Shining light on the career and life of Roy Halladay

It is the latest in a string of truly heartbreaking affairs for the MLB community, as it marks the third notable death around the game in the last 14 months, following in the tragic footsteps of fellow talented hurlers Jose Fernandez and Yordano Ventura. Halladay had recently received his pilot’s license within the last month. He had shared a series of pictures recently on his Instagram feed, chronicling his growing aerial endeavors.

The death of Halladay marks the loss of one of the great competitors in recent history. Arguably the most dominant pitcher in the era between Randy Johnson/Pedro Martinez and Clayton Kershaw/Max Scherzer, Halladay posted a career record of 203-105, highlighted by capturing the Cy Young Award in both 2003 and 2010. He is one of only six pitchers ever to win the award in both leagues.

He was a tenacious competitor, often being inaccessible on days he would take the mound, even to teammates. But it was an edge that made him one of the most feared and respected hurlers of all-time, and one of the great bulldogs of his time.

But it also belied a man that went to great lengths of sacrifice and selflessness. After authoring the second perfect game of 2010, he had 60 personalized watches made for his teammates, coaches and clubhouse staff. He is also a man who helped rescue a boater from an anaconda snake attack, while also paying for trips for kids from a Toronto-area hospital to attend Blue Jay games in a luxury box he furnished for the purpose. He is also a guy that made time to make the tongue-in-cheek goal of a Philly blog by the name of ‘Zoo With Roy’ come true. And most importantly, he was husband and father to two sons.

There were many remarkable things to say about Halladay that make Tuesday’s disaster that much more unfortunate. But it is also a prime time to pay homage towards the phenomenal body of work he put together during his 16-year career. And with that, here’s to Doc Halladay.

Breaking in

Halladay made his MLB debut on September 20, 1998, allowing two runs over five innings against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Although the outing resulted in a no-decision for the then 21-year-old, the Jays would go on to win 7-5 in 12 innings. In his next outing, Halladay would show an early glimpse at his penchant for stinginess on the mound. The rookie took the mound for the Jays in the final game of the season and nearly tossed a no-hitter, as he held the Detroit Tigers hitless until two outs were down in the ninth inning. It would be a harbinger for what would be to come later in his career.

Breakout season 

After struggling to find his way in his first handful of seasons, Halladay had a breakout campaign in 2002, winning 19 games and making the American League All-Star team for the first of an eventual six times. He led the AL in innings pitched with 239.1 and finished fifth in the AL with a 2.93 ERA. However, his 2002 performance merely set the table for what was to follow the next year, when Halladay fully bloomed into one of the best pitchers in the game. After leading the AL with 22 wins and nine complete games boosting him to a 266-innings pitched (a workload that has not been bested since), Halladay took home the American League Cy Young Award. His signature outing on the year was a 10-inning shutout victory in September over the Tigers, a game in which he carried a no-hitter into the eighth inning.

Fighting the good fight in Toronto

For many years, Halladay would carry the dubious honor of being considered the best player on a tough-luck team in baseball. Despite being elected an All-Star in four of his final five seasons in Toronto from 2004 to 2009, the Blue Jays managed to finish above third place only once. The Blue Jay ace remained brilliant however, averaging 17 wins a year from 2006 through 2009, and leading the league in complete games in three of the four seasons.

One of his best campaigns was painfully cut short in 2005, when a line drive broke his leg shortly after he was tabbed to be the starting pitcher for the American League in the All-Star Game. He finished with a 12-4 record in 19 starts, including five complete games and 108 strikeouts against only 18 walks.

2009 would prove to be his final year in Toronto, and capped the greatest starting pitching career the franchise’s history. Halladay made seven consecutive Opening Day starts for the Jays and finished his tenure in the top three all-time in wins, strikeouts, ERA, innings pitched and WHIP. His .660 winning percentage in Toronto ranked 18th all-time at the end of the 2009 season.

Moving on to Philly

With a costly new contract on the horizon and his desire to pitch for a contender, Halladay was dealt to the Phillies in December 2009. He enjoyed the winningest season of his career, as the Phillies took 97 games in route to the National League East championship.

Halladay was at the peak of his powers by 2010 and was widely considered the best pitcher in baseball. He had mastered the strike zone via his unearthly control of his two-seam fastball, curveball and unique split-change up offering. Nothing was lost in translation as he crossed league lines, as it often seemed as if he could do no wrong in his Phillie debut. Halladay finally conquered the no-hitter mountain he had flirted with before, and did so to perfection, as he completed the 20th perfect game in MLB history against Florida Marlins on May 29, 2010, striking out 11 in the process.

He would go on to post a 21-10 record along with a 2.44 ERA over 250.2 innings, becoming the seventh pitcher ever to work as many innings, but have 30 or fewer walks. Yet still, ‘Doc’ had another trick up his sleeve. After all of those years striving to reach October in Toronto, he made the absolute most of his first taste of the playoffs. Halladay tossed a no-hitter against the Cincinnati Reds, making him the second player to ever do so in the postseason and the first to toss both a perfect game and a no-hitter in the same campaign. Halladay’s final brush with history on the year came when he was named winner of the Cy Young Award, which made him the sixth player ever to win in both leagues.

A duel for the ages and an end of an era

Halladay was fantastic again a year later, winning 19 games with a 2.35 ERA and finishing what he started eight times. 2011 marked the fifth straight year that Halladay was the leader in complete games, marking a run of 42 CGs in five years. He would go on to finish second in the NL Cy Young race, behind Clayton Kershaw. It capped a six-year stretch of finishing in the top five in voting for the award, regardless of league.

The Phillies would again win the NL East and post the best record in the National League. In the NL Division Series, they would be paired with the St. Louis Cardinals, with Halladay taking the hill in Games 1 and 5. In the decisive game of the series, he would be paired against former teammate from Toronto and a close friend in Cardinals ace, Chris Carpenter. The two would go on to conclude the series in one of the great postseason duels of all-time. While Halladay allowed only one run over eight innings, he was narrowly outdone by Carpenter, who allowed only three hits in a complete game shutout, 1-0 victory.

In five career postseason starts, Halladay worked to a 3-2 record with a 2.37 ERA, striking out 35 while walking only five.

By 2012, his incredible workload had begun to take a final toll on him, as shoulder and back injuries greatly impacted his performance and ultimately saw him retire after the 2013 season.

In 2019, Halladay will become eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame, an unexpectedly posthumous final tip of the cap to one of baseball's greatest pitchers.