2010 HEADLINE: Roy Halladay Fires A No-Hitter Against The Reds In His Postseason Debut

2010 HEADLINE: Roy Halladay Fires A No-Hitter Against The Reds

On this day in 2010, Roy Halladay threw a no-hitter against the Cincinnati Reds.

The game was played in Philadelphia at Citizen’s Bank Park and was Game 1 of the NLDS.

Halladay’s stat line looked like this – complete game, 104 pitches, 8 strikeouts, 1 walk, 12 ground ball outs, 7 fly ball outs, and 1 line drive out.

Halladay’s no-hitter was the first post-season no-hitter since Don Larsen’s perfect game in the 1956 World Series.

2010 HEADLINE: Roy Halladay Fires ‘Perfect Game’ Against The Marlins

2010 HEADLINE: Roy Halladay Fires ‘Perfect Game’ Against The Marlins

On this day in 2010, Roy Halladay threw a perfect game against the Florida Marlins.

I watched each and every pitch of this game in my living room as it was heralded as being a battle of the two most dominating pitchers in the National League – Halladay and Josh Johnson.

As the game unfolded, it was hard to not cheer for Halladay as he kept inching towards baseball history.

His performance was unreal, and while I would have preferred that the moment had not taken place against ‘my team’, it is always nice to catch baseball history in the making.

Halladay’s numbers: 9 innings pitched, 0 hits allowed, 0 runs allowed, 11 strikeouts, 0 walks allowed, and 115 pitches.

The Phillies won the game 1-0.

Happy Birthday Roy Halladay!!!

Happy Birthday Roy Halladay!!!

Roy Halladay turns 37 years old today!!

Halladay is one my favorite pitchers of the modern era that has never been affiliated with the Florida Marlins. His style and approach on the mound reminds me of Fergie Jenkins and I believe that the 2 of these guys were and are very under-appreciated in comparison to their peers.

The 16-year veteran is a 8-time All-star that has won 2 Cy Young Award and placed in the Top 5 five more times. ‘Doc’ was the picture of consistency for the Toronto Blue Jays for more than a decade now and then delivered impressive numbers with the Philadelphia Phillies.

Roy Halladay finished his career with a 203-105 record, good for a 65.9% winning percentage.  He threw in over 2,749 innings and struck out 2,117 batters during that stretch while walking just 592.

Halladay made it to the postseason with the Phillies during the 2010 and 2011 baseball seasons but he never played in the World Series.  He did, however, throw a no-hitter in the 2010 NLDS that is one of the best pitching performances in the history of baseball’s postseason.

Happy Birthday Roy!!!

Roy Halladay 2014 Topps Series 1 Subset – ‘Super Veterans’

Roy Halladay 2014 Topps Series 1 Subset – ‘Super Veterans’

When I got back into the hobby of baseball card collecting in the summer of 2008, my goal was to pay homage to the players that helped build my love for the game and the hobby.

The first subset I put together that helped me with that cause was the ‘Super Veterans’ subset from the 1983 Topps baseball card set.  This set is a beauty and it highlights the true legends of the game as their careers were winding down.

Halladay threw a no hitter for the Phillies against the Florida Marlins in 2010.

For the last few years, I have actively been begging Topps to bring this subset back and pay honor to today’s ‘Super Veterans’.  And while I cannot confirm that they obliged my request, I was very excited to see that a 15-card ‘Super Veterans’ subset was part of the 2014 Topps Series 1 release.

I am building the set now.  Here is the card of Roy Halladay:

 

After 16 seasons of play, Roy Halladay retired at the conclusion of the 2013 baseball season.

He left the sport with a 65.9% winning percentage and a 203-105 record.  He started 390 games during his 16-year career and threw 67 complete games with 20 shutouts.  He had a career ERA of 3.38 with 2,117 strikeouts and a K:9 innings ratio of 6.9 per 9 innings thrown.

Halladay was a 9-time All-star and a winner of 2 Cy Young Awards.  He also had 5 other ‘Top 6’ finishes for the award.  Halladay made it to the postseason three times.  His top performance was a no-hitter for the Phillies, just the second no-hitter in postseason history.

Hall Of Fame Debate: Analyzing The Career Of Roy Halladay

Hall Of Fame Debate:  Analyzing The Career Of Roy Halladay

As soon as the announcement of Roy Halladay’s retirement hit my IPhone courtesy of my SportsCenter app, I immediately wondered how it would be reacted to by the baseball world.

Halladay has long been a favorite of mine, at one time he held the top spot among active pitchers not calling Miami home.

I compare him often to Fergie Jenkins – elite for a decade, and oftentimes overlooked because of where he played and how his teams fared while he starred with them.

And now, with his major league career closed, the question becomes – ‘Is Roy Halladay a Hall Of Famer’??

So, let’s debate!!!

 

The 16-year career ended with a record of 203-105, good for a win percentage of 65.9%.  He amassed an ERA of 3.38 and pitched 200 or more innings in a season eight times.  Halladay threw 67 complete games and tossed 20 shutouts.  In 2,749 innings of work, he struck out 2,117 batters while walking just 592 – good for a 3.58:1 ratio as well as a ratio of 6.9 strikeouts per 9 innings pitched.

Halladay was named as an All-Star eight times.  He finished in the Top 9 for the MVP Award on two occasions and he is a 2-time Cy Young Award winner.

He has pitched a perfect game and threw a no-hitter in his first postseason performance.

In his 16 season career, he only made the playoffs twice, both near the end of his career with the Phillies.  He has never played in a World Series.

It is quite a resume – but is it Hall of Fame worthy??

That is a very good question.

Can a player that averaged just over 12.5 wins per season rest along the likes of Tom Seaver or Juan Marichal?  Does a pitcher that was the ‘Ace’ of his staff for a decade but could not deliver the postseason deserve induction alongside baseball’s greatest of all-time??

For me, the answer is simple – IT IS YES!!!  Halladay was the dominant pitcher in the AL for a 8-year stretch that saw 2 Cy Young Awards and five more ‘Top 5’ finishes.  The numbers are completely impressive – and even more so when you look at the teams he faced while playing in the very competitive AL East.

He has my vote.

Does he have yours???  Let’s hear it.

2013 Topps Update ‘Postseason Heroes’ Subset – Roy Halladay

2013 Topps Update ‘Postseason Heroes’ Subset – Roy Halladay

The 2013 Topps Update baseball card set includes a subset tagged as ‘Postseason Heroes.  And with that theme, you would expect to find cards of modern players like Albert Pujols, Edgar Rentaria, and Pablo Sandoval but none of these guys made the checklist.

That does leave room for some nice surprises…

This is the card of Roy Halladay from the set:

 

For a player with 16 complete major league seasons under his belt, Roy Halladay’s postseaon career has been relatively limited.  He has appeared in the playoffs just twice, and both were recent – the 2010 and 2011 playoffs.

But, he did make a grand entrance with his debut in 2010.  Halladay pitched a no-hitter against the Cincinnati Reds in the opening round of the NLDS.  The game was at home in Philadelphia and the victory drove the Phillies to a series win over the Reds and into the NLCS against the eventual champions, the Giants.

After A 16-year Career, Roy Halladay Retires From Major League Baseball

After A 16-year Career, Roy Halladay Retires From Major League Baseball

By Gregor Chisholm / MLB.com

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Roy Halladay knew for the past several weeks that his career had come to an end, but before the move could become official, there was some unfinished business to take care of first.

The 16-year veteran announced his retirement on Monday morning at the Walt Disney World Swan & Dolphin Resort, but not before he signed a one-day contract with the Blue Jays. The decision ensured Halladay finished his illustrious career with the organization that drafted him out of high school in 1995.

Halladay said the ceremonial contract was his way of saying thanks to an organization that he called home for 14 years and to the people who helped him become one of the greatest pitchers in recent history.

“I very easily could have been out of baseball in 2000, 2001 and never had a shot,” Halladay said during his afternoon news conference. “So to me, that was the most important thing was I felt like everything that the organization had done for me, the player that they allowed me to become, I felt like it was really important to acknowledge that.”

Halladay approached the Blue Jays with the idea to retire as a Blue Jay in late November. There surely would have been some offers in free agency, but after two injury plagued seasons in Philadelphia, Halladay decided it was time to step away.

Toronto jumped at the opportunity to bring Halladay back into the fold — even if it was just for one day. It’s a fitting end considering Halladay ranks second all-time in Blue Jays history with 148 wins, 1,495 strikeouts and 15 shutouts. He’s also third with 2,246 2/3 innings, a 3.43 ERA and 287 starts.

For a stretch of eight years in Toronto, Halladay was easily regarded as one of the most dominant and consistent pitchers in the game. He defined baseball in the city during the early 2000s, and it’s only a matter of time before he gets added to the club’s Level of Excellence.

“It speaks volumes to the organization and everyone that has been involved in the organization for him to feel that strongly,” general manager Alex Anthopoulos said. “The fact that he still feels those ties was great. He approached us, let us know he was going to retire. He wanted to retire a Toronto Blue Jay, it was very important to him.

“We were thrilled that he would even consider us that way. I think that speaks to the people that we don’t see behind the scenes. All of his years he spent, that they had that type of impact on him.”

Halladay’s body of work also serves as inspiration for players who might have lost their way in search of the Major League dream. The right-hander was selected by Toronto in the first round of the 1995 First-Year Player Draft, and he debuted just three years later, but it wasn’t too long after that his career hit rock bottom.

The Colorado native couldn’t seem to get anyone out in the spring of 2001, and he was optioned all the way down to Class A Dunedin in order to revamp his mechanics, and perhaps just as importantly, the mental side of his game. It was a drastic move that seemed to be a last-ditch effort to salvage Halladay’s career, and in the end, it paid off more than anyone could have imagined.

Halladay made it back to the big leagues by the middle of that 2001 season and won 19 games the following year. His best season in the American League arguably came in 2003, when he won the AL Cy Young Award with a 22-7 record, a 3.25 ERA and 204 strikeouts in 266 innings.

“I think there was a period of time where I didn’t know what was going to happen, where I probably wasn’t as positive as I could be about what my future was going to be,” Halladay said. “But I think through the support of my wife and people in the organization, I was able to find people that really helped me see the mental side of it and see the positives.

“That’s really where I felt like my career changed, was I started thinking, ‘I’m going to go out and do everything I possibly can. If it works, it works. If it doesn’t, I can walk away knowing that I poured everything I had into it.’ I was very fortunate to have that experience, because that stuck with me my entire career.”

Halladay spoke at length about his gratitude to both the Blue Jays and Phillies organizations. Halladay said there were too many people to thank, but he took some time to single out Blue Jays scout Bus Campbell, sports psychologist Harvey Dorfman, Pat Hentgen and the recently retired Chris Carpenter as his main influences.

The fact that Halladay’s retirement came at the site of the annual Winter Meetings meant there was a lengthy list of guests in attendance. Former general managers Pat Gillick, Gord Ash and J.P. Ricciardi were in attendance, as were Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. and Toronto manager John Gibbons.

The attention seemed more than appropriate for a pitcher who finished with a 203-105 record, a 3.38 ERA, a perfect game and even a no-hitter during his postseason debut. The numbers are impressive, but they stand up even better when considering the offense-heavy era during which he pitched.

At some point in the future, Halladay’s name will at the very least be mentioned as a possibility for the Hall of Fame, but to Toronto, he represented even more than that. Despite a prolonged playoff drought, Halladay decided to sign two extensions at well-below market value in order to remain with the Blue Jays.

That can’t be said for a lot of athletes in the city, and when combined with his overall dominance, it remains the main reason Halladay has a cult-like hero among the club’s fanbase. The time eventually came for Halladay to go elsewhere to pursue his postseason dreams, but the way the two-time Cy Young Award winner handled everything ensured, he never severed ties with Blue Jays fans or the organization.

“I’ve always tried to do the best I could to really acknowledge that,” Halladay said of the fan support. “I’ve been very fortunate that I played two places where the fans have been extremely supportive. They may boo when you’re on the field, but you run into them on the street or in a restaurant and they’re the first ones that come up and shake your hand and smile and greet you.

“It happened in Toronto, it happened in Philadelphia, but [leaving] Toronto was hard for me. As much as I loved it there, I felt like I needed to make a decision to give myself a chance to get to the playoffs, and thankfully the fans understood that and were very supportive. Hopefully they’ll get a chance to experience that also, because it is a tremendous feeling.”

2010 HEADLINE: Roy Halladay Fires A No-Hitter Against The Reds In His Postseason Debut

2010 HEADLINE: Roy Halladay Fires A No-Hitter Against The Reds

On this day in 2010, Roy Halladay threw a no-hitter against the Cincinnati Reds.

The game was played in Philadelphia at Citizen’s Bank Park and was Game 1 of the NLDS.

Halladay’s stat line looked like this – complete game, 104 pitches, 8 strikeouts, 1 walk, 12 ground ball outs, 7 fly ball outs, and 1 line drive out.

Halladay’s no-hitter was the first post-season no-hitter since Don Larsen’s perfect game in the 1956 World Series.

2010 HEADLINE: Roy Halladay Fires ‘Perfect Game’ Against The Marlins

2010 HEADLINE: Roy Halladay Fires ‘Perfect Game’ Against The Marlins

On this day in 2010, Roy Halladay threw a perfect game against the Florida Marlins.

I watched each and every pitch of this game in my living room as it was heralded as being a battle of the two most dominating pitchers in the National League – Halladay and Josh Johnson.

As the game unfolded, it was hard to not cheer for Halladay as he kept inching towards baseball history.

His performance was unreal, and while I would have preferred that the moment had not taken place against ‘my team’, it is always nice to catch baseball history in the making.

Halladay’s numbers: 9 innings pitched, 0 hits allowed, 0 runs allowed, 11 strikeouts, 0 walks allowed, and 115 pitches.

The Phillies won the game 1-0.

Happy Birthday Roy Halladay!!!

Happy Birthday Roy Halladay!!!

Roy Halladay turns 36 years old today!!

Halladay is one my favorite pitcher in today’s game that has never been affiliated with the Florida Marlins. His style and approach on the mound reminds me of Fergie Jenkins and I believe that the 2 of these guys were and are very under-appreciated in comparison to their peers.

This 16-year veteran is a 8-time All-star that has already won 2 Cy Young Award and placed in the Top 5 five more times. ‘Doc’ was the picture of consistency for the Toronto Blue Jays for more than a decade now and he continues to deliver impressive numbers with the Philadelphia Phillies.

Roy recently won the 200th game of his major league careeer.  It would be nice to see him get to #250 before his career ends.

Happy Birthday Roy!!!