Nobody's Perfect: Two Men, One Call, and a Game for Baseball History

by Armando Galarraga, Jim Joyce

Overview

The perfect game is one of the rarest accomplishments in sports. No hits, no walks, no men reaching base. Twenty-seven up, twenty-seven down. In nearly four hundred thousand contests in more than 130 years of Major League Baseball, it has only happened twenty times. On June 2, 2010, Detroit Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga threw baseball’s twenty-first perfect game. Except that’s not how it entered the record books.

That’s because Jim Joyce, a veteran umpire with more than twenty years of big league experience, missed the call on the final out at first base. “No, I did not get the call correct,” Joyce said after seeing a replay. “I kicked the sh*t out of it.” But rather than throw a tantrum, Galarraga simply turned and smiled, went back to the mound and took care of business. “Nobody’s perfect,” he said later in the locker room.

In Nobody’s Perfect, Galarraga and Joyce come together to tell the personal story of a remarkable game that was will live forever in baseball lore, and to trace their fascinating lives in sports up until this pivotal moment.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780802145871
Publisher:	Grove/Atlantic, Inc.
Publication date:	06/12/2012
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	5.56(w) x 8.08(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Armando Galarraga is a pitcher for the Arizona Diamondbacks. He finished third in balloting for American League Rookie of the Year in 2008.

Jim Joyce has been an umpire in the major leagues for more than twenty years.

Daniel Paisner is a New York Times best-selling writer and collaborator on dozens of books, including On the Line with tennis great Serena Williams. He is also the author of The Ball: Mark McGwire’s 70th Home Run Ball and the Marketing of the American Dream.

Table of Contents

Setup

Prologue

My Blessings Armando Galarraga 9

Tossing, Turning Jim Joyce 14

1

Caracas Armando Galarraga 25

Toledo Jim Joyce 45

Pregame

Rinoceronte Armando Galarraga 67

Heading Home Jim Joyce 75

2

Tommyjohn Armando Galarraga 85

Fly-Away Arms Jim Joyce 108

Game

Like A Video Game Armando Galarraga 127

Business As Usual Jim Joyce 150

3

Up And Down Armando Galarraga 159

Catch/No-Catch Jim Joyce 179

The Call

I Can Only Smile Armando Galarraga 197

Explosion Jim Joyce 205

Postgame

Big Belly Armando Galarraga 225

Safe at Home Jim Joyce 233

Afterword 243

Box Score 245

Editorial Reviews

“You might think everything that could have been said, replayed and revealed about that night has already been uttered, logged and exposed. You would, however, be as wrong as the unfortunate Mr. Joyce was when he decided that Cleveland shortstop Jason Donald had beaten first baseman Miguel Cabrera's toss to Galarraga on what would have been the Indians' 27th consecutive out.” —Neal Rubin, The Detroit News

“Nobody's Perfect achieves the remarkable feat of taking us inside the heads of both the pitcher and the umpire at the moment of that call, and during everything leading up to it. Baseball players and officials pride themselves on appearing unreadable on the field but, in alternating chapters, Galarraga and Joyce reveal in their own words, with surprising candor, what was going on behind their opaque game faces. … A thrilling, emotionally complex revisit to the legendary almost-perfect game of June 2, 2010, complete with the satisfying back story of the careers (and psychologies) of the pitcher and the umpire who shared a first-base call that made history.” —John McFarland, Shelf Awareness

“Captivating … [It reads] like a great summer novel.” —Mark Newman, MLB.com

“Inspiring.” —Spitball Magazine

“In the Big Events category, there was just one last year that had everyone talking: the perfect game spoiled by an ump’s blown call on what would have been the final out. But the response of the ump, Jim Joyce, and the pitcher, Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga, thrust them both in to a small category of sports that actually ennobles the human race . … Joyce’s abject admission of a mistake and Galarraga’s grace in accepting a near-miss with destiny made character the big sinner, detailed in their collaboration, with Daniel Paisner, in Nobody’s Perfect: Two Men, One Call, and a Game for Baseball History. ” —Publishers Weekly, “PW’s Top Ten Sports Books” for 2011

“A masterpiece.”—Steve Kettman, The Huffington Post

From the Publisher

The blown call on June 2, 2010, by veteran ump Jim Joyce on what would have delivered Armando Galarraga the 21st perfect game in major league history made both participants celebrities beyond what would have occurred had the call been correct: Galarraga won acclaim for his grace and angelic smile in accepting the injustice, and Joyce did so for his ready and salty admission that he had deprived baseball of an immortal achievement. With veteran coauthor to celebrities Paisner, both men tell of their lives and their ascension to the scrutiny granted to present-day athletes. The fast-paced story explains the moment of loss—serious fans will think of Harvey Haddix, who lost a perfect game in the 13th inning in 1959—and provides valuable insight into the true meaning of sportsmanship. Sure to be an involving read for fans and nonfans alike.—G.R.

Library Journal