Florida's Get Rich Quick Scheme - Just 20 days after Oakland's Dallas Braden threw his magical Mother's Day masterpiece, one of the game's best put his name in the hat to become a potential future Hall of Famer. On the road against the Florida Marlins in Miami, Roy Halladay pitched the 20th perfect game in Major League history by taking a much different approach than that of Braden. While the Oakland A's southpaw earned his perfecto by mainly getting batters to pop up or fly out, Halladay owned the strike zone by compiling a total of 11 K's compared to Braden's 6. The former 2003 AL Cy Young Award winner for the Toronto Blue Jays added to his already lengthy resume which includes 6-All-Star appearances and 49-complete games. The only thing missing? A World Series ring.
With only half of the seats in Florida's Land Shark Stadium filled with fans to witness the remarkable feat, the Marlins are hoping to make money off of the fans that weren't in attendance. How so? Through the stadium's box office and website, the team will be reselling tickets to the game that featured Doc Halladay's no-hit performance which took place on Saturday May 29th. The cost? Tickets will be sold at face value from the cheap seats -- $12, to the field-level -- $25 and of coarse, those much closer to the action and behind home plate -- $300. As an amenity, they'll even count you in the game's official attendance. What better way to brag to all your buddies than lie to them and not only tell them you seen Roy Halladay's perfect game in person, but also have the proof of a ticket stub. Talk about the ultimate souvenir.
Keep in mind the Marlins are doing this despite their 1-0 loss and their own team being blanked. If it was a Marlins pitcher who threw the gem and not the opposing team's pitcher, it would be a little bit more understandable. If you asked me, I'd say it's sort of a cheesy strategy to profit money and would usually oppose the whole idea. But given it's the Florida Marlins, the team who's currently at the bottom of the NL in attendance and always seem to be struggling to fill seats regardless of how well or poorly they're playing, I can't knock their hustle. In fact, I encourage them to take similar action in the future. This isn't the first time this has been done however. After Chicago White Sox pitcher Mark Buehrle pitched his perfect game last July, the team sold the remainder of the tickets as souvenirs. With two perfect games and one no-hitter already in the books this early on in the season, could this be proof of the post-steroid era?
The Perfecto Bandito - Considering there's never been a time in the modern era of Major League Baseball where two pitchers threw perfect games in a single season prior to Halladay's gem, how crazy would it be if there three in a single season? And if that's not crazy enough, how about all three of those perfect games taking place within a single month? Although the third never happened, it should have.
Bad calls have become somewhat symbolic in all of sports, but none as bad as those made or not made in baseball. One call in particular that will forever be remembered above all others is the one that took place most recently. Last Wednesday in a game against the visiting Cleveland Indians, Detroit Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga was just one out away from making the history books. That was until Indians rookie Jason Donald hit a ground ball to first baseman Miguel Cabrera who underhanded the ball to the covering Galarraga in what looked to be the 27th out of the ball game. However, first base umpire Jim Joyce called the runner safe in what would go down in the history of bad calls. This wasn't just any other wrong call, instead it cost the right-handed Venezuelan born pitcher a perfect game.
Just how bad was the call you ask? After viewing the replay from the clubhouse, Joyce admitted his wrongdoing soon after. As for the man who was robbed of a spot in the record books, Galarraga was a class act about the whole thing and didn't complain or throw a fit like I know most pitchers would do nowadays. Although umpire Jim Joyce missed the call, commissioner Bud Selig had all the power in the world to overturn the mistake and decided not to. But I bet if it was a Brewer who pitched the gem, Selig would've thought otherwise considering he's a Milwaukee native and was once upon a time the owner of the Brew Crew. A day after the mess, Joyce was scheduled to serve as the home plate umpire where he received boo's from the Detroit crowd when being introduced over the stadium speakers. Tigers skipper Jim Leyland who argued the call that cost his pitcher a place in Cooperstown, had Galarraga hand Joyce the game's starting line-up. Joyce was then seen with tears running down his face as the two patted one another on the back and shook hands.
Even though he was robbed of becoming the 21st pitcher in Major League history to throw a perfecto, Galarraga didn't come out empty handed. Given Detroit is the Motor City, GMC honored the 28 year old pitcher and donated a 2010 Corvette. Days after discussion and reviewing the film, Commissioner Selig continued to stick to his guns and said he was pleased with how his decision to not honor Galarraga with a perfect game worked out. He went on to say expanded instant replay is unlikely this year if at all. The decision to not expand instant replay is something I actually agree with that has come from the brain of Bud Selig. As for the unlucky Jim Joyce, he's fortunate enough to keep his job in my opinion. He's also probably the most hated man in the Motor City now, dethroning the spot of Ron Artest who took place in the infamous 'Malice in the Palace'. Galarraga later forgave Joyce and called him a nice man. But although he's forgiven, I think someone better keep an eye on Mr. Joyce, he's definitely on suicide watch.
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