By Kyle Beery | @BeeryK
June 2, 2010 is a day Detroit sports fans will never forget.
Armando Galarraga and the Tigers were on the verge of baseball immortality. The news of what was about to happen was spreading via social media and phone calls across the state and fans everywhere made sure they got to a TV so they could witness history.
And history was made -- just not the history everyone had hoped for.
Galarraga seemed destined for perfection, especially after Austin Jackson's spectacular over-the-shoulder catch in center field on the first pitch of the ninth inning, eliciting a memorable "Oh, Jackson!" call from color analyst Rod Allen on the Fox Sports Detroit broadcast.
VIDEO FLASHBACK: 6/2/10: Austin Jackson preserves Armando Galarraga's "near-perfect" game with an incredible over-the-shoulder catch in the ninth inning. (Source: https://t.co/sySUFFGZpH) #OhJackson pic.twitter.com/LirTDoQ019
— Vintage Detroit Collection (@VintageDet) July 25, 2018Galarraga had retired all 26 batters he had faced on that Wednesday night when the Indians' Jason Donald dug in as the 27th and the Tigers were within one out of their first perfect game in franchise history. Then, with a 1-1 count...
"Ground ball. Right side. Cabrera will cut it off, Galarraga covers. He's OUT!" former Tigers play-by-play announcer Mario Impemba shouted on FSD. "No, he's safe! He is safe."
It was clear that Miguel Cabrera's throw beat Donald to the bag by a step, but first base umpire Jim Joyce called him safe. In the days before Major League Baseball implemented instant replay, there wasn't much the Tigers could do about it. As boos rained down at Comerica Park, manager Jim Leyland came out to argue, but the call was unchanged.
Today in 2010, Detroit Tigers' Armando Galarraga was robbed of a perfect game. #TodayInSports #MotorOnpic.twitter.com/kAq6kiDnaU
— TodayInSports-- (@TodayInSports3) June 2, 2019To date, only 18 pitchers had ever thrown a complete game (two in the last month and three in the last year). Galarraga was not the 19th. That would be Chicago's Phillip Humber, who threw a perfect game two years later. Nearly 1/3 of all perfect games -- six of the 21 -- ever thrown at the Major League level came between 2009-2012.
Since Felix threw the 21st perfect game in MLB history on Aug. 15, 2012, three more pitchers -- Yu Darvish, Yusmeiro Petit and Max Scherzer -- have come within one out of perfection, only to lose it on the 27th batter. None of those pitchers -- not even Scherzer, who was just one measly strike away from being perfect -- saw history slip away in such agonizing fashion.
Tigers fans remained angry about the call -- and some still do -- even after Joyce humbly admitted he was wrong and graciously faced Galarraga at home plate the next day.
The play will forever live on in infamy and the sound of Jim Joyce's name will haunt Tigers fans forever.
