Tragedy struck the baseball world on Tuesday, as it was announced that former MLB great Roy Halladay had passed away at the age of 40 in a plane crash in Florida.
Remembering Roy Halladay
Wednesday’s Say Hey, Baseball reflects on the life and career of an MLB great the world lost too soon.
Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images
Halladay was a special pitcher, a true artist on the mound, and he was also beloved by teammates and fans in Toronto, in Philadelphia, and around the game. Everyone has their memory of him — especially if you were lucky enough to watch him pitch every five days for the Blue Jays or Phillies — but the one that resonates most with MLB at large is his no-hitter against the Reds in the 2010 postseason.
It was a nationally televised game, it was the postseason, it was a no-hitter. If Halladay wasn’t already someone you paid attention to (for some reason), that was the wake-up call. The thing is, at his best — which was a not-insubstantial percentage of his career — Halladay was that good all the time.
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Maybe he gave up one hit or two hits or a few hits, but he always had that precision and artistry that made him so difficult to face. There’s a reason he received Cy Young votes in six straight seasons playing for two different teams in two different leagues.
Maybe you have a different moment: Personally, given all the times I saw Halladay face the Red Sox when he was on the Jays, I more just have a blur of his greatness against their greatness (peak Red Sox lineups against peak Halladay, sign me up all over again) and knew at the time how lucky I was to be able to see them face off regularly.
An unwelcome exclamation point has been put on that feeling, but we still have the memories and moments to reflect on. It’s not as good as still having Roy Halladay around, no, but it’s what we have left now that he was taken from the world.
- Baseball should have had a lot more time to spend with Roy Halladay, writes Grant Brisbee.
- Our Phillies’ site, The Good Phight, reacted to the news of Halladay’s passing, and promised more on a fan favorite is coming.
- Our Blue Jays’ site similarly promised more reflection is coming, but for now, they’re just trying to absorb the shock of this news.
- Whitney McIntosh took a look at the statistics that defined Roy Halladay’s incredible career.
- Hallady’s Twitter account — yes, his Twitter account — is an unexpected and poignant way to remember the man.
- Halladay is one of those rare players others want to be like and be liked by, and you can see it in the reactions to his passing.
- This is my reaction on Halladay from back when he retired after the 2013 season: He was the pitcher of his era, much like Clayton Kershaw is the pitcher of his today.
- Ben Lindbergh has more on players trying to imitate Halladay, albeit never with his level of success.
- Baseball Prospectus’ remembrance of Halladay was written by Trevor Strunk, and you should spend some time with that today.
- In other MLB news, the Rockies were hosed in awards voting, again, as writers take credit away from their hitters for Coors but never give it to their pitchers.
- Royals Review looks at the idea that Kansas City is going to retain both Eric Hosmer and Mike Moustakas in free agency.
- The Dodgers are hoping Corey Seager doesn’t need elbow surgery.
- Here are the biggest questions for the Yankees now that the hot stove is heating up.
- Viva El Birdos believes the Cardinals might dominate this offseason.
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