It was the bottom of the ninth. Two outs. Armando Galarraga was perfect through 26 batters. One more out and he would join an exclusive club of the best pitchers to ever walk the planet. Routine ground ball. The throw to first. And the ump gives the safe signal. And just like that it was over. He was no longer perfect. 26 outs and one man gets on base. So what is the significance of this? The runner was out. Or should I say the runner should’ve been called out but he was called safe by the first base umpire named Jim Joyce. I can only imagine what Galarraga was possibly thinking. He was a second away from going perfect and then BAM, Jim Joyce takes it away. The aftermath was even crazier. According to Joyce himself, he received death threats towards himself and his family including his children. The next game, Joyce broke down into tears on the field when he saw Galarraga. You saw the guilt in this man’s eyes. And no one knew whether to feel bad for the guy or still hate his guts. 10 years later, luckily no referee will have to face something like this tragedy. And this just makes me wonder, are umpires or referees still getting paid. Everyone focuses on the players and their salaries but what about the little man. The people like Jim Joyce of the world or everyones favorite Ken Mauer. He has a family too. Is he being compensated. Shoutout to the refs of the world. They need some credit right now. They probably missed getting yelled at just as much as we miss watching sports. Thank you for your time.
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