David Murphy of the Daily News is the best beat writer to happen to the Phillies in a very long time. Smart and insightful, Murphy is a real student and fan of the game. On DNL last night he opined that Armando Galarraga's near perfect game was far more interesting on numerous levels for how it turned out than had the call at first base gone the other way. He is correct.
Everyone has been caught up in the human drama to a much greater extent than when the Phils' Roy Halladay pitched his perfect game a week earlier. The number of gestures made by all parties involved, particularly Jim Joyce and Galarraga, have positively and profoundly affected regular fans of the game, indeed people from all walks of life. Tigers manager Jim Leyland's fine gesture of having Galarrag take the lineup card to home plate to start the next game was also heartwarming. Galarraga was greeted there by Joyce, who was working the plate even though he'd been offered a day off by MLB. To his considerable credit, he opted to take his normal turn calling balls and strikes. Bud Selig decided not to reverse the decision, which was really the only option he had under current rules.
Long from now, people will remember what happened after the play more than the 26 outs leading up to it. Just as David Murphy pointed out.
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