Perfect Game Blown Call

Until Jim Joyce made his notorious safe sign last night, the poster boy for horrific umpiring at a crucial moment was Don Denkinger. As the ump whose call turned around the 1985 World Series, Denkinger perhaps is the only man who truly understands the anguish Joyce feels today, after costing Detroit's Armando Galarraga a perfect game.

Denkinger wasn't an advocate of replay in 1985, when his blown call at first base in Game 6 sustained the Royals' game-winning rally and set up Kansas City's Series victory. But he believes in replay now.

VOTE: Should MLB reverse Joyce's call?

"There are so many areas you can use instant replay," Denkinger told the New York Post from his Iowa home last night. "Maybe instant replay can clean things up. If a play is missed, it can be corrected. I didn't feel that way in '85, but I feel that way now."

Denkinger know Joyce well, having had him on his crew. "He's a very good umpire," Denkinger said. "I feel badly for the situation." He also knows that Joyce's blown call won't end Denkinger's infamy.

"I had 30 great years," he said, "and I had one call that's all anybody ever wants to talk about. It's not right. But it's the way the game's played, and that's what happens."

What do you say about replay? Is it time to use it for more than home run calls?