Ump's blown call was a shame, but compassion ruled day after

DETROIT - Jim Joyce has been calling balls and strikes and deciding if runners are out or safe as a full-time umpire for Major League Baseball since 1989. He has been respected enough to be on the field for two World Series, 11 other playoff series and a pair of All-Star Games.

Until Wednesday night, to most, Joyce was just another man in blue. But all that changed instantly with his emphatic ninth-inning, two-out safe call, thereby spoiling a perfect game for Detroit Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga against the Cleveland Indians.

It was clear to everyone in Detroit's Comerica Park that Joyce had blown the call. It became clear to Joyce, too, when after the game he watched the replays. He then did something rare for an umpire in a game that relies on the human eye: He acknowledged his mistake. Joyce apologized to Galarraga and the Tigers.

With another game on tap Thursday between the Tigers and the Indians, Major League Baseball was prepared to send in another umpire to Detroit, but Joyce said he would prefer to go to work, as usual.

"No, not in my lowest moment," he said, when asked if he considered not showing up. "If I had done that, I couldn't have faced myself."

Joyce was welcomed back to the field with a smattering of applause, making him cry, and was booed by some when he was introduced.

"I thought it was going to be so loud that I wouldn't be able to think, and that it would be overwhelmingly negative," Joyce said. "When I walked out of the tunnel and got applause from the Tigers fans, I had to wipe the eyes."

Three-plus hours later, the compassionate reaction from the fans compelled Leyland to wear sunglasses -- likely to hide his tears -- at his postgame news conference.

"I'm proud to be the manager for these fans," Leyland said, choking up. "They showed me a lot of class and it was a hard thing to do."

The story transcended sports. After the blown call, Galarraga and Joyce quickly became trendy topics on Twitter. At least one anti-Joyce Facebook page was created, and firejimjoyce.com was launched. Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm issued a proclamation saying Galarraga pitched a perfect game.

Joyce was so emotionally hurt that he could do nothing but pace back and forth, savaging himself and saying through wet eyes, "I took a perfect game from that kid."

He drove late Wednesday to his hometown of Toledo, Ohio, for a night long on distress and short on sleep.

Ugly phone calls to his wife and children had been the cruelest consequences. "I'm a big boy who can handle it," he said. "But they don't deserve this."

The Tigers were sad the morning after, but later understood baseball's decision to let it stand.

"I have already turned the page," Galarraga said. "I think the guys have, too."