I’ve seen a lot of hand wringing about the perfect game that wasn’t last night. I’m not going to get into it much here. That’s not what I do.
I will say that I’m thankful that the main players acted all with grace and poise, and I can point to this situation as a life lesson for my son and daughter as they get older and take out whatever pursuits they choose to chase. Being perfect is hard, and the calls won’t always go your way. Accept those calls with smiles and grace.
I do want to know this, though – if Donald had been safe and been called out, would we see as much controversy and yelling as we did in this situation? Would Cleveland fans be up in arms with Joyce, making death threats to him and his family? Would there be such a call for instant replay and the overturning of the game as there has been here?
Just wondering…
Hand Collated 
No, nobody would have been upset about it in the same way. Here’s why: we tend to value and respect earned accomplishments. The outrage stemmed from the fact that Galarraga rightly earned a perfect game, but had it stolen from him. It cuts right to the core of the American ideal.
On the flip side, we’re jaded and used to people getting (good) things that they don’t deserve. We would have shrugged it off, said “of course they gave it too him” and moved on with our lives. We would have been less impressed by his perfect game, but ultimately would have accepted it.
It’s just that the way that it happened that really touches a nerve.
Of course not. The replay clearly shows that he was out. Joyce himself has admitted it. Why would Cleveland fans be upset if a close play that went against their team was called correctly?
Skoormit, the question was if Donald had been safe and called out would there be this much media attention and this much contoversy, not if the play was called correctly. In other words, what if the exact opposite of what happened had happened?