When two people find themselves in unlikely circumstances, it creates great drama.
In the long history of America’s most historic game, there has never been anything like the situation Armando Galarraga and Jim Joyce found themselves in on June 2, 2010. And it will never happen again. Because it was unique, Galarraga’s almost-perfect game became infamous because of Joyce’s blown call.
ESPN E:60 revisits the game and its controversial ending in 28 Outs: An Imperfect Story. Galarraga, a Detroit Tigers’ right-hander, was one out from becoming just the 21st pitcher in MLB history to throw a perfect game. But what should have been the final and 27th out wasn’t. Joyce, the umpire, incorrectly ruled that Cleveland’s Jason Donald was safe on a grounder to first base. Galarraga retired the next batter for the one-hitter in a 3-0 victory.
Few people remember the score. Everyone remembers the game that took “28” outs.
The legacy of this game is that it helped usher in the expanded use of replay. That was significant because baseball, steeped in tradition, is highly reluctant to alter long-standing rules. It took an unprecedented major mistake such as this to make a major change.
In 28 Outs, the documentary makes the case for further change. It features a law class at Monmouth University that is trying to persuade Major League Baseball to officially credit Galarraga with a perfect game. In 2022, Professor Lawrence Jones and his class produced an 82-page study to make their argument and presented it to MLB.
Even the most casual baseball fan knew this approach was never going to work. You’re talking about a sport with two leagues playing with two different rules until the National League adopted the designated hitter in 2022.
The wheels of baseball justice can spin slowly.
E:60 reporter Jen Lada gets her sit-down interview with Commissioner Rob Manfred. Manfred tells the viewer exactly what you expect to hear. Director Simon Baumgart and Lada are doing their due diligence, but Manfred’s appearance adds little to this feature. MLB could have issued a statement, and it would have had the same impact.
28 Outs is at its best when focusing on the key participants. Galarraga and Joyce give emotional interviews that are so compelling that you wish E60 had devoted more time to them and less time to legal talk. From the moment that game ended, Galarraga and Joyce were forever tied together in sports lore.
If Galarraga is ever going to be credited with a perfect game, it’s going to have to be an emotional argument and not a legal one. Galarraga’s biggest advocate is Joyce who remains bothered by his most famous blunder. On the other hand, Galarraga seems more at peace. It’s fascinating that both have kept mementos from that game.
Joyce, who retired in 2017, is 68. He was once voted MLB’s best umpire in a poll of 100 players conducted by ESPN The Magazine. Joyce was a good umpire who screwed up at the worst possible time. Galarraga, who retired from pro ball in 2015, is 42. He was a pitcher with a 4.78 career ERA who happened to have one great game spoiled by Joyce’s mistake.
Focusing more on them would have been the right call for 28 Outs.
28 Outs: An Imperfect Story will debut Sunday, Aug. 18, at 4 p.m. ET on ESPN, and will be available to stream afterward on ESPN+. It will also re-air on Aug. 18, at 10 p.m. on ESPN2.
