Who Is The Ultimate Game Changer In Sports?

HuffPost's Game Changers series celebrates 100 innovators, visionaries, and leaders in 12 categories who, whether working in the spotlight or under the radar, are changing how we look at the world and the way we live in it. We salute them for their willingness to look at things and take the risk of saying, "I think I have a better way."

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Armando Galarraga & Jim Joyce

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Changed the game by ... not letting perfection become the enemy of the good. On June 2, Galarraga, a pitcher for the Detroit Tigers, was one out away from pitching the 19th perfect game in major league history. All he had do was make sure that Jason Donald, the last Cleveland Indian to step to the plate, didn't get to first base. Donald hit a ground ball, the Detroit first baseman picked it up and threw it to Galarraga for the final out. Perfection! But Jim Joyce, the umpire, mistakenly ruled Donald safe. The resulting uproar was furious, and Joyce, unlike many in the public eye, immediately realized he had screwed up and apologized to Galarraga. For his part, Galarraga did not react with entitlement or rage—even when Joyce first made the mistake, he smiled. The record book may not have recorded perfection, but everyone will now remember both men for displaying something much rarer in professional sports: grace, decency, and true sportsmanship. He said it: Galarraga: "Nobody's perfect." Must-click link: The video of Galarraga and Joyce reconciling on the field

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Changed the game by ... not letting perfection become the enemy of the good. On June 2, Galarraga, a pitcher for the Detroit Tigers, was one out away from pitching the 19th perfect game in major league history. All he had do was make sure that Jason Donald, the last Cleveland Indian to step to the plate, didn't get to first base. Donald hit a ground ball, the Detroit first baseman picked it up and threw it to Galarraga for the final out. Perfection! But Jim Joyce, the umpire, mistakenly ruled Donald safe. The resulting uproar was furious, and Joyce, unlike many in the public eye, immediately realized he had screwed up and apologized to Galarraga. For his part, Galarraga did not react with entitlement or rage—even when Joyce first made the mistake, he smiled. The record book may not have recorded perfection, but everyone will now remember both men for displaying something much rarer in professional sports: grace, decency, and true sportsmanship.

He said it: Galarraga: "Nobody's perfect."

Must-click link: The video of Galarraga and Joyce reconciling on the field

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Comments

[bardgal]

08:57 PM on 10/15/2010

Landon Donovan is the man! GO GALAXY!

[WeWantSocialismNow]

01:42 PM on 10/15/2010

Am I dreaming? Is this the HuffPostSite? Tebow, a Christian who makes his beliefs known isn't criticized and even nominated to be a positive "Game Changer". Wait... is that pigs flying outside my window?

[ehquince]

05:18 PM on 10/04/2010

Great for Serena and Venus!! Kudo's to both of them.

[Bados]

04:14 PM on 10/03/2010

What about the inventor of the shake weight?

[Bados]

03:19 PM on 10/03/2010

Cute picture of Serena you got there HP. SMH!!!!!!!

[kokotye157]

07:29 PM on 10/03/2010

my thoughts exactly. of all the beautiful pictures she has this is the one they chose......very disappointed......

[Godweiser]

02:12 PM on 10/03/2010

Donovan doesn't rate by a longshot. He's a second string player in real clubs in Europe.

[Godweiser]

02:17 PM on 10/03/2010

Andres Iniesta probably deserves it for scoring the goal that signaled that Spain was no longer a non-starter in international competition; the Spain win at the World Cup signaled that the wounds that Franco inflicted on the country's sporting establishment, felt strongly in the national team when Barcelona players, Catalonians, wouldn't go in for the callup or play as well as they would for their club, were largely healed, since it was Barcelona players and Barcelona-trained players who did most of the work; they won the Euros in 2008 and the 2010 World Cup. 

Game Changer? Absolutely. But not America-Centric, so ignored.

[JerseyHooligan]

09:33 PM on 10/11/2010

lol you dont know what your are talking about, its hilarious....When it comes to world cup, an INTERNATIONAL tourny... he IS... no one can mark him, and he was the best performer in the group. He was at everton for 10 weeks, scored twice and set up many more goals. He was the Game changer for the US, where as the rest of these have nothing to do with national performance.

[opinioned1]

12:27 PM on 10/03/2010

Tebow was lucky to have even been offered a job in the NFL. He will never be a starter and at best all he will be is a water carrier for the real NFL QB`s.

[Michael Best]

02:51 PM on 10/03/2010

Why do you believe that? You think he was a bad athlete or do you just disagree with his views?

[woundedduck]

11:44 AM on 10/03/2010

of course tebow's mom was glad she kept him. you can't prove a negative with abortion, and i bet there are plenty of people who weren't aborted who went on to lead useless lives. tebow may be brave or brazen but he's not smart.

[Aaron Chiesa]

11:27 AM on 10/03/2010

No matter how many articles you write about it or which way you try to spin it, Galarraga was robbed of one of the greatest achievements in baseball.

[woundedduck]

11:44 AM on 10/03/2010

but it's just baseball.

[MJVs Common Sense]

03:39 AM on 10/03/2010

Why is Tim Tebow even on here? Since when do we honor anti-choice, anti-women's rights, religious moralizers? (by we I mean normal people, not the crazies on the right. Of course they would love this).

Come on HuffPo, let's try to keep it to people making positive changes here. If we just talking change in either direction, I'd vote Sarah Palin for every catagory for dragging us back into the stone ages.

[opinioned1]

12:31 PM on 10/03/2010

I would say the NFL put a gag on this nitwit with the help of a big welcome to the NFL by a couple of 300# tacklers.He`s a nothing and will remain so. No more of his religious bigotry for all to see with some eye black.

[theexitistotheleft]

02:55 AM on 10/03/2010

Serena voiced a character on Avatar: the last airbender TV show ... gives her a high mark IMHO

[Javalation]

10:31 AM on 09/28/2010

For the most part, these game changers literally changed a game. Serena is a dynamite tennis player, but for this article the distinction was awarded because she & her sister are the first African/American owners of an NFL team. Teabow is included because his scripture quoting eye black has been outlawed, and so on.

[MurrayAbraham]

11:33 AM on 09/27/2010

How about Roger Federer, Usain Bolt, Simon Ammann, Michael Schumacher or Valentino Rossi.

[Andrew FingerlickingGree]

07:15 PM on 09/25/2010

Why wasn't Usian Bolt on this list?

[rini]

09:49 PM on 09/21/2010

If you mention any tennis player at all this year, it has to be Rafa. Serena's biggest recent accomplishment was threatening to shove ball down a linesperson's throat.

[veritas88]

01:35 AM on 09/22/2010

You're clueless. Serena's recent biggest accomplishmentS (yea, more than one) are winning the Australian Open in January and winning Wimbledon in July. Not to mention her championships in doubles too.

[rini]

10:16 AM on 09/22/2010

I shouldn't have said that was her biggest accomplishment (perhaps, most notorious, though.) I know she has dominated women's tennis for years and is an amazing athlete who also has time to have somewhat of a life off court.

I just feel that this year was not as exceptional for her as it was for Rafa. That's all.

[Strateshooter]

03:41 PM on 09/28/2010

HUFFOIST COMMUNITY MODERATOR- RINI: You are 100% WRONG! Serena Williams "biggest recent accomplishment was laying the smackdown on Zvonareva, and winning Wimbledon! I f you're gonna be a moderator: Know what you're talking about!!!

[rini]

08:24 PM on 09/28/2010

I know that she won Wimbledon. I just was expressing the fact that I thought Rafa accomplished more. I didn't mean to diminish her accomplishments. See my apology to Vertas above.

[rmship]

07:47 AM on 10/01/2010

teach