I'll admit, my first reactions to the blown call by first base umpire Jim Joyce were no where near Armando Galarraga's as he lost his bid at a perfect game. Armando just smiled wryly, stepped back up on the mound, and threw five more pitches to get the 28th out of the game.
Armando could have thrown his mitt in disgust, charged up to Jim Joyce, yelled at him, and then complained to reporters after the game. Instead, he smiles, calmly walks away, and goes about finishing the game.
Then after the game when asked about the blown call, Armando responds, "Nobody's perfect." He wasn't being sarcastic or trying for irony with that statement. He was genuinely compassionate for the umpire and what he was going through knowing that he blew the biggest call in his career.
As I said on Twitter last night -
Ya know, we all make mistakes in our jobs. I'm glad my mistakes aren't broadcast on tv, radio, and the internet.
There is a lesson buried amongst all of the angst and anger we Tigers, and baseball fans in general, are feeling this morning. It was the ultimate show of not just good sportsmanship, but it was a lesson in how we should all react to adversity in our own lives.
Rather than ranting and raving when things don't go our way or when we feel that we were wronged we should take a page from Galarraga - smile wryly, stand up straight, and with a look of determination - get back to it and do the best we can.