The Perfect Game (almost)
I read this story a couple of weeks ago and thought you might enjoy it too.
On June 2, 2010, Detroit Tiger Armando Galarraga had pitched a perfect game – for eight and two-thirds innings. Twenty-six batters up, 26 batters out. His own catcher did not even realize what was happening until the seventh inning, but the head umpire, Jim Joyce, had been aware of the historical implications since inning five. With two outs in the ninth, and a 3—1 count, the fans held their collective breath as the 27th batter was thrown out at first. Then the unthinkable happened. Head umpire, Joyce, called him safe, and perfection vanished.
The outrage reached epic proportions, earning public proclamations from state lawmakers and even a joking reference in the White House Press Room. But in baseball, there is no “undo” button. Joyce, watching the replay after the game, admitted his error. It tore him up. Angry fans, and even some of Galarraga’s teammates, called for action. Everyone seemed to have a vested interest in the situation, everyone except for Galarraga.
The next day he was sitting in front of his locker, completely calm. One of his teammates said, “I don’t think he really understands what a perfect game is.” But Galarraga understood. He had been playing professionally for a decade. He had bounced between teams and from minor to major leagues, and 28 years old or not, immigrant or not, he understood his own sport.
His response? “Nobody is perfect,” Galarraga said. “Inside of my heart, I don’t have a problem.”
What a perfect way to describe the condition God desires for all of us. What if we could all respond that way when people make mistakes that negatively impact us? That’s one of the benefits of living in forgiveness. Inside of our own hearts we have calm and peace and release. Even when something has been lost because of someone else’s mistake or oversight, inside of our hearts we don’t have a problem.
