To set the scene, there were two outs in the top of the ninth last night in Detroit. The Tigers needed one more out — not just to win the game against Cleveland, but to secure a perfect game for pitcher Armando Galarraga. It would have been the 21st perfect game in the history of major league baseball, the second perfect game in the last week, and an unprecedented third perfect game of this young baseball season (never before in the modern era going back more than 100 years had even two perfect games come in the same season).
What happened next goes down in sports lore as perhaps — probably — the worst blown call of all time:
To his credit, the ump who made the call conceded he blew it and felt as miserable about it as any decent human being should.
