Joyce had memorable career
June 2 will be the seven-year anniversary of the infamous Armando Galarraga near-perfect game.
Though Detroit Tigers fans always remember the controversy surrounding that night at Comerica Park — when umpire Jim Joyce incorrectly ruled a batter safe at first base, preventing the Detroit right-hander from recording the first perfect game in team history — they’ll also remember the sportsmanship exuded by both men in the aftermath.
Joyce, 61, has joined three other umpires in retiring from Major League Baseball before the 2017 season. He had been an umpire since 1987. But his name became infamous in Michigan on June 2, 2010, when he served as first-base umpire during Galarraga’s start against the Cleveland Indians.
With two outs in the ninth inning and a perfect game on the line, Cleveland’s Jason Donald hit a ground ball toward the gap between first and second base. First baseman Miguel Cabrera ran toward the ball, grabbed it and threw to Galarraga covering first.
“What a travesty. What an absolute travesty,” Fox Sports Detroit announcer Mario Impemba said on the air.
Boos rained down at Comerica Park. Manager Jim Leyland ran out of the dugout to confront Joyce. Though the Tigers capped the 3-0 win on a ground ball one batter later, nobody was thinking about celebrating that night.
Joyce felt he made the right call. But when he saw the replay, he couldn’t hide it: He screwed up. And he owned up to it in a way many umpires wouldn’t.
“This is a history call,” an emotional Joyce told reporters after the game. “And I kicked the (expletive) out of it. And there is nobody that feels worse than I do. I take pride in this job, and I kicked the (expletive) out of it. And I took a perfect game away from that kid over there.”
The way Joyce — and Galarraga — handled the fallout from that night became a story of sportsmanship that transcended sports. Just a day later, the two met at home plate to exchange lineup cards, with Joyce trying to hold
back tears as the fans at Comerica Park gave them a hand.
A year later, Joyce and Galarraga collaborated on a book with author Daniel Paisner titled, Nobody’s Perfect: Two Men, One Call, and a Game for Baseball
History. In 2014, MLB launched a video-review system designed to aid umpires.
Joyce joins John Hirschbeck, Tim Welke and Bob Davidson in retiring from the MLB’s umpire staff this spring.
“Jimmy Joyce. My first bigleague ejection as a manager was Jim Joyce,” Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said. “Actually a really nice man.
“I worked with all of those umpires. They’ve all been around for a long time. It’s different with each catcher and each umpire, but my relationship with the vast majority of umpires is very good. I’d joke with a lot of them, talk with a lot of them. I understood they had a job to do, and there was going to be mistakes. I was always going to try to be honest with them, and that goes both ways, whether the ump was giving good news or bad news.”
Hirschbeck, the crew chief in last year’s World Series and a big-league umpire since 1984, had announced his planned retirement last year, as did Welke and Davidson. Hirschbeck, 62, and Welke, 59, — who was sidelined by knee injuries — were 33-year veterans. Davidson, 64, worked his first big-league game in 1982.
The commissioner’s office said Adam Hamari, Pat Hoberg, Gabe Morales and Carlos Torres have been promoted to the full-time staff.
Hamari, 33, has worked 485 big-league games since his first major league spring training in 2012 as a call-up umpire from the minors, and he was behind the plate when San Francisco’s Tim Lincecum pitched a nohitter against the San Diego Padres in 2014. Hoberg, 30, has worked 371 big-league games since his first major league spring training in 2014. Morales, 32, has officiated 420 since 2014. Torres, 38, has worked 179 since 2015.
Paul Emmel, Mike Everitt and Sam Holbrook have been promoted to crew chiefs to replace Hirschbeck, Joyce and Welke.