The more I think about it, the more I think Galarraga actually got lucky. He will now forever be known as a guy who threw a 28-out perfect game, Joyce’s call be damned. If Joyce got this call right, he’d have been known as the bum who threw the third perfect game in the flukiest month of baseball history.
UPDATE: A reader sends this in:
Mr. Foster,
So, Gallaraga threw a 28-out perfect game. That’s nothing as compared to the feat of Pittsburgh Pirate pitcher Harvey Haddix, who on 26 May 1959 tossed a 12+ innning perfect game, only to lose in the 13th inning. After retiring 36 consecutive batters, Felix Mantilla reached first in the bottom of the 13th on a fielding error by Milwaukee Brave Don Hoak. Mantilla went to second on a sacrifice bunt, Haddix gave an intentional pass to Hank Aaron, and Joe Adcock then knocked one out of the park–but, in a perfect conclusion to a very odd game, Aaron left the base path and was declared out when he was passed by Adcock, allowing the Braves to win the game, 2-0.
Many knowledgeable fans still think this is the greatest pitching performance of all time.