The 28-Out Perfect Game: Grace in the Face of Injustice
June 2025 marks the 15th anniversary of the 28 out perfect game, a painful event etched in the hearts of most Detroit Tigers fans. The exact date was June 2, 2010, and Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga came within inches—literal inches—of baseball immortality. With two outs in the 9th inning, having retired 26 straight Cleveland batters, Galarraga induced a routine ground ball to first base. Future Hall of Famer Miguel Cabrera fielded it cleanly, tossed to Galarraga covering the bag, and the pitcher beat the runner by half a step.
Game over, yes?
No!
First base umpire, Jim Joyce, called the runner safe.
Replays confirmed what millions saw with their own eyes: the runner was out. The 27th out of a perfect game—one of the rarest accomplishments in sports—taken away by a blown call. Comerica Park erupted in disbelief. The Tigers' dugout exploded. Fans across the country watched in stunned silence.
But Galarraga? He didn’t argue. He didn’t curse. He didn’t even flinch.
He smiled.
A stunned, disbelieving smile. The kind of smile you wear when fate punches you in the gut and you still choose not to punch back.
In that moment, Galarraga displayed a level of sportsmanship that was nothing short of legendary.
After the game, a devastated Jim Joyce tearfully admitted his mistake:
“I just cost that kid a perfect game.”
He faced the media, owned it fully, and apologized. And what did Galarraga say?
“Nobody’s perfect.”
A perfect sentence spoken by a man who achieved pitching perfection that day.
After the game, Tigers manager Jim Leyland praised Galarraga’s performance, but also refused to vilify Jim Joyce.
“He made a mistake. He feels worse than anyone. I’m not going to pile on.”
The following day, in a moment that brought fans to tears, Leyland chose Galarraga to bring out the lineup card. He handed it to the home plate umpire that day, Jim Joyce. They hugged. Two men — one devastated by his error, the other robbed of history — stood together and modeled something rare and beautiful: mutual respect, humility, and forgiveness.
That moment feels almost impossible today.
In an era where political intolerance, short fuses, performative rage, bullying, and terror dominate public life, it’s hard to imagine anyone — let alone a public figure — responding to injustice with such poise. Every grievance has become a tweetstorm, every loss a conspiracy, every disagreement a declaration of war. We live in a culture that rewards outrage and punishes grace. While the Trump era didn’t create ugly behavior, it has certainly accelerated it — stoking resentment, amplifying division, and framing every opponent as an enemy to be destroyed.
Galarraga showed us another way.
He reminded us that dignity doesn’t require dominance. That civility isn’t weakness. That sportsmanship — in baseball or in life — still matters. His perfect game may have been stolen, but his character will never be in question.
In the end, a quiet act of grace spoke louder than any tantrum ever could.
Mark M. Bello is an attorney and author of 9 Zachary Blake Legal Thrillers and other legal themed novels and children’s books. For more information, please visit https://www.markmbello.com