Detroit Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga had been nursing a perfect game against divisional rival Cleveland and this was his last pitch. The crowd was practically apoplectic in anticipation of only the 21st such game in Major League Baseballs illustrious history. They were on their feet cheering wildly as Jason Donald hit a weak grounder between first and second and the routine play was easily made to first base. Donald was out by a full step and everyone knew it. Everyone that is except umpire Jim Joyce who emphatically and enthusiastically made the wrong call.
One second he was just another major league umpire, the next he is eternally and notoriously enshrined in baseball trivia.
He didn't know it for certain until after the game when he watched the play on a monitor in his dressing room. He was so upset by what he saw that he couldn't shower. He felt sick at his stomach. And in a rare admission for a big league umpire he made his way to the Detroit locker room and asked Tiger's manager Dave Dombrowski if he could apologize to Galarraga.
He gave the pitcher a hug and told him he wished he had it back. "He felt really bad" Galarraga said.
Every now and then something emerges in popular culture that serves as a striking example of a deep truth of biblical teaching. One such example occurred the next afternoon when the two teams faced each other again and umpire Joyce was at the plate.
Dombrowski sent Galaraga out to sign the lineup card and to shake Joyce's hand to begin the game. With cameras rolling the two men met, and in a terrific display of maturity and grace Galaraga patted the shamed umpire on the shoulder as a way of saying "all is forgiven." Dombrowski wiped tears from his eyes in accepting the remarkable gesture of forgiveness.
Galarraga may never get another chance to throw a perfect game. But what he did on that home plate the day after the blown call that robbed him of it will go down as something almost as perfect and noteworthy. In a culture where hating umpires is a religious rite and blaming others for every little thing that goes wrong is an art form, what the world saw at home plate stood as a shining example of civility and class.
Would to God that little league parents across America were paying attention.
It reminded me of Jesus' teaching in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5 about the inevitable injustices we all face from time to time:
"You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven."The Bible teaches that as Christians we are to be good forgivers because we are all partakers of the ultimate forgiveness that God offers through His atoning work on the cross:
"Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you." Col. 3:13As Christians we are set free from our anger and bitterness by a lifestyle of forgiveness. In other words, because of what Jesus did, we can all "shake it off" and move on. We live with these two realities:
- Unfair things will happen. The wrong calls will be made and injustice will adversely affect our hard work. The world is fallen and as a result rain falls on those who deserve it and on those who don't. Until Christ comes to make things right, life will always be unfair.
- When we bear a grudge we destroy ourselves. The Bible says "Be angry and sin not." Anger about injustice is normal, but to live in perpetual anger is sinful and destructive.
Hats off to Jim Joyce for being man enough to admit he blew it. And hats off to Galarraga for giving us a great picture of how a real man forgives.
No comments:
Post a Comment