June
3, 2010
You Can’t Rewrite History
By White Russian
Yesterday, Detroit Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga almost threw a perfect game, until a blown call with two outs in the 9th cost him the perfecto. Less than 24 hours later there is an outcry to change the call and give him the perfect game. Frank Deford of Sports Illustrated says tarnished commissioner Bud Selig should change it for the good of the game. Informal polls on the Big Machine show that most people want MLB to change the call. Are all these people, including Frank Deford and other columnists advocating a change, the same people who go around saying, “Where's my stuff?”
Just because something isn’t fair or doesn’t turn out the way it should have, doesn’t mean you should go back and change it. You can’t rewrite history without becoming part of that history. If you go back and reverse the umpire’s call to “right a wrong,” then you have now written yourself into that history. The call was made, the game went on, and that should be the end of it. What if, after the call, the opposing team scored a bunch of runs and won? What if the perfect pitcher got rattled and a reliever came in to finish the job? Once play resumes, you cannot go back and change a previous play. To do so is to manufacture a record - and we have enough of those already.
Mistakes are part of the game. Everything happened in accordance with the rules. Instant replay should not have been used during the game or now, after the game, because it is not part of the set of rules governing the game at the time. You can make a rule change that in the future you have to go to replay for plays like that, but that should have no bearing on this outcome. There are heartbreaks in the world - get used to it. That’s life. It is what it is.
And that’s what makes legitimate records tough to achieve - the slightest mistake or a mistake you have no power over can derail your effort. For Selig to even consider it is another black mark on his tenure. Some would say that Selig is just doing his due diligence in figuring out how to handle the problem. And therein lies the weakness of Selig - he doesn’t know how to solve these and other types of questions. He’s more indecisive than Brother Nature. Fortunately, Selig has shown some decision making ability and has already decided that the game will stand as called and there will be no reversal.
What should be remembered is how the pitcher handled himself in the midst of what is a hugely disappointing outcome for him. This was a game that his team won, which is the ultimate goal of every game. Personal records and achievements are second to that ultimate goal of winning the game. Galarraga handled himself with total class immediately after the call was made and postgame when he was approached by the heartbroken umpire who appologized for missing the call. This pitcher clearly understands that when all is said and done, and no matter how historical it is, this is still just a game and sometimes people make mistakes at the worst times. Finally an example in pro sports by a player on how to behave when something in life doesn’t go your way. That is what people like Frank Deford should be talking about today.
Sandman:
I also think the way that the umpire handled himself after the call says something about the character of him as well. He admitted he blew it, and after being offered the day off today, he went back to work as the home plate umpire - the toughest umpire gig of all.
Brother Nature:
In the Stanley Cup championship game yesterday a shot sent a puck to the goal but too close across the line to call it before it was taken out by a hockey stick and play continued until a stoppage of play occurred at which time the refs reviewed the possible goal to see if it crossed the line. It did and a goal was given. All the time and play that happened after that didn’t count. They took the clock back to when the goal happened. What if another goal was scored by the other team? Would that have all been erased? I think it would have.
I think this is sort of like that in that play continued and then was not counted because of a change of call. I agree it is the right thing to not change the umpires call, sorry pitcher you got screwed!
Albuquerque Tom:
RUINER (much like the SPOLIER disclaimer, RUNIER means that the following paragraph will most likely ruin and undermine the plot of the entire movie and make it useless to watch ever again) - I just watched Back to the Future the other day for the first time since 1986. I was struck by how odd Micahel J. Fox’s legs looked when he ran. But that is not my point here. In the movie, he has a photo of himself and his siblings in which he partially begins to disappear because he has re-written history by interfering with his parents initial meeting. If they never fall in love, they never have kids and he is never born. But realistically, as soon as he goes back in time and alters even a few seconds of George McFly’s life he should explode like a micro waved chicken carcass. As the future Deparment Chair of Righteousness and Goodness I hate to go into lurid details, but because somewhere around 300 million sperm cells are released each time an egg is fertilized, the odds of our crazy-legged hero being born a second time are very slight, even without his direct interfernce. And if he is never born he is thus not around to travel back from the future and should instantly explode like a micro waved, bandy-legged chicken carcass.
So back to the present, if we allow history to be re-written by changing the outcome of things like this that seem to have played out unfairly, I think we run the risk of having Michael J. Fox explode. Stuart Little 4 (Revenge of the Vulture) will never be finished properly, Parkinson’s research will grind to a halt and this little game could very well change the course of the world.
I hope I did not ruin your enjoyment of Back to Future or any of the sequels.
DieSeL:
This was a tough break but everybody knows this guy pitched a perfect game so at worst his name isn’t among the list of pitchers who have made it official. The list has more Biancalana’s than it does Ruth’s making the feat appear to be 99% good luck. He got the last out but was asked to do it again which happens all the time in wiffle. Baseball is not designed to deal well with changes to the box score after the fact. A hit that is changed to an error impacts fielder ratings, batting average, ERA etc not only for the individuals but for the teams involved and the league as a whole. Letting this guy get credit for the perfect game would invite further discussion of controversial calls that take place earlier in games that end up resulting in some type of historical significance. I would of liked for them to have reversed the call at the time of the play after some on field discussion. Baseball’s failure to design a better process to address calls such as this may be purposeful and part of the charm of baseball but regardless this guy got the bad end of the deal, this time. I was a little surprised that Selig considered changing the call and even more surprised that he made a decision within a single day. If he had chosen to make the change then Jeter’s Jeffery Maier homerun would need to be considered for correction with ramifications that could alter the outcome of the 1996 World Series. Selig has already fiddled with the integrity of the game enough that he doesn’t need to add to it by making a change which would be popular today but not in line with baseball history which just happens to be baseballs primary asset.
DieSeL:
If I was Marty McFly I would of stayed in the past. I would of been the guy that always says “I read that book, a few years ago” whenever a movie based on a book comes out. Then I would complain after the movie that they didn’t include every detail.
Albuquerque Tom:
Why would that require time travel?
You can do that now. Are you from the future?
DieSeL:
I would rather have a 1:1 read book to movie ratio. I would really hate to read a book or trilogy from Michael Moorcock for example and then never have it morph into a cool movie. I’m not an avid reader but I want to be considered as one, I find it funny, even hilarious that you would ask if I’m from the future. Why would you ask, did I say something that made you think that? BTW its amazing that you are up and about after you caught on fire when your house collapsed on you during the giant house party (not sure why I’m repeating the event details to you). That was only on June 6th and in less than a week you are on the interwebs having the time of your life. No survivors they said, what a joke!
If that bothers you then I would also use time travel to predict how hot it will be on any particular day. “Its gonna get real cold after lunch today so wear a jacket. The blue sky is deceitful.” Peoples jaws would drop along with the temperature. Also “predict” how people will like their meals. “That burger you just got will be delicious while your onion rings will be over cooked. Your soda will be nice and fizzy and your napkin will clean your face perfectly without causing a rash.”