If you’re still holding out on liking Jim Joyce, then you’re about out of excuses.
The umpire most famous for blowing the call on Armando Galarraga‘s would-be perfect game made headlines again on Monday, this time for all the right reasons — for saving a woman’s life.
Joyce was walking down a ramp leading to the umpire’s dressing room in Arizona when stadium employee Jayne Powers grabbed a co-worker’s arm, began shaking and fell to the ground.
“I knew something was wrong,” Joyce told MLB.com. “And I knew if something wasn’t done, this lady could actually die in front of me. It was more instinct than anything else.”
So the umpire sprang into action, performing CPR on Powers while security phoned for help. While Joyce gave the Diamondbacks employee chest compressions, medics arrived with an automatic external defibrillator (AED). About 20 minutes later, Powers made it to a local hospital and regained consciousness.
To keep his rhythm going while performing the chest compressions, however, Joyce later admitted to using an unorthodox tactic — singing the Beegee’s hit “Staying Alive.” How appropriate.
“The way I look at it is, somebody needed help and I was fortunate enough to know what to do,” said Joyce, who learned CPR in high school. “I just looked at helping someone who really needed it. She was in bad shape and needed help.”
Powers is resting at Good Samaritan Hospital in Arizona for now — an appropriate address for someone lucky that such a person was on the scene in Jim Joyce.
Photo of the Night
When “Bobble Figurine” night gets planned too far in advance…
Photo via Twitter/@BryanAGraham
Quote of the Night
“Keanu almost broke my neck going up for a layup. He was so wild. He was throwing the ball hard and throwing elbows.”
–Actor Cylk Cozart, explaining why Keanu Reeves wasn’t cast in White Man Can’t Jump
Tweet of the Night
And we’re not done! Donate here!
The 11th annual @weei @nesn @thejimmyfund Radio-Telethon has passed the $1 million mark! #KCANCER
— Jenny Dell (@JennyDellNESN) August 22, 2012
Video of the Night
Is this a walk-off interview, Joe Maddon?
