Joyce misses one

[rpumpire]

From mlb.com:

"I just cost that kid a perfect game," Joyce said. "I thought he beat the throw. I was convinced he beat the throw, until I saw the replay. It was the biggest call of my career."

Galarraga said he gave Joyce a hug when Joyce apologized to him after the game.

"He really feels bad," Galarraga said. "He probably feels more bad than me. Nobody is perfect. I give a lot of credit to that guy. That (an apology) doesn't happen. He apologized. He feels really bad. Nobody is perfect. What am I gonna do? His body language said more than a lot of words. His eyes were watery, he didn't have too say much. His body language said a lot."

Galarraga retired Trevor Crowe to preserve the shutout, but Tigers players Gerald Laird and Jeremy Bonderman took a detour from the postgame celebration to have words with Joyce, as did manager Jim Leyland.

"That's the nature of the business, that's just the way it is. The players are human, the umpires are human, the managers are human, the writers are human," Leyland said. "We all make mistakes. It's a crying shame. Jimmy's a real good umpire, has been for a long time. He probably got it wrong."

----------

Joyce and Galarraga both showed tons of class in the way they handled an unfortunate situation.