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Jens 'n' Frens
Idle thoughts of a relatively libertarian Republican in Cambridge, MA, and whomever he invites. Mostly political.
"A strong conviction that something must be done is the parent of many bad measures."
-- Daniel Webster
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Wednesday, June 02, 2010 :::
This story is sort of related to the story my brother blogged earlier today. The short version is that a major league pitcher threw a perfect game in front of a home crowd, with the last out coming after the batter made contact but reached first just after the throw. Unfortunately, the umpire's eyes deceived him and he called the runner safe.
That's remarkable enough. Perhaps more remarkable is that the umpire -- Jim Joyce is his name -- later acknowledged that he missed the call:"I don't blame [the crowd] a bit for anything that was said," Joyce said. "I would've said it myself if I had been Galarraga. I would've been the first person in my face, and he never said a word to me." Maybe this is one more occasion where the sports world can set an example for the political world. Baseball umpires, like football referees and other sports officials, are required to make split-second calls, time after time. Remarkably, they get them right the vast majority of the time. But every once in a while, they make a mistake, sometimes when it makes a big difference. Human error is inevitable, in sports as in politics and business. But maybe we can all take a lesson from Jim Joyce, who watched the replay and admitted that he missed the biggest call of his life, and from Armando Galarraga, who got the short end of the stick on that call but walked off the mound with the victory, and at that moment, at least, didn't say a word.
I don't think it's necessary to "not say a word" when an injustice occurs (especially if it can be corrected or if there is a social benefit to making it more visible), but I approve of maintaining one's dignity in the face of disappointment and of teaching young soccer players to do just that.
::: posted by Steven at 11:19 PM
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