks the decision should be rescinded and the pitcher should be given the perfect game after the fact. Its just not going to happen. I just hope this is not the straw that breaks the camel’s back when it comes to instant replay in baseball. I don’t think it has brought anything to football and its only going to slow down the game of baseball even more.
ESPN said that even if it was a close play it would likely have gone to the pitcher with most umpires – how the heck did this one blow it so badly. And that the pitcher was the one who actually caught the out was even more heartbreaking than if the first baseman had been playing first. Maybe they could put it in the perfect game records with an asterisk???
Happy Belated Birthday, Peg. Obviously the Yankees did their part in making you want to celebrate.
The pre-game one night said that pretty much The Orioles cannot score more than three runs in any given game and that all their opponents need to do is to score more than that and a win is basically guaranteed. The Yankees proved that to be correct for sure. Very proud of the results but Tex is still not back. I don’t doubt him for a second but I hope his bat wakes up soon.
I monitored today’s game at work via the MSN play-by-play and I was obviously thrilled with the sweep. Now, C.C. – 3 hits in 7 innings is great, but that 2 of them were homers is not too thrilling. All is well, though and we can’t complain. Mariano scared me a little but in the end he closed. End of story.
That’s good and all that the players and even the fans are showcasing this goodwill towards Jim Joyce, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that Galarraga was robbed of baseball immortality. It’s all fine for the present, but 20 years from now it’s still going to be a blown call.
This has to be made official. Selig has to come out and overturn this call. Let Trevor Crowe’s last at bat stand to keep the so called tradition of the game alive. MLB can put an asterisk next to the box score, but it has to be given to this pitcher! He did nothing wrong. He’s just another victim of the human element of the game. Of course he won’t be the last, but this is so egregious a missed call that something has to be done. No one’s calling out to revamp how we interpret calls. Just fix this one…
Selig can go out there and state this is a one time event, with no precedent being set. I guarantee every hall of famer and baseball purist put to rest will not roll over in their graves.
Let immortality be restored!
You make a good case for overturning the call and the game, YankeeCase. I swear I flip flop every time I read a compelling argument for each side! I just don’t think Selig will make a one-time decision like this. But let’s see what his advisors have to say.
..about your friend’s blog; this may be a job for my Mom. Really. I’ll get back to you on that. But this is part of a bigger crack down on YouTube because of their internal memos and their intent to sell out. etc etc you know that though.
mike
http://thebrooklyntrolleyblogger.mlblogs.com/
It’s a dilemma for sure, Brian. I’ll always think of the game as a perfecto no matter what happens from here on. Galarraga has been very gracious about it, but I have to believe he’d like to have the call reversed. And yeah, the Yankees are cooking! Let’s see if they can keep the fire burning in Toronto.
I said the same thing as ESPN, Diane (scary thought). Even if the play at first had been close, as bang bang plays are, why not give it to the pitcher? It was the final out. What was the big deal? Joyce just blew the call, plain and simple. Tex had a double today, so that was a good sign. Is he back, as in all the way back? Not yet. I’m waiting too. And yeah, Mo was toying with us at the end. 🙂
Your Mom, Mike? Does she have some leverage with YouTube or does she just intimidate people? LOL. Seriously, cracking down on unauthorized music and video is one thing. But the “Yankeeographies” are just funny montages of photos and original narration – nothing being “stolen.”
Let’s just say lots of women and wives visit her for girl stuff 😉
She’s got more contacts than the phone company. LOL
Good to have you back Jane, I hope you didn’t get too stressed, but pics of you pulling your hair out would be appreciated. 😀 Can you believe the Yanks though? I guess having JoPo back isn’t so bad 😛 But yeah, the thing in Detroit was a tender moment. I liked when Galaragga said he’d show his kids years from now the perfect game and say he got it, even though it’s not in the books. Class act all around. Mike and Mike said he might be remembered more for NOT getting the Perfecto, which I thought was pretty funny. Michael Kay was yelling, very loudly, how MLB should just give him the Perfect Game. That everyone would be happy. I know once it happened again though people would be upset if they didn’t overturn that call, so who knows. I’m upset about the “It is High” blog banning. I never got to hear the videos. Maybe you can give a link if they ever come up again. I’m not surprised, ever since Youtube was bought by Google a lot of things have been taken down. Even funny parody songs I have have been warned, not taken down yet luckily. I think “El Duque” should play this on his blog: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrkwgTBrW78 😀
Both Joyce and Galarraga showed a great deal of class and grace in this situation.
I also waffle about what they should do, but all in all, human error is part of baseball and one of the things we love about the game. (Can they have an E-U designation in scoring for error on the umpire? ; – ) )
Just think, the Yankees are looking good with Teixiera not hitting great yet and CC not looking sharp. Hmmm, what can the future hold? Did anyone else feel sick when CC knocked that ball down with his barehand? It didn’t look hard, but the way their luck had been running . . . but it’s June now, so I’ll just have to believe this will be a lucky month.
As for Mariano, Michael Kaye seemed to think he belonged in a nursing home, the way he was whining about him. My husband and I just laugh – Mo seems to need the pressure of knowing the game is on the line. Usually, when he’s brought in with the score tight, he is lights out. When we’re ahead by a few runs, he is looser – maybe he just wants to get the save.
Seriously, he was so lights out at the beginning of the season, and now Kaye is ranting about how he’s lost it? Oh Michael, find something else to whine about.
Melissa
It’s good to be back, seindsfeld. I was doing a lot of hair pulling, I can tell you that! Jim Joyce was on the “Today” show this morning, and when Matt Lauer asked him what he thought Bud Selig should do about reversing the call, he was cagey. He said, “It’s not my place to say. But if they ask me, I’ll give them my opinion.” I got the feeling his opinion would be to overturn it. Sad that YouTube/Google has taken down so many parodies, including those made by “It Is High.” Where’s the harm?
Oh, God, Melissa. When CC grabbed that ball with his hand I thought, NO! Can’t be happening! But I guess he’s fine. Whew. I don’t know why Michael Kay keeps going on about the decline of Mo. This happens every year. And you’re right how Mo rises to the occasion when the score is tight. In yesterday’s game, he got the outs he needed when he needed to. Kay needs to zip it!
It was probably for the best that the call stood. Galarraga got a lot of publicity over it so rather than being a statistic that only diehard baseball fans know, everyone knows him. He was on the front page of many newspapers. What a nice guy he is.
http://catlovesthedodgers.mlblogs.com
I’m starting to come over to that way of thinking, Cat. At this point, let baseball deal with this sort of mistake by taking a harder look at instant replay or umpiring in general. And yup, Galarraga has won everybody’s hearts!
Yeah, what’s with the “glut” of perfectos, Sue? Are the pitchers really good (never mind about Halladay – we know he is) or is the hitting that bad? LOL.
I agree with Cat. I think in the long run he’ll have more recognition as the pitcher who lost a perfect game because the ump blew the call, than if it was called correctly. I gotta admit, some of the other pitchers who’ve thrown perfect games are not necessarily names that stick in my mind. Many more people probably remember the name of Harvey Haddix, pitching 12 perfect innings but losing the game in the 13th due to a fielding error, than if he had actually thrown the PG. And what’s with this “glut” of PGs this season, anyway? Also, I was glad to see Joyce be man enough to admit right away that he blew the call, and Galarraga has handled the whole situation like a true gentleman.
Sue
Rants, Raves, and Random Thoughts
Have to admit, I was touched when I saw the reunion with Joyce & Galaragga. That showed a lot of character. And yes, the car was a nice touch :O)
I hope that blog gets their videos back online…that sucks. I understand the copyright laws, but I also thought their was an exception for using small samples of someone’s work for editorial purposes? They should look into that. Sad though :O(
Jenn
http://philliesphollowers.mlblogs.com/
Hey Jane! It’s been a while… hope everything is well on your end! =)
I’d love for the Galarraga decision to be overturned as well, but it seems as if that won’t happen. Selig would have faced a lot of scrutiny no matter what decision he made. But for this one particular instance, I completely agree with you. Galarraga deserves it.
It was also nice to see CC get a win after over a month’s time. The homers were not a welcome sight, but hopefully he’ll get over those and get back to his old ZZ-ness. I’ll bet a Five Dollar Footlong on that!
– Lisa
http://perennialpinstriper.mlblogs.com/
If MLB will not reverse the call… Then at the very least can they “retire” the number 21 when it comes to perfect games? So when Phil Hughes throws the next one, they correctly label it number 22. This way when my grandkids are curious about why the number 21 is missing they can google it and get this amazing story.
The true story was Armando Galarraga, handled himself like real person and not a spoiled ball player, kudos to him for being a real man….
and what’s it like having the O’s in your division, before and after a trip to Canada..:-)
-peter
Phillies Outside
Hmmm. Retire #21? That is a food for thought from Irkaserman.
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Want to share this from fellow poster Lnly4loney from theITD (InsidetheDodgers) blog:
“”The situation set up an opportunity for humans to react to a difficult situation. In this case, both Galarraga and Joyce reacted with tremendous humility and dignity. It is ultimately a wonderful story and a beautiful example to fans of all ages.
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By lny4loney on June 4, 2010 1:57 AM “:
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Have a wonderful weekend everyone!
Emma
http://crzblue.mlblogs.com
Jenn, I agree. Both men showed a lot of character, as did the fans in Detroit. Kudos all around. Regarding the “It Is High” videos, I, too, thought there was a “fair use” clause in the copyright law that enables people to use small samples of material.
Lisa! Nice to see you! ZZ does need to watch the homers thing. He’s not quite back to his dominant self but he’s getting there.
I like the way you think, lrkaserman. Not only will Huuuughes get the next perfecto, but they should just skip over the #20 or put an asterisk next to it or something.
Right, Peter. Nothing spoiled brat-ish about the way Galarraga handled himself. In fact, he’s the perfect teaching model for coaches of kids who want to demonstrate good sportsmanship. And yeah, playing the O’s went well this time, which is not always the case for the Yanks.
Thanks for sharing that comment, Emma. As I said above to Peter, their example provides the perfect teaching model for kids. Sometimes people do surprise us and act the right way!