Handling Setbacks with Class
June 8th, 2010
Last week a blown call by umpire Jim Joyce cost the Detroit Tigers Armando Galarraga a perfect game—one of the rarest feats in baseball. (See video above.)
As a lifelong Tigers fan, I’m used to seeing my team end up on the wrong side of history. (Two other Tiger pitchers have lost perfect games with two outs in the ninth.) But I have to admire the way Galarraga and the Tigers handled the situation.
There could have been long-winded, obscenity-filled rants at the post-game press conference, an appeal to Major League Baseball to overturn the decision, and diatribes about the need for instant replay in baseball to make the games “fair.”
But there wasn’t any of that. At least not from Galarraga and the Tigers organization.
After the game Joyce watched the replay and admitted his mistake and apologized to Galarraga. Galarraga accepted his apology and shook his hand. The next night Galarraga was treated to a standing ovation. Joyce umpired from behind the plate. The Tigers won. Life went on.
In a world full of people who rant and rave when life doesn’t turn out the way they want it to, Galarraga’s reaction was very refreshing.
We live in a harsh, unforgiving world. Life is rarely fair. We work hard and devote our lives to building up families, businesses, and dreams only to “watch the things you gave your life to broken” by our own mistakes or the actions of others. What’s important is how we react to life’s setbacks. Do we complain and give up on our goals or shrug off the disappointment and “stoop and build ‘em up with wornout tools”?
Armando Galarraga may have been robbed of his place in baseball’s history books, but his reaction to a very disappointing setback will always make him a class act in my book.
3 Comments Add your own
1. KS | June 13th, 2010 at 3:09 am
Am also a lifelong Tigers Fan. The blown call (Joyce’s own words) was certainly a disappointing moment in baseball - not just for Galarraga, but for the team, the fans and baseball in general. And certainly, Galarraga and the Team handled it with class to be sure. But, taking into account Joyce’s admission of making a bad call (not even considering the cruciality of the moment) is equally classy. He could have gotten very ‘uppity’ about it knowing his ruling is the be-all, end-all. But instead chose the humble “I was wrong” route.
For me, I was pleased to see how everyone handled it. Umps aren’t without their human flaws; and while they generally do a spectacular job they do make bad calls. It’s just when it’s this critical that mistakes stand out. However, bad calls are part of the baseball experience.
So yes, it was disappointing. And yes, The Tigers handled the disappointment with style and grace. But Joyce also accepted the responsibility of being wrong. I think it was equally warming that this ump copped to his mistake. A lot of humanity could take a lesson from the whole scenerio - be classy when you are wronged and accept responsibility for making bad decisions by owning up and apologizing.
2. Abel | June 13th, 2010 at 12:34 pm
KS–nice to have fellow Tigers fan on board. You’re right. The ump showed class by admitting his mistake and apologizing. You could tell he felt awful about the whole thing. Lessons to be learned all the way around.
3. Running Forward: Abel Keo&hellip | June 22nd, 2010 at 6:03 am
[...] really wants to get back into radio, he needs to shut up and take a lesson from Armando Galarraga about how to handle setbacks with class. You lick your wounds, move on, and live to fight another day. Instead of weaving intricate [...]
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