While I was gone…

I went to the Taylor Swift concert at Verizon Center last night, and I was not disappointed by any stretch of the imagination.

No, I was not the only 19-year-old male at the concert.

My sister bought me tickets for the concert last November as a birthday and Christmas present, and it turned out to be well worth the wait. The tickets for the event sold out in some ridiculous time period like five minutes, but my sister was quicker. Probably was the best birthday/Christmas gift ever.

My journey begins at the Greenbelt Metro station, where I hopped on the train to go to the Chinatown stop for the concert. At Greenbelt, I happened upon a handful of weird-looking guys with cowboy hats on that were obviously going to the concert. They were wearing these lax-bro shirts, which tend to be a big indicator in regards to the way they act. I heard them talking at the metro station and were obviously very weird guys. They’ll make a grand re-appearance later in the post.

I wasn’t going to go to a Taylor concert without getting a t-shirt, no matter how outrageously expensive the shirt may be. You don’t go to a big-time concert and not get a shirt. So I got a black shirt that says “SWIFT” on the front and has two guitars crossed on the back and says, “Taylor Swift” and “Fearless.” It was the least girlish one they had. Still, I saw plenty of girls running around with the same shirt on. Oh well, I’m still never taking it off.

While I was walking around the concourse, I realized that I had never seen so many 12-14 year-old girls in one place. Once Taylor came out, they shrieked for the entire concert. What was odd about it was that they honestly could not have controlled themselves, even if they tried.

The show that Taylor put on was fantastic and the presentation of the concert by her crew was fabulous. Verizon Center itself was a fine venue — even if it is very large for a concert — for this type of concert because the sound bounces around in there like crazy. My personal favorite song that she played was “Picture to Burn.”

My one criticism of Taylor’s show is that there’s a little too much pizazz with Taylor. She goes around in the middle of songs and starts hugging massive amounts of people, whereas if she didn’t hug anyone, she could have played two or three more songs by concert’s end. But the hugging is what she does; it’s a part of her show. That’s her thing. But sitting in the upper level, I want to hear her sing, because there’s no chance in hell that I was getting a hug.

Anyway, my friend, who was also at the concert, texted me and was mad that these weird cowboys had party passes. Sure enough, I looked down at the floor from my seats and saw the same weirdos with the cowboy hats from the Metro lurking around on the floor level. At some point, Taylor is singing on a little stage on the side opposite the real stage. The weird cowboys right next to the stage. Then Taylor went to give everyone around the stage hugs, and the weird cowboys got hugs.

My friend’s texts to me: “Omg I’m leaving.” … “Can’t explain how disappointed I am right now.” … “Realllll pissed at the gay cowboys right now.”

I, too, was disappointed. Taylor gives the oddball cowboys hugs but doesn’t come to the upper level to give me a hug.

Despite these traumatic events, I would go to another Taylor concert in a heartbeat. She puts on one hell of a show. I even extended a show of appreciation to Taylor via Twitter after the show.

As I left, I got this text message from another friend:

“A PERFECT GAME WAS BLOWN WITH TWO OUTS IN THE NINTH WHEN THE UMPIRE RULED THE RUNNER SAFE WHEN IT’S CLEAR HE WAS OUT”

Obviously, this was of interest to me. I texted him back and he then told me that the pitcher was Armando Gallaraga. Today, we found out that the commissioner’s office would not step in and reward Gallaraga with a perfect game, even if it was very clear that the runner was out.

Gallaraga’s 27th batter, Jason Donald, hit a grounder to the right side, was fielded by first baseman Miguel Cabrera and tossed over to Gallaraga, who sprinted over to cover first base. Gallaraga beats Donald to the bag by almost a full step. Umpire Jim Joyce, known as one of the best umpires in the game, missed the call. Perfect game over.

What would have been the 21st game in history and the third in the past month or so was no longer a perfect game because a blown call on Out No. 27.  For all intents and purposes, Gallaraga threw a perfect game.

By the way, Gallaraga and Joyce have handled this with total class. Gallaraga didn’t cause a post-game College Park-esque riot, but rather, was very calm. Joyce admitted that his call was incorrect and personally apologized to Gallaraga. Total class.

For me, I wouldn’t have had any issue with Bud Selig stepping in and awarding Gallaraga with a perfect game. It’s not like the missed call occurred in the fifth inning and one does not know what would have happened afterwards if the call was correct. It was Out No. 27. Donald was clearly out. Gallaraga threw a perfect game. Very little would have to be altered — Gallaraga just faced one batter after the blown call. By making this right, you can give Gallaraga what he deserves, a perfect game, and take away what Joyce doesn’t deserve — a lifetime of thinking about this blown call every day.

On the other hand, if the call is reversed, is the commisioner’s office opening up a pandora’s box of altering the past? It’s a legitimate concern — MLB can’t be calling hitters out a day later all of the time. What if the situation is not a perfect game, but a runner was called safe with two outs in a given ninth inning – but was clearly out — and it led to the team winning that shouldn’t have? Can MLB change that, too?

What about when missed calls actually affect the standings, unlike this one, which thankfully didn’t alter the standings? What about in the playoffs? Are we going to be changing the outcomes of playoff games a day later?

I can see either point of view in regards to this controversy. I don’t have any issue with Selig deciding not to intervene. It’s quite the slippery slope he’d be traveling down if he did decide to reverse the call — these are box scores he’d be messing with. Quite honestly, Selig probably did the right thing in not messing with the past. But I personally wouldn’t have had an issue with him reversing the call, either, under the affirmation that it would be a one-time thing, that no pandora’s box was being opened.

I suppose MLB could institute a rule saying that on the 27th hitter during a perfect game, that 27th hitter can be called out via replay if it’s deemed that it was a blown call that allowed that hitter to reach base. Still, that’s extremely hokey.

Also, think about all of the 20 perfect games in history. There had to have been at least one missed call in one of those games in which a pitcher got a strike called on a 3-2 pitch that was actually a ball, no? There had to have been a missed call at first base that benefited the pitcher somewhere along the line, right? Think of the other side, too.

The most likely scenario that comes from this is probably the expansion of instant replay to safe/out calls on the basepaths. It’s easy enough to see on replay if a runner is safe or out on a particular play — it usually takes about five seconds, much less time than the typical argument between a manager and an umpire. It’s very clear distinction between safe and out — it’s not a judgment call. Getting the call right just wouldn’t take that long. We’re at a point that every single person has access to instant replay during the game except for the umpires. Baseball has to aid the umpires in every way they can.

I’d advise baseball to take all replays to a control room in, say, New York City. I like how the NHL directs all replays to Toronto, a controlled environment in which the person looking over the replays is much less likely to make an emotionally-driven decision in comparison to if the replays were looked at in the ballpark.

It’d be quite easy to look at replays. The umpires wouldn’t even have to leave the field. The crew chief could be dialed into the control room in New York, and when a controversial call came across, the person in New York would tell the crew chief to stop the game for a couple of seconds so he could take another look at the play. Five seconds later, the right call is made and the game resumes. This is the way it should be for disputed home run calls right now, and it’s the way it should be in the future for safe/out calls.

Never, under any circumstances, though, should balls and strikes ever be looked at with replay. That’s truly a human part of the game and should remain that way. Every umpire has their own strike zone, no matter how good or crappy those strike zones are. And besides, there’s about 300 pitches thrown in a game. Can’t review 300 pitches.

Could you imagine the celebration in Detroit yesterday if the crew chief got wind from New York that they needed to take a second look at the play, and the crew chief ended up simply pumping his fist as a signal that the runner is out?

Would have been special. Joyce could have breathed easily, as well.

Now, Gallaraga has the most memorable perfect game in history save for Don Larsen. And Joyce will have this on his mind for the rest of his life.