Interview: Jim Joyce
The Play at First

You may think you’ve seen and heard all you need to know about the end of the almost-perfect game on June 2. Now, MLB umpire Jim Joyce tells Referee what really happened on the play and in the minutes, hours and days after the game.

Referee: From an umpiring standpoint, you were in the right position and it looked like your timing was great for the play at first base. After analyzing it, can you figure out what led to the call going bad?

Joyce: It is still vivid in my memory. It will be burned in my memory probably until the day they put me in the hallowed ground. But the only thing I can really say is the play exploded in front of me, and it was more out of my peripheral, watching the ball come across from the first baseman fielding it. There was no sound; there was nothing there. It just exploded in front of me and when it came up, it just looked safe to me — point-blank safe at that particular time. I can over-analyze until the cows come home, and the fact still remains. And I think every official has been in this position — it just happened. I wish I had an explanation for it. I wish I knew the particulars. I wish I could itemize a list and say this is what happened, but I can’t do that. It was one of those things that just exploded right in front of me and I thought the runner was past the bag.

Referee: So you’re convinced you had it right. At what point did you get a sense something was wrong?

Joyce: (Detroit pitcher Armando) Galarraga looked at me and literally smiled at me. At that particular time, when he did that, as an umpire, I’m thinking to myself at that time that he thinks I got the call right, too.

Referee: And that he, by whatever margin, had just lost his perfect game legitimately.

Joyce: Right. That was the sense at that particular time.

Especially in that circumstance, a perfect game, I’m thinking to myself, “I sure hope I got it right.” When (Detroit Manager Jim) Leyland came out on the play, he really didn’t say very much to me, either. He didn’t say, “You blew it” or anything like that. I just told Jim, “I got him beating the throw.” That was all that was said.

Referee: There didn’t seem to be anybody upset.

Joyce: No, not at that particular time.

Referee: What about the Tigers’ first baseman, Miguel Cabrera?

Joyce: Not for like a minute or so. It was a while. I had obviously talked to Leyland and then went back to my position at first base. Cabrera really didn’t say anything to me at that particular time until the next pitch, and then he said to me, quite frankly he said, “That’s bulls—-.” And I looked at him and I said, “What do you want me to do, just give it to him?” That was all that was said. That was it.

Referee: Then the third out occurs and you kind of get bombarded.

Joyce: Actually, the first person to me was Leyland again. And he told me right away, “Jimmy, you blew it! You blew it! You blew it!” He was pissed off. He says, “Make sure you go in and look at the replay. The video replay says that he was out.” The next faces I saw were some of the Tigers that were literally screaming at me to go look at the replay. I couldn’t say anything; there was nothing to say. They had already seen the replay. The whole team had already seen the replay. At that particular moment I knew for a fact that I was wrong.

Referee: Once you got to the locker room, how quickly did you have the play queued up?

Joyce: Probably within two minutes.

Referee: Was there any crew interaction on the way back?

Joyce: Not until I got in the locker room. The locker room is separated into two parts, and the video is in the front part. Immediately all four of us went to the back part, our dressing room, and I asked the clubhouse guy to queue up the play. We went to the back and I looked at my crew chief, Derryl Cousins, who was at third base and obviously got a pretty good look at the whole field, and I just asked him point blank. I was saying to myself as I was walking in, “I hope I got it right, I hope I got it right.” I asked Derryl if I kicked that play, and he kind of looked at me very sheepishly and he said, “Yes, Jimmy, I think you did.” I immediately went into an F-bomb rage. Then I walked out to the front part of the room. I’m pretty sure I had taken my uniform off, and I told him to play the video, and I saw it once, told him to turn it off, and I just lost it. I went into probably a five-minute tirade of nothing but, “How could I do that? How can you kick a play like that?” and another F-bomb rage.

Referee: Did your crew offer anything, or was everybody staying away?

Joyce: Everybody was staying back and letting me do what I did. They literally stayed away from me, at least for the first 15 minutes. And nothing was said, except by me. I was the only one that was talking. I was in the front part of the room, they were in the back, and they stayed in the back for quite a while.

Referee: Some media reported that you went into the Tigers’ locker room.

Joyce: I didn’t go to the Tigers’ locker room; they came to me. The press was at our door probably within five minutes after the game. Our main clubhouse guy came to Derryl and said the press was outside. Derryl told them to wait for about 15 minutes. Finally Derryl was dressed and he said to me, “Jimmy, do you want to talk to the press?” and I said, “Yes.” Derryl opened the door and said only one pool reporter could come in. They were kind of up in arms about that, and I told Derryl to let everybody in. Derryl obliged and at least 20 reporters came in to the locker room.

I probably spent 10 minutes in front of the press answering questions. I only remember three sentences I said. The first question was, “Have you seen the replay?” and I said, “Yes.” The second question was, “What do you think?” I said, “I kicked the s—- out of it.” Then I said, “That kid threw a perfect game, and I just robbed him of a perfect game and I don’t know how to give it back.” That’s all I remember. After that, I don’t remember even answering a question.

Probably 15 minutes after the press left, all of a sudden the door just blew open and Leyland came through. Jim looked at me and said, “Kid, sit down, we’re going to have a beer together.” He said, “You blew it, but you’ve got to forget about it.” I kept telling him over and over that I can’t forget about it.

Referee: Did it surprise you that he would come in and have that attitude?

Joyce: I’ve known Jim a long time and yes, it did surprise me that Jim offered what he offered. He saw that I was very distraught, and he came up to me and he actually put his arms around me and said that I have to let it go. Seeing how Jim handled it showed me the other side of the game and the compassion that they have. Jim had enough fortitude to come over and see how I was doing as a major league umpire. At that time it did shock me, but knowing Jim, it does not surprise me after the fact. Dave Dombrowski, the Tigers’ general manager, also came in and showed his support. Leyland got up and left after about five to 10 minutes. Dombrowski was still in the locker room, and I said, “I have to talk to Galarraga.” I asked Dombrowski if I could talk to him, and he said sure. He asked if I wanted to do it in the Tigers’ locker room or ours. He told me the press was still outside, so I said I’d rather it happen in our room. Dombrowski sent word out to see if Armando would come talk to me. I’d say it was another five minutes after that that he actually came into the room. All I could say to him was I was sorry. He actually hugged me and said, “We all make mistakes.” I don’t remember the direct quote after that.

Referee: What was the process like in regard to deciding whether to work the plate the next day?

Joyce: It started in the locker room. Derryl got a call from Mike Port, MLB vice president of umpiring, and our immediate supervisor. He had asked Derryl how I was, and Derryl said I was very upset. Mike asked if he thought I’d be able to work the next day. Derryl guaranteed Mike that I would work tomorrow. Derryl told Mike that he would have to fight me to keep me off the field. Derryl came to me and said that Mike wants to make sure you’re OK. I told Derryl he was exactly right — I will be working tomorrow. That decision was made before I was even dressed to leave the park.

Referee: Why was it such an easy decision?

Joyce: If I don’t show up the next day I think it would look pretty bad for me. It would’ve even been worse if I don’t show up. People would have said I couldn’t face it and I couldn’t handle it, and I would never do that. If I had to go out there with armed guards I would’ve done it. Not working the next day never entered my mind, not one time. I knew no matter what I did that night, whether I slept or not, I was still going to work the plate the next afternoon.

Referee: When did you get word that Galarraga was going to bring the lineup card out?

Joyce: I never got word on that. I had no clue, none. I got ready, walked out of my locker room and there’s a tunnel right behind the plate, and I walked out of the tunnel. Naturally there were some boos, but I think at that particular time there were more people applauding at that time than when I walked out on the field. It literally brought me to tears. When I got to the plate I did not see Armando walking out until he literally got to the plate. I looked up and he was standing there. I took the lineup card from him and I shook his hand. They could’ve put Cy Young as the pitcher on both teams and I wouldn’t have known it because I couldn’t see the lineup cards. The exchange was very brief. I remember reaching out and patting Armando on the shoulder. He turned around and walked away, I looked over at the Tigers dugout and Leyland was standing on the top step. He looked at me and he saluted me.

Referee: So now, does the game get ready to begin?

Joyce: It’s probably more like three or four minutes because now the Tigers all come out on to the field. (Detroit catcher) Gerald Laird came up and patted me on my left side and kind of even put his arm around me a little bit. He looked at me and he didn’t say anything, but the look was enough. Cabrera came up and tapped me with his glove and he just looked at me, too. There were no words at all, none. I just got down and took the warmup pitches, and I said to myself, “Now is the time. It’s game time now.” I couldn’t wait for that first pitch.

Referee: How did your plate job rate?

Joyce: I scored a 98.6 (the minimum MLB standard is 90). I’ll be honest with you, I don’t remember the game. Usually when you walk off the field after a game you can pretty much tell yourself whether you were good, bad or indifferent. I walked off and after the game was over, I think it was like a three-hour, 15-minute game, and I didn’t know. I walked off the field and I was just glad that it was over. I was traveling to Philadelphia the next day and my wife, Kay, is the one who told me my score. When she told me, I even went, wow.

Referee: With 22 years as an MLB umpire, how do you think reputation played into the situation? If someone less experienced or less respected is involved, how is it different?

Joyce: That’s a tough one. I think your reputation precedes you no matter if it’s good or bad. I don’t know whether the support I got was for my reputation or just being honest about what happened. I’m just going to say both. I think my reputation and the way that I stood up to the media and told exactly what happened, and how I felt, and how gut wrenching it was, I think that had a lot to do with the support I got. If it was a Triple-A call-up, I’m sure it would’ve been much tougher on him than it was on me.

I’ll be very honest with you, I’ve always thought that I had a pretty good reputation, but I didn’t realize the respect that I did have until I started seeing some of the quotes that were coming out.

Referee: People made immediate comparisons to Don Denkinger’s play. Have you talked to Denkinger?

Joyce: Don’s play happened in a World Series game, so that was one big difference. But I talked to Don since my play happened and he said the same thing — that it just blew up. He told me he knew exactly how I felt. It was, “I know exactly how you feel, and I know exactly how you’re going to feel, and I know exactly how long you’re going to feel it.”

Referee: What kind of support did you receive from current umpires?

Joyce: I’m almost positive I heard from every MLB umpire, and a good share of the Triple-A guys. My phone didn’t stop for 48 hours — text messages, voice messages, e-mails. I couldn’t answer it, it kept going off. I couldn’t even pick it up anymore.

The majority of the messages were that they were behind me 100 percent. There was also a great respect for the way it was handled. Very short and to the point text messages. Because you know as well as I do nobody wants to be in that situation, and everybody in the game felt for me because I was in that situation. Nobody wants to be there, ever. Anybody that’s ever walked on a baseball field that ever umpired a game has missed a play.

Referee: Where do you draw the line on your type of “I missed the play” admission? What if the play had not been a perfect game, but it had changed the outcome of the game?

Joyce: We’re talking about one point in baseball history. It was like a train wreck that happened at one particular juncture in baseball history. If it had been a 5-0 game and a three-hitter or four-hitter, obviously it’s not going to hold the same type of attention that it did for that particular night, that particular time and that particular play. I don’t think there’s any doubt that’s the difference.

I’ll give you a perfect example. I had a whacker at the plate a few weeks later in San Diego. I’m talking about a flat-ass whacker. (San Diego Padres Manager) Bud Black came out and asked me about it, and I told him point blank, “Buddy, this play is a whacker, and he was out,” and Bud said OK and turned around and went back to the dugout. I looked at it on replay and the announcers were even saying they didn’t know. They said to each other, “You call it,” and the guy said back to him, “No, you call it.” That’s why an umpire is there. That’s why we are there, and that’s why we do the job we do.

Referee: What did your family deal with as a result of the play?

Joyce: Other than the media right after the game, my family actually took the brunt of the bad part of it. The media showed up at our house on Thursday morning, and we have private phone numbers and everything like that and they still showed up. My wife asked one guy how he found us, and he said, “We can find anybody.” All four of the major networks were sitting on my front porch that morning. Your family is connected to the job whether they like it or not. You’re joined at the hip in that regard. … Thank God my kids are 27 and 22. If they were 10 and 14, it might have been different.

Referee: What about reports that your son’s Facebook page got threats?

Joyce: It happened to both of them, my son (Jimmy) and my daughter (Keri). And then two hours later, after the way the media showed my reaction and the Tigers’ reaction, it stopped. I actually had a Facebook page at that time, and my wife told me right away not to read it. She told me to delete the page, and I did it without giving it a second thought. Both of my kids’ pages probably had in the area of 50-60 absolutely terrible comments, such as, “I hope your dad dies,” “I hope your dad dies a slow painful death,” and stuff like that. My son and daughter both replied to everybody that was chiming in. You can’t print what they said, but it was basically that they were very proud of me and why don’t you please get a life and move on. Within two hours after the game, those (negative messages) stopped and then they started getting friend requests and that people were very proud of the way I handled it.

Referee: When do you think the play will completely be gone?

Joyce: It will never be gone. Not with me. I think about it every day. Don Denkinger’s play was 25 years ago and he is still answering questions. When my play happened, Don told me on the phone that he literally got 40 phone calls from the press.

Jim Joyce File

Age: 55
Joined MLB Staff: 1989
All-Star Games: 1994, 2001
Division Series: 1995, ’98, ’99, 2001, ’02, ’03, ’08, ’09
LCS: 1997, 2004, ’06, ’07
World Series: 1999, 2001
Family: Wife Kay; two children, Jimmy and Keri