Why Armando Galarraga Can't Be Awarded A Perfect Game

Yes, Detroit Tiger RHP Armando Galarraga pitched a perfect game. Yes, his performance deserves to go down in history next to the 20 other such outings in the 134-year history of Major League Baseball.

But here's the problem if Umpire Jim Joyce's brain-dead call were overturned: it would take apart the very fabric of baseball.

And I'm not talking about "the human element," that umpires represent. I could care less if the umps existed or not, or if every call was dictated by video. I don't care how long baseball games take (though you could see that this one was 1:44).

What I do care about is the integrity of the scorecard. Unlike any other sport, each at-bat is framed for posterity inside the scorekeeper's grid - whether that scorecard is filled out by the official scorer, a writer in the press box, a broadcaster, or a 7-year old kid in the stands.

When you look at the box score, Indians' leadoff batter Trevor Crowe was 0-for-4. That means that 28 batters took a turn at-bat, not 27. If Galarraga were awarded a perfect game, how could you explain the extra batter? It's like a player going from first base to third base with no explanation. Baseball is linear. Each event affects the next. Period.

Now could the hit be turned into an error, and the no-hitter still stand? Yes, that's possible. Except Joyce thought the runner beat the throw, he wasn't swayed by the snow cone catch Galarraga made covering first. So no to that too.

If we could fix all the fallacies that affect history, then Al Gore would have won the 2000 Presidential election, and who knows what would have happened from there. Now Gore is getting divorced, and as a clever friend of mine posted on Facebook, "Who gets custody of the internet?" Each event affects the next.

What may get lost in the history of Wednesday night's events is the catch made by Tigers CF Austin Jackson (former Yankee prospect), which may well have gone down as one of the greatest in history.

But on the scorecard, it's just an F8. The first out of the 9th inning of a Complete Game, 1-hit shutout on June 2nd, 2010 in front of 17,738 in Detroit.

CG in CF? A No-Brainer

And this coming from the president of the unofficial Melky Cabrera fan club. So the Yankees have addressed a need, upgrading their weakest (offensive) position, without giving up any key players from the major League roster. Yes, they did trade highly-touted AAA CF Austin Jackson, but his greatest upside might be the known quantity they just acquired...Curtis Granderson.

Granderson is a better-than-average center fielder and a force in the lineup. This past year his average dipped to .249 but he still manged 30 HR and 20 SB.

I lived in Michigan in 2007, and got to watch CG on a day-in, day-out basis. He had one of the best offensive years I can recall. As a leadoff man, he hit .302 with 122 Runs scored and was 26-for-27 stealing. That alone would have been enough, but throw in 38 doubles, 23 triples, and 23 HR.

Granderson was a legitimate MVP threat until the pitching blew up, and the Tigers gave up 1st place in their division with a 31-38 finish.

Now that he's in the Bronx, how do the dominoes fall? Some questions will need to be answered, starting with the big one:

Is Jorge Posada a Catcher or a DH?

If he's still a Catcher, then you simply move Melky Cabrera to LF. Then you make the call which World Series hero you cut ties to, Johnny Damon or Hideki Matsui. They're both leaders, they're both clutch, they can both still contribute at the plate, and they're both awful outfielders.

If Posada's a DH, then you'll need to cut ties to both Damon and Matsui. And you either hope that Jose Molina and Francisco Cervelli can do the job without being a complete hole in the lineup, or you'll need to get another backstop. Either way, the offensive upgrade you get from Granderson is negated in this scenario.

I personally think Posada is now a DH, so the Yanks may have just begun to re-tool.

Next question - who bats leadoff? Granderson is a career leadoff hitter. But the Captain, Derek Jeter, probably feels pretty comfortable in that spot.

This is why baseball still has year-round appeal more than any other sport.