By Rick Pluta, Michigan Public Radio Network
LANSING, MI – Governor Granholm has issued an official proclamation declaring that Detroit Tiger Armando Gallaraga pitched a perfect game Wednesday night. That is not the way it will appear in the record books because of an umpire's wrong call in the ninth inning. The governor says Gallaraga and Tigers fans were "robbed."
"Bottom line is it was a perfect game. We all know it was a perfect game. I'll declare it a perfect game for whatever that's worth," Granholm says.
The umpire has acknowledged that he should have called a player out at first base, instead of safe, which denied Gallaraga his perfect game. According to baseball rules, the umpire's decision is final and cannot be changed after the fact. There have been only 20 perfect games pitched in the history of major league baseball.