DETROIT -- Sometimes you can tell more about a man when a perfect game is taken away from him than you can when he pitches one.

Nobody would've blamed Detroit Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga if he'd spewed venom in discussing the blown call by first base umpire Jim Joyce.

And while he was obviously upset with the call that gave Cleveland Indians shortstop Jason Donald an infield single with two outs in the ninth, what did he do when he saw Joyce's safe signal?

"I had started to celebrate," Galarraga said. "But then I looked at him. I thought, 'OK.' I thought, 'I can smile or punch this guy.' "

So, he smiled.

Later, Joyce summoned him to the umpire's room to say he was sorry.

"He really feels bad -- probably more bad than me," Galarraga said. "But nobody's perfect. I give a lot of credit to that guy because he needed to talk to me and say, 'I'm sorry.'

"His body language said more than a lot of words. His eyes were watering. I gave him a couple hugs. There is going to be a couple more -- I hope so."

Galarraga smiled and winked.

"Nobody's perfect," he added.

And nobody knew that more than Galarraga.

Yet, he handled it perfectly.

"It should be pointed out how classy Armando handled it," Inge said. "He handled it like an absolute man."

And so did Joyce.

Remember that if you're at Comerica Park on Thursday with Joyce behind home plate. Nobody lost more than Galarraga did, but he forgave Joyce and showed him affection.

And we will remember this perhaps longer than we would have remembered an actual perfect game. The notoriety of this one will cause it to be recalled much more frequently than some of the 20 actual perfect games.

When it was over, before several Tigers hooted on Joyce, catcher Alex Avila ran to the mound for the first hugs of the night.

"I'm proud of you," he told Galarraga. "You did great tonight."

Galarraga responded: "And I am proud of you."

They were in perfect harmony all night long.

"He executed the gameplan to perfection," Avila said. "He had a really good sinker, but in the past had hesitated to throw it inside. And that was the perfect complement to his good slider.

BY THE NUMBERS A breakdown of Galarraga's near-perfect game:



1 -- Hits allowed, which came with two outs in the ninth



0 -- Shutouts and complete games before Wednesday



9.18 -- ERA in last three starts against Cleveland, all losses



88 -- Pitches thrown



3 -- Number of starts since recalled from Triple-A Toledo on May 16



2004 -- Year of last one-hitter by a Tigers pitcher, thrown by Mike Maroth against the New York Yankees on July 16



104 -- Length of game, in minutes



17,738 -- Paid attendance

"We threw nothing but fastballs the first time through the order. That's how electric his stuff was. And then, to keep them off balance, he started throwing sinkers in and sliders away. That was the best and hardest stuff I've seen from him. He hit 95 (mph) on the radar a few times.

"It was just a fantastic performance, no matter what."

Tigers pitching coach Rick Knapp had been telling Galarraga to trust his stuff for the last two seasons. He'd struggled since winning 13 as a rookie in 2008, and Detroit manager Jim Leyland said pitchers who adjust to being hit and trust their stuff make it. "Those who don't aren't here long," he said this week.

But this game punched his ticket for the future.

"Trust, oh yeah," Knapp said. "It was all there tonight."

Galarraga added: "Rick has my back. I really thank him and the whole organization for believing in me."

Tigers general manager Dave Dombrowski and Leyland decided last week to go with Galarraga in the rotation over Dontrelle Willis, whom they designated for assignment Sunday before trading him Tuesday to the Arizona Diamondbacks.

His teammates gave him a congratulatory beer shower any way.

"We celebrate like I got it," Galarraga said. "It is not in the book. But I can show you it on the tape. I know myself that I threw a perfect game. But I don't think they are going to change it."

And he smiled.

Tigers teammates gathered in the video room immediately after the game, and then in front of one of the big-screen TVs in the clubhouse. They watched as stations played it again and again with these comments:

"How do you blow that?

"Omigod!"

"Jim, how can you make that call?

"Unbelievable!"

Leyland said: "We wanted it so much for the kid; he deserved it."

But no harsh stuff came from Galarraga. He said he "expected more of a big-league umpire" before meeting Joyce, but that was about as hard as his tone got.

"I'm happy and I'm sad," he said.

Hey, for a guy who was working out the kinks in Toledo just over two weeks ago, there was plenty to smile about.

"I feel good," Galarraga said. "It's awesome.

"I am going to do it one time, you know. I hope to finish it with 27 straight outs."

But he got it right Wednesday night in ways that had nothing to do with whether a play is called safe or out.