I recently heard the story of Armando Galarraga, the Detroit Tigers pitcher who would have had a perfect game except the umpire made an incorrect call on what should have been the last out. Perfect games are rare in baseball — only 20 have occurred in the history of the game — so to miss it by one wrong call is heartbreaking.
The umpire who made the call, Jim Joyce, was one of the best in the game. He had the integrity to acknowledge his mistake and apologize to Galarraga. He said, “I was convinced he [batter Jason Donald] beat the throw — until I saw the replay.”
Haven’t we all been like that — convinced of our correctness? Most decisions don’t have the luxury of an instant replay to see our errors; instead, we press on in our righteousness. But we would all be better off if we had an open mind to consider other possibilities and to exhibit grace when mistakes occur.
Galarraga and Joyce eventually wrote a book entitled Nobody’s Perfect. It referred to their specific situation, of course, but it applies to all of us. Even without the instant reply, acknowledge that you could get it wrong.
