Armando Galarraga

Armando Antonio Galarraga was born on January 15, 1982, in Cumana, Sucre, Venezuela. His mother, Mariza, was a chemistry teacher and his father, Jose (known as Pepe) was a biologist.1 The 6-foot-4 right-handed pitcher spent parts of six seasons in the major leagues. He is best known for what transpired on June 2, 2010, at Comerica Park in Detroit.

The first 26 Cleveland Indians had gone down in order and Galarraga was on the cusp of perfection. One out was all he needed to pitch the first perfect game in the then 109-year major-league history of the Detroit Tigers and only the 21st in major-league history. With two outs in the ninth inning, the 27th batter, Jason Donald, stepped to the plate and hit a grounder between first and second base. The ball was fielded cleanly by Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera and tossed to Galarraga, who was racing to cover first base. He reached first base a full step ahead of Donald for the out. But shock quickly reigned for the crowd of 17,000-plus at Comerica Park as well-respected umpire Jim Joyce inexplicably called Donald safe. Manager Jim Leyland rushed the field and yelled “Jimmy! You blew it! You blew it, go look at the video!”2 It was all for naught, though, as the call stood. Donald was safe and the perfect game was no more.

The game continued. Galarraga went back to the mound to get one more out to close out the game. He retired Trever Crowe on a groundout to end the game for his first complete game and only career shutout. It took only 88 pitches. Galarraga’s dominant outing lasted all of 1 hour and 44 minutes. He was named the American League Player of the Week for his efforts. Galarraga’s baseball spikes, the first-base bag and a ball from the game were donated to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.3 

Not shockingly, what happened at the game elicited a wide range of responses: Umpire Jim Joyce upon seeing the replay acknowledged, “It was the biggest call of my career, and I kicked the shit out of it. … I just cost that kid a perfect game.”4 Galarraga, who did not argue the call, commented after the game, “I feel sad. I just watched the replay 20 times and there’s no way you can call him safe.”5 He added, “nobody’s perfect.” When asked about the possibility of Major League Baseball reversing the call, New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi commented, “I think it’s something that baseball should look at possibly because if they do change it, it doesn’t affect the game. It doesn’t affect the outcome.”6 Jason Donald, the player called safe, iterated, “I didn’t know if I beat the throw or not … but given the circumstances, I thought for sure I’d be called out.”7 Calling the game, Detroit Tigers radio announcer Jim Price said, “[Donald] was clearly out and the umpire called him safe. You got to be kidding me. Wow, an absolutely horrible call.”8 Similarly, Fox Sports announcer Rod Allen said, “He hits the base. He’s out. Why is he safe?”9

Politicians commented as well. Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm commented, “He was robbed. But I’ll declare it a perfect game.”10 And she did via a proclamation.11 Even Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez contacted Galarraga after the game as a show of support.12 The next day, Commissioner Bud Selig, while agreeing that the outcome should have been different, dismissed pleas for him to reverse the call, which was not reviewable in the game, saying it would set a bad precedent. A retired pitcher who lost a perfect game on the 27th batter in 1972 via a disputed umpire call, Milt Pappas, said of Selig: “What an idiot. How the hell can [Selig] not do that? What is it, the integrity of the game? I can’t believe that, after the umpire even admitted what he did. [Joyce] ruined the kid’s perfect game and said so. Unbelievable. It’s too bad.”13 President Barack Obama chimed in as well by siding with Selig and suggesting that baseball move to incorporate replay, as both football and basketball had done.14 The game led to increased calls for extended replay. Through it all, Galarraga showed remarkable sportsmanship. He did not eviscerate Joyce in the media as many others did, nor did he play the victim. When asked why he did not seem mad at Joyce, Galarraga simply replied, “He probably feels more bad than me.”15

Galarraga had a six-year major-league career beyond that career-defining night. He played for four teams, the Texas Rangers, Detroit Tigers, Arizona Diamondbacks, and Houston Astros. It was most assuredly an up-and-down career. He consistently battled elbow injuries and even had Tommy John surgery. At his best, Galarraga had a good sinker and a hard-to-hit slider. Ricky Bones taught him the slider while he was in the Montreal Expos minor-league system.16 But he struggled with control and a proclivity for allowing the long ball, and both often got him in trouble. 

Prior to making it to the big leagues, Galarraga spent seven years in the minor leagues. He was initially signed in October 1998 as a 16-year-old amateur free agent by the Expos for a $3,000 signing bonus.17 Fred Ferreira, the Montreal Expos international scouting director who signed Galarraga, noted that he had “a winner’s handshake. He wasn’t scared, and very confident of himself.”18 In 1999 and 2000 he spent time in the Venezuela Summer League, a rookie-ball league operated in Major-League Baseball’s academies.

Galarraga’s minor-league career started in earnest at 19 years old in 2001. From 2001 through 2003 he pitched in a handful of games in rookie ball for the Gulf Coast League Expos in Melbourne, Florida. Across three seasons with the GCL Expos he won two games and lost four. He ended with an ERA of less than 3.00 in 21 games (eight starts) and 53⅓ innings pitched. Injury concerns limited his action. After two starts in 2002, Galarraga required Tommy John surgery. 

Pitching for the Class-A Savannah Sand Gnats in 2004, Galarraga put together a 5-5 record with a 4.65 ERA in 110⅓ innings pitched, including his first professional complete game. In 2005 he split time between the high Class-A Potomac Nationals and the Double-A Harrisburg Senators, ending the season with a combined 6-8 record and a 3.80 ERA. At Potomac Galarraga posted a 2.48 ERA in 14 starts before earning a promotion. In 13 starts after his call-up to Double A, he posted a 5.19 ERA. After the 2005 season he was traded by the Expos-turned-Washington Nationals to the Texas Rangers along with Terrmel Sledge and Brad Wilkerson for the right-handed power-hitting Alfonso Soriano. 

Coming off an injury-free season in 2005, Galarraga entered the 2006 season as the number-7 prospect in the Rangers’ minor-league system.19 The high hopes associated with moving to a new team were short-lived. As in previous seasons, he was hampered by problems with his elbow and shoulder.20 Galarraga logged innings in 2006 at four different levels as he rehabbed from injuries: rookie ball, low A, and high A, before spending the largest portion of the season with Double-A Frisco (Texas League). For the Roughriders he posted a 1-6 record with a 5.49 ERA in 41 innings pitched. Across all levels during the season he struggled. He limped to a 1-10 record with an ERA of 5.01, pitching 70 innings.

Even with the struggles of 2006, Galarraga entered 2007 as the Rangers number-15 overall prospect.21 It would turn out to be his most successful professional season up to that point. Posting an 11-8 record with a combined ERA of 4.14 at Double-A Frisco and Triple-A Oklahoma City, Galarraga made 26 starts, pitched 152⅓ innings, and tossed three shutouts. He earned a September call-up to the Rangers. 

Galarraga made his major-league debut on September 15, 2007, at age 25. Appearing in relief against the Oakland Athletics, he pitched a scoreless eighth inning, allowing only a walk. (The Rangers lost the game, 7-3.) It ended up being his best outing in his short tenure with the struggling Rangers. Appearing in a total of three games, Galarraga finished with a 6.23 ERA in 8⅔ innings, allowing eight hits and six runs, and walking seven. He served up two home runs in his introduction to the major leagues, echoing his penchant for allowing the long ball over his career. He was traded after the season to the Detroit Tigers for outfielder Michael Hernandez.

Galarraga’s rookie season of 2008 with the Tigers earned the best single-season statistics of his major-league career. He had 13 wins against seven losses, a 3.73 ERA, 178⅔ innings pitched, and 152 hits allowed. He set career highs for games started (28) and total games (30). He finished in a tie for fourth in the American League Rookie of the Year voting with Mike Aviles finishing behind winner Evan Longoria, Alexei Ramirez, and Jacoby Ellsbury. He finished fourth in home runs allowed in the American League as hitters knocked 28 round-trippers off him. It was the last major-league season in which Galarraga posted a sub-4.00 ERA or a winning record. He achieved a career high of 126 strikeouts. Galarraga finished eighth in the American League in WHIP (walks and hits per innings pitched) at 1.192 and was second in the league in hits allowed per nine innings pitched (7.657) and opponents’ batting average (.226).

Tabbed by manager Jim Leyland to start the home opener for the Tigers in 2009, Galarraga beat his old team the Rangers, 15-2. After which he commented that it “was an honor” to start the game and “that it came against Texas made it a little better.”22 He allowed one run in seven innings of five-hit ball. Starting the season in dominating fashion, Galarraga was 3-0 with a 1.85 ERA in April. But it did not last. Galarraga lost seven games in a row before recording his fourth win of the season on June 25 against the Chicago Cubs. His ERA ballooned to 5.50 over the early-season slide. In sum, Galarraga’s second season with the Tigers was a struggle. It could be easily referred to as a “sophomore slump” along with battling pain in his right forearm.

In 2009 Galarraga’s record dipped to 6 wins and 10 losses with a 5.64 ERA in 143⅔ innings pitched. He allowed 158 hits, of which 24 were home runs, and a career-high 67 walks. It was, however, the only year in which Galarraga spent the entire season in the major leagues. During all of his other major-league seasons, he spent time at the minor-league level. At the close of the season, he headed back to Venezuela and played winter ball for the Leones del Caracas. He would make the same decision four times over the next five years. His pitching line in Venezuela included a 4-8 record with a 5.34 ERA in 87⅔ innings pitched. Of the 26 games in which he pitched, 18 were starts. 

After a rough start to 2010 spring training, Galarraga was cut from the major-league roster and sent to the Tigers’ minor-league camp. Time in the minors appeared to help. He started the season strong in Toledo, and in seven starts he posted a 4-2 record with a 3.65 ERA and an uncharacteristically low four home runs surrendered. Galarraga was called back to the Tigers to make a few starts when Max Scherzer was optioned to Toledo.23 For the third straight season, 2010 saw Galarraga’s winning percentage dip, this time to a career major-league-low .308. With the Tigers he finished with a season record of 4-9 and a 4.49 ERA, the second lowest of his major-league career. The season, however, is almost singularly (as is his career) remembered for the perfect game that was not, which has also been referred to as the “Imperfect Game,” the “Galarraga Game,” and the “28 out Perfect Game.” Continued bouts of inconsistency on the mound led the Tigers to trade Galarraga in January 2011 to the Arizona Diamondbacks for minor-league pitchers Kevin Eichhorn and Ryan Robowski.

Galarraga started the 2011 season as a starter for the Diamondbacks. After eight starts and 42⅔ innings with a record of 3-4 and a 5.91 ERA (13 home runs allowed), he was designated for assignment. He was sent down to the Triple-A affiliate Reno Aces, where in five starts he posted a 9.26 ERA and a 1-2 record. Galarraga was released after the season.

Galarraga signed with the Baltimore Orioles in January 2012 on a spring-training invite. He was released at the end of spring training after allowing 14 hits and 9 runs in 10 innings pitched. In May Galarraga signed with the pitching-starved Houston Astros. In 24 innings over five starts with the Astros, he surrendered 6 home runs and 18 earned runs, and went 0-4. When he pitched for the Astros on August 19, 2012, it was his last appearance in the major leagues. It was an 8-1 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks. Galarraga’s pitching line was 3⅔ innings pitched, six hits, and five runs, all earned. The loss dropped the Astros to 39-83 and 35 games behind the NL Central-leading Cincinnati Reds. Galarraga was designated for assignment three days later.

By age 30 Galarraga was out of the major leagues. But he did not quit pitching. For the next couple of years, he continued pitching in the minor leagues on the hope of a return to the majors. The Cincinnati Reds signed Galarraga to a minor-league deal in January 2013. At the end of spring training he was assigned to the Reds’ Triple-A affiliate Louisville Bats. Galarraga put together a 6-6 record along with a 2.98 ERA and 62 strikeouts in 84⅔ innings. After two different stints on the disabled list (blister and right elbow strain), he was traded to the Colorado Rockies for pitcher Parker Frazier on July 15. He was assigned to the Rockies’ Triple-A affiliate, the Colorado Springs Sky Sox. In seven starts he went 0-2 with a 5.20 ERA. Galarraga elected free agency in November 2013. Attempting one last return to the majors, he signed with the Texas Rangers on a minor-league deal in February 2014. He was released during spring training.

Galarraga retired after the 2015 season. Asked how he knew it was time to retire, he lamented, “[M]y arm is not the same. … It’s tough, but you have to realize you’re not at the same level to pitch to keep going, to push, to grind. For me, it was a lot of pain in my elbow.”24 He expressed a desire to be a pitching coach, and in 2016 he was a pitching coach for the Gulf Coast League Yankees.

Galarraga’s major-league record was 26-34 (.433). He pitched in 100 games, of which 91 were starts. He had two complete games and one infamous shutout. Over 542 innings pitched in the major leagues, Galarraga allowed 536 hits, including 94 home runs. He walked 226 batters and struck out 346. His career ERA was 4.78. As a hitter Galarraga batted .000. He struck out 16 times in 31 at-bats. He did, however, walk three times, scored two runs, and had one run batted in. In the minors he had a .100 batting average with two singles in 20 at-bats. 

Internationally, Galarraga played winter ball for several years in Venezuela with Leones de Caracas. He debuted with them in 1999 as a 17-year-old. He also suited up for Pericos de Puebla in the Mexican League in 2015. For Puebla, in what would turn out to be his last professional stint, Galarraga went 3-3 with a 3.75 ERA over 10 starts. He pitched 50⅓ innings before being released in June 2015. He also spent time in the Chinese Professional Baseball League, playing in Taiwan with the Chinatrust Brother Elephants in 2014.

In 2011, Galarraga, umpire Jim Joyce, and author Daniel Paisner collaborated on the Grove Press book Nobody’s Perfect: Two Men, One Call, and a Game for Baseball History. It was a look back at the baseball careers of both men as well as their shared experience on and off the field since June 2, 2010. 

Last revised: January 31, 2026

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author used information from the National Baseball Hall of Fame clippings file for Armando Galarraga, baseball-almanac.com, baseballamerica.com, baseball-reference.com, mlb.com, retrosheet.org, and thebaseballcube.com.

Photo credit: Armando Galarraga, Getty Images.

Notes

1 Steve Kornacki, “Armando Galarraga Perseveres Through Injuries, Trades to Become Tigers’ Top Pitcher,” MLive, April 21, 2009. Retrieved from https://www.mlive.com/tigers/2009/04/armando_galarraga_perseveres_t.html.

2 Amy K. Nelson, “Searching for Meaning in the Mistake,” espn.com, January 9, 2011. Retrieved from https://www.espn.com/espn/otl/news/story?id=5993137.

3 Associated Press, “Bagged! Hall of Fame to Get Base, Spikes of Armando Galarraga Gem,” MLive, June 8, 2010. Retrieved from https://www.mlive.com/tigers/2010/06/bagged_hall_of_fame_to_get_bas.html.

4 Associated Press, “Armando Galarraga Robbed of a Perfect Game,” CBS News, June 3, 2010. Retrieved from http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/06/03/sportsline/main6543410.shtml.

5 “Armando Galarraga Robbed of a Perfect Game.”

6 “Armando Galarraga Robbed of a Perfect Game.”

7 “Armando Galarraga Robbed of a Perfect Game.”

8 “In-Game Reaction to Blown Call from Tigers Announcers,” Detroit Free Press, June 2, 2010. Retrieved from Armando Galarraga’s Hall of Fame clippings file.

9 “In-Game Reaction to Blown Call from Tigers Announcers.”

10 Kathy Gray, “Granholm Declares Near-Perfect Game a Historic Moment,” Detroit Free Press, June 3, 2010. Retrieved from Armando Galarraga’s Hall of Fame clippings file.

11 Jake Sherman, “Michigan Pols Lobby Baseball on Perfect Game,” Politico, June 3, 2010. Retrieved from https://www.politico.com/blogs/on-congress/2010/06/michigan-pols-lobby-baseball-on-perfect-game-027372.

12 Armando Galarraga, “Tigers Hurler Galarraga Chats with Fans,” MLB.com, June 16, 2010.

13 Willie Weinbaum and the Associated Press, “Selig Won’t Reverse the Call,” espn.com, June 3, 2010. Retrieved from http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/print?id=524811&type=story.

14 Mark W. Smith, “Obama: Selig Made Right Call to Hold Back Perfect Game,” Detroit Free Press, June 8, 2010.

15 Craig Calcaterra, “Kentucky Derby DQ Brings Armando Galarraga and Jim Joyce to Mind,” NBC Sports, May 5, 2019. Retrieved from https://mlb.nbcsports.com/2019/05/05/kentucky-derby-dq-brings-armando-galarraga-and-jim-joyce-to-mind/.

16 Steve Kornacki, “Armando Galarraga Perseveres Through Injuries, Trades to Become Tigers’ Top Pitcher.”

17 Jim Hawkins, “Detroit Tigers Pitcher Armando Galarraga Is a Most Unlikely Hero,” Oakland Press (Troy, Michigan), June 12, 2010. Retrieved from https://www.theoaklandpress.com/news/jim-hawkins-detroit-tigers-pitcher-armando-galarraga-is-a-most/article_8471fa58-47a9-53c3-9e24-d5e354fa861f.html.

18 Amy K. Nelson, “Galarraga Ready for the Next Chapter,” espn.com, June 9, 2010. Retrieved from https://www.espn.com/mlb/news/story?id=5265148.

19 Jim Callis, Will Lingo, and John Manuel, eds., Baseball America Prospect Handbook 2007, 447.

20 John Sickels, “Not a Rookie: Armando Galarraga,” SB Nation, February 9, 2009. Retrieved from https://www.minorleagueball.com/2009/2/19/764282/not-a-rookie-armando-galar.

21 Baseball America Prospect Handbook 2007, 456.

22 Kornacki, “Armando Galarraga Perseveres.”

23 “Armando Galarraga Perseveres.”

24 George Sipple, “Armando Galarraga Retires, Wants to Be Pitching Coach, Detroit Free Press, December 7, 2015. Retrieved from https://www.freep.com/story/sports/mlb/tigers/2015/12/07/armando-galarraga-retires-detroit-tigers/76929124/.