It is June 2, 2010. It’s the bottom of the 9th inning and there are two outs. The Detroit Tigers pitcher, Armando Galarraga, is on the mound. One out stands before him and a legendary, perfect game. Galarraga pulls back, and lets the pitch go. Cleveland Indians batter, Jason Donald, puts the ball in play. Miguel Cabrera fields the soft infield hit and flips the ball to Galarraga, who has left the pitcher’s mound to cover first base. The fans erupt in applause, prematurely celebrating a perfect game. All eyes are on the umpire, veteran Jim Joyce, as he stretches his arms wide, calling the base runner safe. A hush falls over the crowd as the fans realize they have just witnessed the biggest mistake in the history of major league baseball umpires.…show more content… Baseball had its beginnings in London, England in the early 1800’s as a gentleman’s sport and made its way to America with her earliest colonists. In an interview with CNN, Tom Shieber, Senior Curator at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum at Cooperstown said of the game of baseball: “The uncovering of the sport's English origins did not change the fact that the modern game was a 19th-century American creation. This is where it grew up, this is where it was embraced.” (8) It wasn’t until baseball was brought to America that the need for someone to oversee the game and to be an authority on the rules was realized. It was in America that the role of the umpire has grown and garnered more…show more content… However, by 2008, fans were demanding changes and because they were the ones buying the tickets, Commissioner of Baseball “Bud” Selig agreed to allow reviews on a very limited basis. Only umpire crew chiefs could question a call and they were limited to reviewing plays that involved boundary disputes, namely foul balls and home runs. (1) The real, obvious need for change came in 2010 when a 30-year veteran umpire by the name of Jim Joyce, cost young pitcher, Armando Galarraga, a perfect game by missing a close play at first base that would have ended the game. No one was more heart broken about the mistake than Mr. Joyce,
