We'll Always Have June 2nd, Armando

On June 2, 2010, Armando Galarraga and Jim Joyce became famous. It was probably the seventh post I had written here when Joyce famously blew a call preventing Galarraga from a perfect game. For Galarraga, it appears it was all down hill from there. He was very forgiving of Joyce and took the blown call like a champ. Soon after, he was sent down for a minor league stint and finished the season with a 4.49 ERA and a 5.09 FIP (fielding independent pitching) in 144.1 innings.

2011 is has started out just as turbulent for the freshly turned 29-year-old Tiger pitcher. From MLB Trade Rumors...

One day after agreeing to terms with him on a $2.3MM contract for 2011, the Tigers have designated Armando Galarraga for assignment. The team announced the move on Twitter, while making its deal with Brad Penny official.

Galarraga's contract is non-guaranteed, though the Tigers would owe him termination pay if they were to release him.

That's a pretty severe two-day rollercoaster of emotion. I hope Galarraga didn't spend that money opening a Five Guys franchise in Detroit yesterday.

Galarraga is a fringy starter anyway posting career bests in 2008 with 178.2 innings and a 3.73 ERA. But you still have to feel for the guy. He might have millions of dollars snatched away from him in just a day or, even worse, get sent to Toledo.

Pair of No-Nos Going at Wrigley

Cubs' southpaw Ted Lilly and Whitesox righty Gavin Floyd have gone a combined 13 1/2 innings and neither has allowed a hit at Wrigley. We'll track the rest of the game, being shown nationally on ESPN. Unfortunately, the sound is on.





Bottom 7

9:49 - Derrick Lee draws a walk leading off. Floyd has walked three and Koyie Hill reached on an error in the fifth. On the other side, Lilly has one walk and has hit a batter.

* Note: The last time the cubs were no-hit was September 9, 1965 when some loser named Sandy Koufax threw a perfect game.

9:53 - Lee isn't fast. Floyd bounced a 59 1/2-footer but A.J. Pierzynski nips Lee at second for the first out.

9:54 - Alfonso Soriano rips a double into left field. First hit of the game for either team and Soriano is the first base-runner to get to second base. Lee was technically the first, but right after he got there, he was asked to please leave.

9:55 - Just like that, Cubs give Lilly a lead. Chad Tracy, who I could've sworn I saw selling roses by my apartment yesterday, singles up the middle to score Soriano. 1-0 Cubs.

9:59 - Floyd fans Hill to end the seventh. Lilly coming out for the eighth, six outs away.

Top 8

10:02 - Pierzynski with a 17-bouncer to second for the first out. Lilly is five outs away.

10:03 - Gordon Beckham tries to drag bunt and fouls it off. The Cubs fans boo, but Cubs fans are idiots: the Whitesox are down 1-0. The ESPN announcers correctly say it's not a bad play and it's not an "unwritten rule" when you're down by a run in the late innings. It should be a written rule that beer sales are cut off at Wrigley in the bottom of the second inning.

10:04 - Beckham pops out to first. This is the longest Lilly has ever gone into a game without giving up a hit.

10:06 - Jayson Nix pops out to third base, Chad Tracy almost falls over, but makes the catch. I think Jim Joyce was really hoping Tracy fell down and the ball fell harmlessly next to him for an infield single. Lilly is three outs away.

Bottom 8

10:10 - Lilly can't get a sacrifice down and strikes out on a foul bunt attempt. Joe Morgan just said if the rain, which has gotten heavier, forces the game to be stopped, it'd be a bad thing for Lilly.

10:12 - Starlin Castro, who led off the inning with a single, is throw out trying to steal second. It looks like Lilly's going to have zero margin for error in the top of the ninth, facing the pitcher's spot, Andrew Jones and Alexei Ramirez.

10:14 - To the ninth. Cubs hold a 1-0 lead; rain coming down harder. Hopefully some will get in Joe Morgan's eyes and he'll miss the final out.

Top 9

10:15 - Pinch-hitter Juan Pierre is just the kind of player that breaks up no-hitters in the ninth inning.

10:16 - I guess that's partly my fault. Pierre rips a single to center to end the no-no. It's the longest Lilly had ever gone without allowing a hit.

10:17 - Lou Piniella pulls Lilly, which I think was the wrong decision. We'll see. Jones coming up with the speedy Pierre at first as the tying run. Carlos Marmol coming in.

10:20 - Jon Miller just said the field is starting to get wet. It's been raining for 25 minutes.

10:22 - Jones walks, 1st and 2nd, 0 outs. Morgan: "I think Ozzie (Guillen) will bunt. Ozzie plays smart ball, he doesn't play small ball, he plays smart ball." Moving on.

10:24 - Marmol stumbles on the mound and balks the runners to second and third.

10:25 - I'm not commenting on anything else the ESPN announcers say because it's too easy and I can't type that fast. Ramirez looks awful and strikes out. One out, runners at 2nd/3rd. The Cubs decide the best strategy right now is to put MORE runners on base. INT walk to Rios, loaded for Paul Konerko.

10:27 - Konerko hits into fielder's choice and Pierre is thrown out at the plate. Still loaded, two outs.

10:29 - Marmol gets out of it as Carlos Quentin flies out to center to end the game. Cubs win 1-0 and Lilly throws eight, one-hit innings. This hastily thrown-together live documetation of some guy's thoughts has been brought to you by The People for the Capture and Wheelbarrow Pushing to the Middle of Nowhere of John Kruk.

Someone Tell Milt Pappas To Be Quiet

With the Armando Galarraga-Jim Joyce talk beginning to die down a bit, it's a good time for former pitcher Milt Pappas to whine and complain about a perfect game he lost 38 years ago. It was on September 2, 1972 at Wrigley when Pappas had retired the first 26 batters he faced and had a 1-2 count on Padres' pinch-hitter Larry Stahl. Like absolutely nothing that happened Wednesday in Detroit, home plate umpire Bruce Froemming called three consecutive balls and Stahl walked, ending Pappas' perfecto.



At the time, Pappas told the Chicago Tribune his pitches were "borderline but balls", but cranky old Milton has changed his mind over the years and now criticizes Froemming. Since no one cares about Milt Pappas except the good people at Cooley High School, he took the Galarraga opportunity to call out Froemming, again.

From an interview with SI.com:

I just felt that the last three pitches -- because I had one ball and two strikes on the last hitter -- were there on the outside corner, but he called them all balls. If you look at Don Larsen's perfect game in the World Series, the last pitch thrown to [Dale] Mitchell went under his chin, for God's sake. The umpire knew what was going on, that there was a perfect game going on, and he called him out. Dale Mitchell never said a word. Yet you've got Bruce Froemming saying years later that he didn't know I had a perfect game. How dumb can that be? The umpire didn't even know what was going on in the course of a ballgame, which was ludicrous. I just don't understand why he called those pitches balls when there was a perfect game on the line. He's a very arrogant man.

Hey, Bruce Froemming: didn't you know that young man's got a perfect game going?! This is history, possibly. Those pitches have got to be called STRIKES, no matter where the location! Remember who was umpiring behind the plate during Don Larsen's perfect game? No? Well he knew what was happening and he wasn't about to let some HITTER get a HIT or draw a WALK just because the pitch was six inches high. That's Milton Stephen Pappastedios out there on that mound, show some respect!

Curveballs for Jobu

Curveballs for Jobu is Off Base Percentage's daily trip around the ballparks.

Today's honorary bat boy: Rick Wilkins




Tigers 3, Indians 0. Armando Galarraga had a perfect game through 8 2/3 innings before Jason Donald hit a ground ball to first base. Miguel Cabrera's toss to Galarraga looked to be in plenty of time to get Donald, but umpire Jim Joyce called the play safe. It's a horrible way to lose a perfect game, but the 28-year old was still masterful. He only had one inning where he threw more than 11 pitches-the ninth-and in the sixth and seventh innings he combined to throw 14 pitches.




Dodgers 1, Diamondbacks 0 (14). I didn't think anything could smell worse than Arizona's logo until the Diamondbacks went to LA for a three-game series. Game 1, Monday: Dodgers get two runs on a Kelly Johnson throwing error to tie the game in the 8th, then win in the 9th on Esmerling Vazquez's balk. Game 2: Matt Kemp's solo home run wins it in the bottom of the 10th. Wednesday's game 3: 86-year old Garret Anderson delivers an RBI-single in the bottom of the 14th to complete the sweep. The Flying Parras have gone 31 innings without scoring a run, a franchise record.

Fantasy Stat of the Day: Travis Schlichting got his first major league victory for LA.

Padres 5, Mets 1 (11). Adrian Gonzalez hit an opposite field, walk-off grand slam for San Diego. Yesterday, it was the Braves, today I ask: are the Padres the best team in the National League? These guys think so:



Rangers 9, Whitesox 5. Tough times for current and former Angels. First, Kendry Morales destroys his ankle after jumping on home plate after a walk-off home run, now Vlad Guerrero hits himself in the eye with a ball that ricocheted off the top of the backstop during batting practice. What's next, Adam Kennedy accidentally swallows a rosin bag?

Cubs-Pirates, ppd. Cubs tie! Cubs tie! Cubs tie! Cubs tie!

Jim Joyce Is Famous

In a busy night for baseball, the most talked about story tomorrow will be a safe call made by veteran umpire Jim Joyce. The Tigers' Armando Galaragga was one out away from the third perfect game of the season when Jim Joyce blew a call at first base. Jason Donald hit a ball that Miguel Cabrera had to field forcing Galaragga to cover first, which he did in time. Joyce called Donald safe as Galaragga began to celebrate. As you can tell by my screen grab, he was out. Well, that's what you'd see if I managed to get the bag in the picture. You can also tell from my screen grab that I'm not very good at screen grabs. That's why I get the big bucks!

Galaragga retired the next batter to complete the one hitter and Joyce was mobbed by irate Tigers. Unfortunately for us, it wasn't real tigers. This story would be much better. Seconds later, Joyce's Wikipedia page was updated for accuracy.



Before this post gets any uglier with my fabulous HTML skills, I'll leave you with the video replay of the blown call. It should be available for about 30 more minutes before MLB shuts down the Internet.



Important Twitter Update: From @TomLeyden Jim Joyce was distraught. "Most important call of my career and I kicked the s$&t out of it. I cost that kid a perfect game."