Where is armando galarraga now

Do you like it? Five years earlier, on that very night in that very ballpark, Comerica Park, one of the sport's most famous blown calls was made, when Joyce, with two out in the top of the ninth, said "safe" when Cleveland's Jason Donald was clearly "out" — denying Detroit's young pitcher, Armando Galarraga, MLB's 21st perfect game.

But the call also made Galarraga, and Joyce, forever famous. Dallas Braden wasn't given a tricked-out new Corvette. Nobody writes anniversary stories on Charlie Robertson's perfect game. Meanwhile, back in that umpires' room in , it took Manfred a split-second to make the connection.

The Galarraga-Joyce story has been told countless times, in countless publications, and from countless perspectives — and especially recently, with Tuesday marking the year anniversary of when one call robbed a year-old from Venezuela his rightful perfect game, but ended up affording him so much more. There have been just 23 perfect games in the history of MLB, none since , and good luck naming more than a handful of those who've thrown one. Galarraga's name, that sly smile, that exceptional empathy, almost immediately after Joyce's arms went up beyond the bag at first — now all that, baseball fans will never forget.

It was a Wednesday night in June The Indians were in town, a young, rebuilding team that then-manager Manny Acta recalled was prepared "to get our a-- kicked every night. There were just 17, tickets sold. It was Armando Galarraga, and even he wasn't really supposed to be pitching. After a good rookie season in and an OK followup in , he started in the minor leagues. Galarraga was called back up in mid-May, made a great start against Boston, and then a bad one against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

He was pulled back out of the rotation for one turn, but a June 1 trade cemented his place back in the starting five, when the Tigers sent Dontrelle Willis to Arizona. It wasn't Verlander.

It wasn't Scherzer. Any of those guys. It was Armando Galarraga. Acta first came across Galarraga in in Venezuela, and two years later worked with him when both were in the Montreal Expos' system. Acta remembered him as a "tall, skinny kid who could throw strikes. But he sure could throw strikes. Interestingly, the first two pitches of that game were balls.

Sixty-seven of the next 86 pitches were strikes. Galarraga worked his fastball early — "Probably the best I had it seen it, locating really well," said his catcher that day, Alex Avila — and then turned to his slider late.

He shook off Avila once early, once a bit later, and no times in between. The outs came mostly easy, and almost always quick, though watching the game again all these years later, some moments stand out.

There was Austin Kearns' mildly hard-hit liner to Miguel Cabrera at first. There was a slow roller to the hole at shortstop that Ramon Santiago handled nicely and got the out, thank goodness an aging catcher, Mike Redmond, was running. Also in the third inning, Jason Donald remember that name just missed a double to right, the flare just outside the line. Shin-Shoo Choo barely avoided getting hit in the foot in the fourth. Galarraga went on Travis Hafner in the fifth, his only three-ball count, before Hafner flew out to left.

Also in the fifth, Russell Branyan hit a grounder up the middle that hit Galarraga's right heel, deflected to third baseman Brandon Inge, who short-hopped it and made the perfect, strong throw to just get the out. Donald that guy again hit a deep liner to Magglio Ordonez in right field in the sixth. Avila made a fantastic stop on a slider in the dirt that struck out Jhonny Peralta in the eighth. And then came the ninth, the fans now very much into it — and Galarraga made his worst pitch of the day, a fastball right down the middle to leadoff man Mark Grudzielanek, who smashed it to deep left-center.

But Austin Jackson, a rookie center fielder acquired seven months earlier in the blockbuster trade that also brought Scherzer to Detroit, got a great jump, raced 16 full strides and made the over-the-shoulder catch. As I recollect, with most of those times there's a no-hitter or a perfect game, there are plays that just stand out that save them. Up until that time, I don't remember any of those.

The next batter, Redmond, grounded out routinely to short, and the crowd was on its feet, eager to see history — history that, as a bonus, the mostly sober fans would get to remember, too, given the game lasted just one hour and 44 minutes the Tigers' only sub-two-hour game since , and their shortest since a Jose Lima gem clocked in at in By the ninth inning, they're on their feet, readying for the 21st perfect game in major league history.

Joyce had witnessed such history just a few weeks prior, when he worked second base for Oakland pitcher Dallas Braden's perfect game. He knew Braden had a perfect game as it was being thrown, just as he knew -- sometime around the seventh inning -- that Galarraga had one going, too.

The ninth starts with a first-pitch fly out. Four pitches later, Joyce makes the call at first base on a weak grounder to shortstop. One more to go. Joyce knows he's ready. Twenty-three years' experience brings such confidence that Joyce treats each pitch as routine, but the refrain -- "just don't be the one to miss the call" -- runs through his mind, too. Just like that, Indians shortstop Jason Donald -- the final out -- is running down the first-base line like a scared deer.

Joyce is thrown by how fast he is running -- in Joyce's mind, players don't run all that hard on a groundout to end a game. Even so, if it's close, Joyce thinks, the runner will probably be out. Joyce moves slightly to his right and zones in on the bag. Marvin Hudson, the plate umpire, is following Donald up the line, but his view is restricted; Joyce is in perfect position to make the call.

As Donald gets to the bag, Joyce splays his arms outward. Hudson thinks Joyce got it right, too, and tells himself, simply, "Well, there goes the perfect game. But when Detroit players start yelling from the dugout a few moments later, experience tells Joyce they saw the replay and are probably right. Yet Joyce's confidence doesn't waver. Another ground-ball out at first, this time routine, and the game is over.

Boos cascade from the stands as Joyce walks back to the umpires' locker room, telling himself over and over that he hopes he got the call right. He asks the locker room attendant to cue up the replay.

By the time Joyce reaches the changing area, he's now yelling, "I hope I got it right! I hope it got it right! Before seeing the replay, they surround Joyce by his locker. Joyce turns to Cousins and asks whether he made the correct call. Joyce throws his hat, rips off his shirt and pants and paces the room, yelling and cursing. He then watches the replay -- the only time he's seen it -- and rages more. Back in Oregon, Keri Joyce, Jim's year-old daughter, returns home from a restaurant to an inbox full of Facebook messages.

Many are offering support, but at least two dozen are nasty. Some are worse. One message threatens to burn her family's home; another wishes her AIDS. Jim's son, Jimmy, receives death threats, too. Keri is shocked, but she also is angry.

Later, she posts a status update on her page: I love my dad. You a who can't realise he's a human can f off. In Detroit, unaware of what his children are being subjected to, Joyce's actions and words begin to alter how his mistake will be remembered. He chooses to give the media rare access to the umpires' locker room. He takes full responsibility for kicking the call. When the media leave, Leyland comes in for a beer. He tells Joyce that he blew the call and that he needs to move past it.

Tigers general manager Dave Dombrowski visits, too, concerned for Joyce's well-being. Both men have known Joyce for decades and, like the players in the league who voted him the top umpire in an ESPN The Magazine poll, hold enormous respect for him. Joyce appreciates the gestures, but his mind is on one person. He asks Dombrowski whether he can talk to Galarraga.

Dombrowski leaves, and a few minutes later he returns to the umpires' room with the year-old pitcher from Venezuela. Galarraga walks up to Joyce and while hugging him says, "We are all human. That's how bad I felt. Speculation over whether MLB might step in began almost immediately after the game, but it was quelled the next day.

But you can't change it. That just opens up a whole can of worms [with previous missed calls in history]. Galarraga had tossed six perfect innings against the Royals in before giving up a base hit, but he opened the season at Triple-A Toledo.

Ten years later, it seems like yesterday. It's one thing that makes the beauty when you retire: What did you contribute to baseball? And to me, I think it's a good test. I'm not a guy who played 10 years in the big leagues. I'm not a guy who made a lot of All-Star Games. Sign up to receive our daily Morning Lineup to stay in the know about the latest trending topics around Major League Baseball. He provided some more pitching gems that season, including seven scoreless innings and eight strikeouts against the Indians again in August.

But his right elbow, which underwent Tommy John surgery years earlier, began bothering him again. The Tigers traded him that winter to Arizona. I think if you looked at the base runner, he's like, 'Wow, I can't believe he just called me safe. Donald: "Sandy Alomar Jr. He's like, 'I can't believe this. Alomar: "He looked at me, he kind of gives me this face, like, 'Holy cow. But I didn't want to say it loud enough, because I don't want Jimmy to hear me, and I say, 'Oh, man, you were out.

You were out. And we were standing there, and I look at Donald and he looks at me and goes, 'Holy crap. Cabrera, an outstanding defender who came up in the minor leagues as a third baseman, ranged far to his right. He was quick to the ball, backhanded it, quick on the release, made the play. But Guillen was behind him and ready, leaving many to wonder: What if Cabrera had let Guillen make an easier play?

Galarraga: "I got this question before about Carlos Guillen should get that ground ball. I think should Carlos Guillen get the ground ball then actually the runner will be safe. The ground ball was not really fast. And Miguel, at this point, I think Miguel makes the right decision because this ground ball is between second base and first base. The way it was out was because Miguel really went fast to throw the ball and execute really well. Alomar: "That play was very, very difficult play for Cabrera to make.

So I thought that if the second baseman — because the ball was far to his right — if a second baseman would have caught that ball, that would have been a much easier call. As Joyce signaled safe, Galarraga raised his arms in celebration. Galarraga: "You know when it's out or when it's safe. You know it, you just know that feeling because you practice all the time in spring training and in the games that happen.

I see all these guys celebrate. And I was like, maybe I no touch the base? Maybe I missed the base?

I don't run that hard? But when he called safe, I was doubting myself. Alomar: "I didn't second-guess it at all, he was just completely out. But I had a different angle, right in front of the bag. Jimmy was behind the bag and as Galarraga was coming, he kind of occupied a little bit of a space for his view as he was running toward the base.

So I think that's a confusion that he had. But, even so, he just beat it by a lot, man. I don't know if Jimmy got there late or he got confused with a call because he knew right away he missed that call.

He knew right away he missed that call. Leyland: "I still wasn't sure what he called, off the base or not, so then after going through that, I just yelled at him a little bit. I didn't really get too demonstrative, to be honest with you. I told him he blew it, but you knew that he felt bad.

You could almost tell instantly that he knew that he blew the call. I think he kind of froze and I think he saw out but he signaled safe, it was kind of like a mechanical thing.

Now, I don't know if there's any truth to that, that's just what I thought. Something told me to call him safe. Alomar: "Donald was so far back that I was just, like, shocked that Jimmy missed that play, because he's one of the best umpires in baseball and a very, very honest man. I think that he, to me, I felt like he meant to call out and he called safe. With a confused Donald on first base, a more confused Galarraga on the mound and boos beginning to rain down from an even more confused Comerica Park crowd, Galarraga stayed in the stretch.

Galarraga retired the 28th batter, Trevor Crowe, on a grounder to third on his 88th pitch to complete the Tigers' victory. It had taken just one hour and 44 minutes — the second-shortest game in Comerica Park history. As Galarraga's 88th pitch ended the game, with Cabrera still chirping, boos ringing louder and a team of angry Tigers headed his way, Joyce still believed he got the call right.

In that first interview, the Cleveland dugout and soon, the umpires'' room, an uncensored and unscripted story would emerge to become national news. Riger: "I go out in the field and get Galarraga, he was humble and he was classy, and then I go back into the tunnel and I was gonna go to the Tigers clubhouse to get audio from Leyland and everybody else, and then it dawned on me: 'Is Joyce going to talk?

Donald: "When I got back into the dugout, Mark Grudzielanek, Jake Westbrook and Austin Kearns, before I walked up the steps to get into the clubhouse, they were waiting there for me. You need to make sure that Jim Joyce is very well-respected within the game, the last thing that we want you to do is to blow him up by saying, 'I knew I was out, he missed the call. We just want to make sure we handle this as respectfully as possible toward Jim and what their guy on the mound did.

Galarraga: "To this point, I was wanting to see the replay. A couple people hold me on the field to try to interview, so I do a couple interviews. As soon as I'm finished with the interview, I go straight to the clubhouse and try to see the replay and see what happened.

Inside the Tigers clubhouse, seeing the replays the world had seen minutes earlier, the players were irate. Avila: "Back then, we had like, big tube TVs on the floor in the middle of the clubhouse, like those old-school tube TVs, and it was playing on there.

So everybody was kind of in the middle of the clubhouse watching it over and over again That was out. It was a good team, you know? Regardless about what happened that Jim Joyce make the call, I was really happy for me for many reasons: Because to throw a perfect game, it was something really special. And the other thing, I need to keep my spot in that rotation. Avila: "Seeing Armando's reaction as that evening went on and Joyce's reaction, it became more of, yes, it's upsetting, but it went from anger to sympathy and understanding.