On June 2, 2010, I was very excited to be listening to a radio broadcast of a game between the Detroit Tigers and Cleveland Indians that was amounting to be one of the most exciting professional baseball games that I have ever seen or heard.

In that game, Armando Galarraga, the Tigers pitcher, was edging very close to pitching a "perfect" game--retiring all 27 batters in succession, with no baserunners. This has only occurred around 20 times in MLB's long history.

Unfortunately, for Galarraga, and a soon to be very famous umpire (most umpires prefer anonymity, by the way), Jim Joyce, their lives will be forever inextricably linked. In that game, after retiring 26 straight Indians batters, Galarraga had one final batter, Indians rookie Jason Donald, separating him from greatness.

In a moment that is now famous, Jim Joyce blew the final out call at first base, ending Galarraga's perfect game. In itself, making a mistake on a call is relatively commonplace, but under the circumstances which it occurred, it will remain the single most famous umpiring mistake in MLB history, likely for many years to come.

As if this chain of events weren't improbable enough, the grace, dignity and character with which each Joyce and Galarraga handled their immediately being thrust into the spotlight, in our media-saturated world, became a source of inspiration, of sorts.

As an avowed Tigers fan, it is very difficult for me to forgive Joyce and I definitely wanted to MLB to overturn the call. The events of that day have become a sort of testament to sportsmanship and is a moment that many baseball fans hold as an example of the sport's greatness.

All of this is true, but just like the blown umpiring call in that game, reality and fantasy never quite match. As much as we want this have a storybook ending, it doesn't. Galarraga has been since traded to the National League's Arizona Diamondbacks and upon this book's publication, there will remain questions about the the continually shared connection between Joyce and Galarraga, and whether they should continue to benefit from Joyce's mistake.

In this book, Joyce and Galarraga are candid and revealing about their lives, which in many ways are very similar, as each took circuitous routes which lead them to that June day. The tough road that each have traveled to arrive in the big leagues, certainly enhances their respective human qualities.

If I were going to levy one criticism of this book, it is not that the story did not need to be told, or that this event is not eminently intriguing. Unfortunately, the book is written completely in Joyce and Galarraga's own words, and neither is a particularly strong communicator, which impacts the ease of reading this book.

The book would have benefited greatly with some additional text being added, to put both Joyce and Galarraga's words and impressions into perspective and by providing some additional context.

As much as I want to love this book, and I did enjoy reading the book in spite of it's flaws, it is very difficult for me to recommend it to anyone aside from avid Tigers fans and baseball historians. ( )