The debate over instant replay will no doubt reach a boiling point in the coming weeks as the tortured story of Armando Galarraga’s ephemeral perfect game is etched into baseball lore. But what is most likely to be lost to history is how Wednesday night’s unpleasantness resulted in so little unpleasantness. To be sure, there have been plenty of hurt feelings and angry texts and blogs. But at the end of the day Detroit, the city, and baseball fans everywhere dodged a bullet. Too many things had to go right, after one thing went horribly wrong, in order to avert disaster.

This might be seen as a bit overblown but consider that Detroit is the city that rioted after the Red Wings won the Stanley Cup two years ago. It is the city of 15 percent joblessness with its major employer in Chapter 11. It is the place that people have been fleeing in droves as the city crumbles from neglect. With the city chewing on those bits of economic and social gristle for so long it wouldn’t take much imagination to see things reaching a boiling point. Given the circumstances Jim Joyce’s blown call could have been the match to light the city on fire.

For anyone who has been near violence, or been present when violence was possible but did not occur, it is easy to understand what might have gone wrong at Comerica Park. All it takes is a minor misstep, too menacing a stance or too harsh a word. A player shoving an umpire, a fan in section 119 who might have over-imbibed throwing a bottle, a police officer who overreacted, something could have swung the pendulum the wrong way and then the mob mentality can take over. Given all that the economically battered and beleaguered citizens of Detroit have taken over the years some sort of violence might even have been not endorsed perhaps, but understood. It never came to pass.

All it took was the aggrieved party to accept the cruel hand of fate with uncommon stoicism. And the offender to admit fault. And to have the apology readily accepted. And for the fans to discern the difference between injustice and malice. And the aggrieved party’s teammates and manager to praise the good and forgive the less than good. All it took was an abundance of humility, civility and class.

To call attention to violence that doesn’t occur may seem to set the bar for deportment fairly low. But in an era when some umpires have very short fuses, when fans abuse other fans — as well as players — and there seems to be less joy in the ballpark, what didn’t happen in Detroit warrants mentioning. What didn’t happen was good for the city and good for the game even if very few recognize that fact. It was an evening of superb baseball and commendable actions. It was an evening when, as a long ago statesman urged of his countrymen, so many were touched by the better angels of their nature.