
Joyce’s boner
They don’t come any classier than Jim Joyce and Armando Galarraga — who took an egregious error and turned it into a display of real sportsmanship.
Less than 24 hours after blowing a last-out call that cost Detroit pitcher Galarraga a perfect — 27-up, 27-down — game, Joyce stepped behind the plate in yesterday’s Tiger-Indian game.
But instead of manager Jim Leyland, it was Galarraga who came out to present Joyce with Detroit’s lineup card.
And then the two shook hands.
Like we said, class.
Then Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig — quite properly — declared that Joyce’s call will stand: No perfect game.
Alas, Selig also suggested that he was open to expanding the use of instant replay. That’s unfortunate, but probably inevitable — for when technology intrudes, tradition usually makes way.
Technology has radically altered fans’ view of the game — and instant replay has been honed to an art form. So why not expand its use on field; it’s already used to review disputed home runs, right?
Well, as Selig himself said, “the human element has always been an integral part of baseball.” Nor is technology perfect, either — as no doubt will be demonstrated at some equally dramatic moment in the future.
Better just to leave things be.


