Detroit Tiger and Grace

In continuing with my animal theme I thought I would include Tiger, the Detroit Tigers that is. Last summer, a pitcher for the Detroit Tigers was one out from pitching a perfect game. Only 20 other pitchers in the history of baseball have done this. It is that sport’s most difficult feat. And on the last play of the game, as he ran to first base to tag out the runner, the umpire blew the call. He just completely missed it and in doing so created a media storm of failure and ridicule and anger.



One out. One umpire. One pitcher. Frozen in time with one of the worst moments in sports history. It dominated sports conversations for weeks.


Professional athletes sometimes get a bad rap. They get arrested, they do steroids, they inevitably get in trouble . We constantly hear all about the bad stuff. It was refreshing to see In this dramatic event Armando Galarraga showing real grace and forgiveness when he said “Nobody’s perfect, everybody is human.


Then we turn to the umpire, Jim Joyce, one of the most well respected umpires in all of baseball. He’s umped the World Series, playoffs and every other big game you can imagine. He started in 1989 and has a tremendous track record. And in one split second, all of that became overshadowed by a mistake. He entered the history books, alongside Bill Buckner and other goats after this event. How quickly it can all turn on us, and his response, his honesty about blowing the call is a great example for us when we do. He owned the moment, stepped into and didn’t blame anyone else. He fell and we all do.


What a great lesson we can each learn from these two men in the way they handled a very difficult situation. We are all going to fail sooner or later, lets each strive to handle the situation in a way that will bring honor to God.




23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
- Romans 3:23-24 (New International Version)






Dear Lord we thank you for this lesson that we can learn from a baseball game. We pray that when we fall we will handle it with grace and that Your love will be shown through it. In Jesus' name, amen.