On Tuesday, November 7th, Roy “Doc” Halladay, 40, passed away after his ICON A5 plane crashed into the Gulf of Mexico.
The loss was felt all over the sports world, as ESPN and social media sites Twitter and Facebook exploded with breaking news on his unexpected passing. The media coverage after his untimely death is a real testament to how dominant he was and what he meant to the game.
Halladay dazzled on the mound through the 2000s for sixteen seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), spending 12 with the Toronto Blue Jays and four with the Philadelphia Phillies.
The Blue Jays drafted the future ace in the first round of the 1995 MLB Draft, who climbed through the lower ranks until making his Major League debut in 1998. He made two starts, one of which he took a no-hitter into the 9th inning.
“Doc” started his career in exciting fashion, but it wasn’t perfect. In 2000, Halladay struggled in the Majors, resulting in a demotion to the Minor Leagues to alter his pitching delivery. The reinvention would prove to be the new edge that he needed, winning a total of 41 games in 2002 and 2003, earning two all-star appearances in those two years and winning his first Cy Young award as best pitcher in the American League for his performance in 2003.
Halladay played for the Blue Jays through the 2009 season until he was traded in December of that year to the Philadelphia Phillies. The Phillies were coming off of a World Series loss to the New York Yankees and were searching for that edge to get them over the hump. Changing teams wasn’t a problem for Halladay. He continued his dominant pitching, winning a National League Cy Young award with the Phillies in 2010.
During his time with the Phillies, Halladay would also throw the 20th perfect game in MLB history against the Marlins, retiring all 27 batters in order. The feat has only been achieved 23 times to this day. He would also throw a postseason no-hitter in Game 1 of the 2010 NLDS against the Cincinnati Reds in his very first postseason start. He became only the second pitcher to throw a no-hitter in the playoffs. The other pitcher, Don Larsen, threw a perfect game in the 1956 World Series.
While Halladay was never fortunate enough to win a World Series, he was on many good Phillies teams that came close to appearing in the championship series. Halladay joined Chase Utley, Ryan Howard and Jimmy Rollins as the faces of the franchise during that Phillies era. Famously, Halladay led a star-studded rotation that also featured Cole Hamels, Roy Oswalt, and Cliff Lee in 2011, arguably one of the strongest starting-pitching rotations in recent memory.
The last two years of “Doc’s” career would be his downfall. He struggled to stay healthy, dealing with injuries to his shoulder. After two frustrating years attempting to manage the health of his arm, he signed a one-day ceremonial contract with the Toronto Blue Jays to retire with the team he started his career with.
Ultimately, Halladay finished his MLB career with a 203-105 win-loss record, an Earned-Run-Average (ERA) of 3.38 over 2,000 strikeouts, as well as two Cy Young awards and eight All-Star-Game appearances, making a strong case to be inducted into the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame when he is eligible in 2019. The baseball world will always remember the pitching dominance he treated fans to throughout his career.
