Parashat Korach 5770
The Imperfection of Perfection
It is difficult for me to restrain myself from writing another baseball sermon when the season is so long and there are many lessons to be learned from the way the game is played and how I can draw a Jewish connection to most things that happen on the field, and sometimes off the field as well. This week provides us with a “perfect” example of what I mean. According to Major League Baseball records, only twenty times has there been a perfect game recorded in the annals of the history of this sport. Cy Young, in 1904, is the only Red Sox pitcher to have accomplished such a feat. And Sandy Koufax is the only Jewish pitcher to have recorded such perfection in 1965 at the age of 29. Just last month, Roy Halliday achieved perfection – twenty-seven up, twenty-seven down; not a single batter to reach first base!
There have been others who have come close to achieving perfection. Several more pitchers have recorded an official game without letting an opposing player to cross home plate, despite getting on base via an error or a walk. Just as worthy as a perfect game, such accomplishments are no less admirable. In recent Red Sox history, we saw a rookie Clay Bucholtz throw a no-hitter, as well as a young Jon Lester coming back from cancer achieve a similar experience. Again, Sandy Koufax threw a number of no-hitters during the course of his illustrious career.
During last week, we were witness to a no-hitter when Detroit’s Armando Galarraga was pitching against that infamous twenty-first batter. With a perfect game on the line, and his name in the history books of MLB, the ball was put in to play. A slow grounder to second and a hard throw to first should have ended the game. However, to the dismay of everyone, the umpire called the runner safe. Let’s go to the replay! The runner was out by a step. How could he get it wrong! Surely, he should be put under investigation and admonished for what he did! At the very least, he should have his head examined… What was he thinking? God, Almighty, how can we fix such an injustice. Do you think that the commissioner might step into the fray and change the call after the fact? “Bedi’avad” is what the Jewish sages would institute as their halachic ruling on this matter. “Ex post facto” is what the lawyers of the world might say. “After the fact” the runner should be judged out and the game declared a perfect endeavor.
Yet, despite our best efforts as human beings, to get things right, we make mistakes. Bad calls are part of the game in sports. Sometimes, with the help of instant replay, we can correct a mistake before it results in a grave injustice occurring, affecting the outcome of the game itself. However, as in life itself, there is no instant replay to correct a wrong once it has been committed, and we must live knowing that we made a mistake. To this, Judaism has a response to help us heal the hurts and to mitigate the emotions — something that will keep us within the base lines, so to speak.
If anyone had reason to lose his cool, and become upset beyond measure, Armando Galarraga o had an excuse to do so. The umpire robbed him of his perfect game. He knew it. His teammates knew it. The fans knew it. And most certainly, the runner knew it as well. Yet, when an umpire makes a call, there is no going backwards. Even if he knew he had made a tragic error in judgment (which he did), he also knew that he could not go back in time to change that mental lapse. Once something is uttered from our lips, there is no way to retrieve what we have said. This is one of the most important lessons the sages teach us in regard to our preparations for the High Holidays each year. It isn’t just “lashon hara” (evil speech, idle gossip, words of hate, etc.) that we must defend ourselves against doing. We must, also, be aware of the things that we say that affect others, in judgment.
What could the pitcher have done? He could have thrown a temper tantrum, but he didn’t. He could have called the umpire ugly names, but he didn’t. He could have voiced his outrage in a press conference after the game, but he didn’t. What did he do, instead? He smiled, and then returned to the pitcher’s mound to face the next batter, getting the final out of the game. According to Umpire Joyce who admitted later to his mistake, “I would have been the first person in my face, and he never said a word to me.” Galarraga never said a derogatory world!
From a Jewish perspective, what makes this event such an interesting one is the way in which the two men reconciled following the game. The veteran umpire asked to meet with the pitcher, who welcomed the meeting. During the conversation, we are told by Galarraga that he does not bare any hard feelings because “he feels really bad and I know that nobody’s perfect. I understand.” What is that he understands? He understands that when we are sincere, it is our responsibility to accept a person’s apology and offer forgiveness. How did Galarrage respond to the apology? He saw the tears in the umpire’s eyes and responded, “I don’t know what to say. I can give you a hug!”
Although Armando Galarraga may be forgiving, many fans of the sport are less enthusiastic in their remarks in the hours that followed what they considered to be a travesty of baseball – especially when we have the technology to replay the past and correct a call that was wrong. Many individuals shouted that the Commissioner of Baseball, who is the highest authority that one can go to in these matters of dispute, has the obligation to change the call. In his role as the protector of the game, there are many passionate fans of the game who claim that he has done a lousy job.
Unlike the majority of those who clamor that the Commissioner of Baseball should be relieved of his position for his decision not to overrule the umpire, despite an admission of guilt, I admire Bud Selig for his tenacity and his respect for the game and the players – in this scenario. In baseball, as in life, there are hits, there are runs scored, there are putouts and strikeouts as well as free rides to first, and there are errors by both the players and the umpires. If the integrity of the game is to be kept intact, when cameras are not considered legal witnesses to the play on the field, then it is imperative that we have an authority figure who is unwavering in His judgment of what is right and what is wrong – for baseball. The rules are clear. The ruling on the field as established by the umpire is final. There is no arguing that will lead to change.
What does change, however, is the way in which we treat one another with respect despite our differences of opinion. What inspires me most is how the manager of the Tigers, Jim Leyland, instructed his players to respond. We accept our mistakes and we move on in life. Tomorrow is another opportunity – to grow towards perfection. It is a part of Judaism, as well as other religious traditions, that we accept our human imperfections and failures, because we understand the significance of striving to become better. One of the ways in which we can accomplish “perfection” is by redeeming our “imperfections.” Mistakes will be made, because we are human. There will be times when the impossible does become possible. In the meantime, we applaud the effort of those who play the game alongside those who protect its integrity by calling things as they see them!
In this week of challenges to the law and to leadership, when Korach questioned the judgment of Moses, we take a step back to recognize the merit of our protests. Korach was ultimately destroyed by his own passions. It is so easy for us to burn up in our own pursuits for justice when we lose sight of the importance of the greater meanings in life. When Korach was swallowed up by the earth, the sages instruct us that this is a lesson to all that it is possible to go too far in our protests for fairness. By going beyond his limits allowed by an ordered society, he endangered the rest of society. By clamoring for the Commissioner of Baseball to change the call and not the rule as it exists today, we also risk something. We risk being arrogant in relation to a greater truth to be told.
We risk sabotaging the integrity of the laws that we have created for us to live by, when we attack the decision-maker rather than the law itself, or the method in which decisions are adjudicated.
I feel as though I must give the Detroit Tigers as a team, and their pitcher, especially, Armando Galarraga my most sincere congratulations for having the courage and the awareness not to argue the call on the field, leading to more negative energy off the field. Rather, they took the high road, and not sabotage the integrity of the game nor their own internal values, robbing the game of its soul, by doing what they do best, come back then next day and start anew. For, in forgiveness, this is all that we can do to put our best foot forward and grow in our skills and our enthusiasm for another perfect day on the mount or at the plate or in the field.
May the God of baseball and of other sporting endeavors, give us the courage and the strength to continue our battles in the field of life with the same integrity and tenacity that was demonstrated to us this week, as we all strive to overcome our imperfections for perfection, enjoying the journey rather than worshipping the destination, for this is the true meaning of “perfection.”
