A whole bunch of people are suddenly aware of Jim Joyce, since he made the call at first base last night that cost Armando Galarraga a no-hitter in Detroit.

A whole lot of us in Portland have known him for years. And I can tell you that nobody works harder and cares more about his job than Jim, who has lived in Beaverton for decades now. On top of that, he’s a great guy. I feel terrible for him, because I know how much this hurts him.

But he’s long been considered one of the best umpires in baseball and he’ll overcome it. And there’s even now a way for the official scorer of the game to restore this to at least a no-hitter, which he should probably do.

This is a great lesson for people who don’t really pay a lot of attention to sports. Officials — even the best of them — miss calls. It doesn’t mean they’re bad people or that they’re fixing games. They’re just human. And sometimes — very, very rarely — they’re not as perfect as the guy pitching.

Hang in there, Jim.

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At the age of 13 I got a great job — ballboy for the Portland Beavers in the Triple-A Pacific Coast League.

As part of that job, I used to have to bring a few dozen new baseballs, still in the box, to the umpires’ room a couple of hours before the games. In the old days, the team clubhouses and umpires’ room were located in the Multnomah Athletic Club, beyond the right-field fence in what was then Multnomah Stadium. The umps’ room, in fact, was high up in the club — an elevator ride.

Anyway, I’d take the balls up there where the umpires could rub them down, then make sure during the game that the home-plate umpire had his pocketful of baseballs. Then, after the game, I’d usually run some soft drinks or beer up to their room.

I loved the job and got to know the umpires a little. They were a very nice bunch of guys. But one of them stood high above the rest. Doug Harvey was just starting his umpiring career then, but already had that gray hair. But even then, as a minor-league umpire, he had that combination of dignity and confidence that would earn him the nickname “God” in the major leagues.

One day, after bringing a few cold ones to the umpires’ room, Harvey asked me, a 13-year-old, to “give me five.” Sorry, at that age, in those days before high fives, low fives and everything in between, I had no idea what he was talking about. He assured me it meant to shake his hand.

I stuck out my hand and shook his, during which he passed me a five-dollar bill. Man, these guys didn’t make much money and seldom tipped me in those days.

Doug Harvey had given me a $5 tip. And to this day I haven’t been able to forget how much class the man had and how generous he was with a kid.

As well as being the best umpire I ever watched, by far. And Monday came word that he’d been named, finally, to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Congratulations, Mr. Harvey! You were in a class by yourself.

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Watching most of all three games yesterday was a test for several reasons. The TBS studio crew was painful to watch. Ernie Johnson is struggling to pull together a group that has none of the chemistry that TNT’s NBA bunch has to offer. Cal Ripken, in particular, really struggles in this format. He just doesn’t seem to have enough energy and doesn’t appear to feel comfortable on the set. I’m not sure if there’s a baseball version of Charles Barkley out there but if there is, TBS hasn’t found him.

One other thought on the television product: If I had a company that was going to buy multiple commercial positions during the games, I’d produce enough spots that I didn’t have to throw the same one on there over and over and over. I’m already sick of the Viagra, Blackberry and Directv spots, let alone the all-Frank-Caliendo-all-the-time nature of this network.

And oh, don’t even get me started on Dick Stockton. Networks have to understand that sports fans now have satellite packages that allow them access to the best play-by-play broadcasters in the business throughout the regular season. The average team-employed broadcaster in the big leagues, who is doing 162 games a season, is so much better than a retread hack who is also doing football and basketball games. Why do networks keep doing this? It’s the same head-in-the-sand thinking that kept the Seattle Sonics’ play-by-play man Kevin Calabro hidden away in the Pacific Northwest for years. The guy was the very best in the business and it took ages for ESPN Radio to throw a few games his way. Meanwhile, Dick Stockton is working three sports.

I really do have to get my own sports network.

The Dodgers and the Cubs opened their division series yesterday in Chicago with a rather long and tedious game, made so by the ineffectiveness of Cub pitchers who couldn’t find the strike zone. But through it all, Portlander Dale Scott worked one of the best games behind the dish I’ve seen. He’s a high-quality ball/strike umpire and that’s why he usually ends up working in the postseason. Dale’s a great guy and it was fun to see him in that spotlight, as he’s been many times before, and respond with a gem of a game.

The umpiring in all three games was top drawer, by the way. And where else are you going to go for umpire reviews?

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