Gone but not Forgotten

Name: Roy Halladay

Card Company: Topps

Year: 2003

Team: Toronto Blue Jays

Bats/Throws: R

Ht: 6'6

As many of you have probably heard, former Cy Young winner Roy Halladay died in a plane crash today in the Gulf of Mexico. A truly tragic ending to a life that produced not only a great pitcher but a great man as well. The career of Roy Halladay can be defined by two words, toughness and resiliency, and I hope I can do the man justice with this article.

Roy Halladay was born and raised in Arvada a suburb outside of Denver and would go on to be mentored by pitching guru Bus Campbell. After graduating from High School in 1995, he was selected by the Toronto Blue Jays with the 17th overall pick. And after three and a half years toiling away in the minors, he would finally make his debut in 1998. He would only start two games for the Jays that year, but he showed why he was a 1st round pick collecting his first win and posting a 1.93 ERA. In-fact he was very close to pitching a no-hitter in his first win, but it was broken up with two outs in the 9th when Bobby Higginson of the Tigers smacked a solo homerun.

But early life in the big leagues would not be easy for Roy Halladay. After a solid rookie season in 1999, Roy Halladay would have one of the worst seasons by a pitcher in MLB history in 2000. In 19 games in 2000 he would amass a 4-7 record with a staggeringly bad 10.64 in 67.2 innings. This led him to being sent down to Single-A Dunedin where he would be tasked with rebuilding not only his delivery, but his confidence as well. Changing his delivery to a deceptive ¾ angle would prove to be the difference and within mid-season he was back with the Blue Jays. And boy was he a sight for sore eyes, because the Blue Jays starting rotation in 2001 had a combined 4.78 ERA.

In 2002 Halladay would quickly cement himself as the ace of the pitching staff going 19-7 with a 2.93 ERA, also notching the first of his 8 all-star selections. The next season in 2003 would see Roy Halladay go from the best pitcher on his team to the best pitcher in the league. His 2003 season would see him lead the American League in wins, shutouts, complete games and innings pitched on his way to winning his 1st Cy Young Award. And after a season in 2004 which saw him put on the DL twice with lingering injuries and a “tired” throwing arm, he would hop right back up on the saddle the very next year.

In 2005 he was back up to his same old tricks posting a 12–4 record with a 2.41 ERA in his first 19 starts, and was slated to start the all-star game. But then disaster struck. In a game against the Texas Rangers Halladay was hit in the leg with a come-backer breaking it, and forcing him to sit out the rest of the year. But that did not stop the Blue Jays from offering him a 3-year contract extension the following year, which he accepted even though he would have been a top free agent.

Roy Halladay might have been loyal to a fault with the Blue Jays as they only managed a 646-650 record and never made the playoffs once since his debut in 1998-2005. And while the Blue Jays would have a winning record from 2006-2009 it was clear though that this team was in no position to make the playoffs. And there is no better example of this than the 2009 season. In that season Halladay posted a 17-10 record with a 2.79 and again led the league in complete games and shutouts, but the Jays finished with a 75-87 record and finished 4th in the AL East. The 2009 season would Halladay’s last for the Jays as he was traded in the offseason to the mighty Philadelphia Phillies for Travis d'Arnaud, Kyle Drabek and Michael Taylor. His Blue Jays career lasted 12 years and saw him go 148-76 with a 3.43 ERA, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Blue Jays retire his number 32 jersey.

In his first season with the Phillies Roy Halladay was tremendous leading the NL in wins, complete games and shutouts, in route to winning his 2nd Cy Young award. Also along the way Halladay

notched a perfect game, the 20th in MLB history against the then Florida Marlins. And unlike the Jays the 2010 Phillies made the playoffs meaning that Roy Halladay would pitch in his first ever postseason game. And how would he respond in his first ever postseason game you might ask? By pitching a no-hitter of course, the first since Don Larsen’s perfect game in the 1956 World Series. The Phillies would make it all the way to the NLCS where Halladay would split his two matchups with former Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum.

Unfortunately, the Phillies would end up losing to the Giants in six games and would watch that same team win the World Series that year.

In 2011 Halladay and the Phils would be dominant again, with Halladay finishing 2nd in the Cy Young voting and 9th in the MVP voting and with the Phillies winning 102 games. The 2011 NLDS saw the Phillies and the St. Louis Cardinals locked in a tight series that saw it get pushed to the deciding game five, meaning that all the pressure was on the Phillies ace.

To say game 5 did not start out the way Roy Halladay would’ve liked, would be an understatement. The first batter of the game Rafael Furcal hit a leadoff triple, as a result of a botched relay throw. The 2nd batter on the game Skip Schumaker followed that up with a double driving in Furcal and just like that Philly was down 1-0. Eventually, Halladay would get out of the 1st only allowing 1-run, but only after throwing 30 pitches. It turned out that run would be all the Cardinals would need as Cardinals starter Chris Carpenter pitched a three-hit shutout, making it only the third time in MLB history a winner-take-all game ended 1-0. Halladay was given the loss after going 8 innings, giving up only that one run, allowing only 6 hits and throwing 126 pitches. Baseball is sometimes a cruel game, and it shows in that stat line. And again, both Halladay and the Phillies would watch the team that beat them go on to win the World Series.

That would be the last time the Phillies and Halladay ever got to the postseason as the Phillies haven’t made the playoffs since 2011, and father time continued its undefeated streak by forcing Halladay to retire in 2013 due to mounting injuries. Halladay would finish his career with 203 wins and an ERA of 3.38, winning 2 Cy Young awards and making 8 all-star teams and is the only pitcher in MLB history to have thrown a perfect game and a no-hitter in the same

season.

Halladay was also a great humanitarian being nominated for the Roberto Clemente award multiple times for his charitable work with underprivileged children. And as part of his contract with the Toronto Blue Jays, he also donated $100,000 each year to the Jays Care Foundation. Also during his time with the Jays, he and his wife would invite sick children and their families to “Doc’s Box”, a kid-friendly suite at the Rogers Centre.

Unfortunately, he was taken from us far too soon today, as he was killed in a plane crash over the Gulf of Mexico. Roy “Doc” Halladay touched many lives, both on and off the baseball diamond and he will truly be missed. As the Phillies organization put it “he was one of the most respected human beings to ever play the game”. The Blue Jays in a press report released a statement saying that it’s “impossible to express what he has meant to this franchise”. At the end of this tragic day the world has lost a great man in Roy

Halladay, and God gained a new ace.

Rest in peace Roy Halladay you will truly be missed.

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