27 represents the number of outs a pitcher needs to complete a game. The mid-20s are the golden years for players. Following the heels of Oakland’s Dallas Braden’ (26) 19th perfect game in Major League history in May, Detroit Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga’s perfect game ended controversially with the 27th batter in the ninth inning. The first base umpire Jim Joyce incorrectly called safe on a close play, but after the fact, when Joyce realized his mistake cost a perfect game, he tearfully apologized. The 28 year-old Galarraga gracefully accepted.

After the game, GM gave the pitcher a $53,000 Corvette, an act that The New York Times’ Nick Bunkley called in to question on the grounds that the U.S. Government currently holds 61 percent of GM stock. “A free sports car for a Detroit Tigers baseball player was not among the reasons the government saved General Motors from financial collapse.”

More than a week has passed and research firm Joyce Julius & Associates in Ann Arbor, Mich., said GM’s gift was cited in 714 TV programs, publicity worth about $1 million. It was also covered in 151,000 publications and Web entries, including Drive On, worth another $7.9 million. Crain’s says GM didn’t commission or pay for the report. Wonder what Nick Buntley thinks of that? For the cost of a couple of full-page ads in glossy magazines, GM netted an estimated $9 million worth of publicity. Sounds like a pretty good deal to us.