For all the people clamoring for a ruling from Selig, overturning the umpire’s call and calling the Galarraga one hitter a perfect game, just think things through for a moment:

  1. Having been at two perfect games, the joy of the experience is the tension and build up to the final out and then watching that out recorded and the entire team and crowd erupt in a simultaneous moment of joy.  It’s like a the joy of a game ending home run in the world series, only with hours of buildup towards a crescendo of pandemonium.  Everyone in Detroit was feeling that, and then….Nope its a hit.  For Selig to reverse the call now it would have no impact whatsover (except put Galarraga in the record books).  Will the Tigers upon recieving the Commissioner’s edict simultaneously run out on the field jump up and down and carry Galarraga off the field?  Will fans who attended the game simultaneously cry out in joy?  No.  It would be incredibly anti-climatic.  Better to let the call stand.  Detroit still won.
  2. Just imagine if that had gone to video review.  I imagine there would have been some strange sense with the crowd and players all looking up at the video board hoping for a lotto hit. Again, the true moment would be tainted, but at least in that situation an Ump would come out, pump his fist and then the celebration would begin.  But it still would be strange, in my opinion.
  3. Everyone assumes that Selig’s decision was an easy one because the next batter was retired.  But that is the old fallacy of the pre-determined outcome.  Can the Commissioner change the outcome of a particular play, as long as no one scored after that play.  What happens if a bad call ends a perfect game?  or a game that was 1-0.  Does the commissioner have power to overrule it then.  It just makes no sense to retroactively alter the outcome of the game (unless you have replay already instituted).

Ultimately, replay will be be expanded, probably to some type of limited challenge system.  But until then, all this talk of Selig missing an opportunity to lead with an asinine post-game do-over is just dumb.