Roy Halladay

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Harry Leroy Halladay (Doc)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 6", Weight 230 lb.
• High School Arvada West High School
• Debut September 20, 1998

• Born May 14, 1977 in Denver, CO USA

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[edit] Biographical Information

Toronto will forever hold a special place in my heart. The memories will last a lifetime and so will my gratitude. Roy Halladay's closing statement in his farewell letter to the Toronto fans in December 2009.

Roy Halladay is a pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies after spending his first 12 seasons with the Toronto Blue Jays. He set the Blue Jays' season record for wins in 2003.

Halladay in the road-game (away) grey uniform while playing for Toronto.

As a child, he played American Legion, Babe Ruth and Little League baseball. He graduated from Arvada West High School in Arvada, Colorado in 1995 where he played baseball and basketball. He was a first team All-Conference and All-State selection for three years and named League and State MVP two years. He also was also a member of the second All-State team in basketball. The blue Jays selected him in the first round of the 1995 amateur draft, with the 17th overall pick.

Halladay made his debut in 1995 with the GCL Blue Jays, with a 3.40 ERA in 10 games with 50 1/3 innings pitched. He went 3-5 with a .375 winning percentage. In 1996 with Dunedin in the Florida State League, he went 15-7 over 27 games and 164 2/3 innings, good for a .682 %. His ERA was 2.73. Doc split 1997 between Knoxville in the Southern League and Syracuse in the International League. In his 7 games in Knoxville, he was 2-3 with a .400 % and a 5.40 ERA over 36 2/3 innings. In Syracuse, he appeared in 22 games with 125 2/3 IP, with a 7-10 record, a .412 % and a 4.58 ERA.

1998 would see Halladay pitch again in Syracuse, appearing in 21 games with 116 1/3 IP, and going 9-5 for a .643 % with a 3.79 ERA. He would be called up to play with the big boys at the end of that season, pitching 14 innings over 2 games for the Blue Jays, 1-0 with a 1.000 % and a 1.93 ERA. In his second start, he won a 2-1 complete game one-hitter against the Detroit Tigers on September 27; the lone hit was a solo home run by Bobby Higginson with two outs in the 9th inning. In 1999, Halladay spent the entire season pitching for Toronto, appearing in 36 games and 149 1/3 IP, going 8-7; and he registered the only save of his career that year. His ERA was 3.92.

As the new millennium started, Doc split his time in the year 2000 between Syracuse and Toronto. With the parent club, Doc pitched 19 games and went 4-7 over 67 2/3 innings. He put up a dismal 10.64 ERA, one of the worst ever for a pitcher with more than 10 starts. That bout of poor pitching earned him a ticket back to the International League where he pitched 11 games with Syracuse, going 73 2/3 innings with a 2-3 record and an ERA of 5.50.

Doc moved around a bit between the farm clubs and the parent club in 2001, as he tried to regain the form that had made him one of the best pitching prospects in baseball. Appearing in Dunedin, Tennessee, Syracuse and Toronto. He was 0-1 with Dunedin in 13 games over 22 2/3 IP with a 3.97 ERA, but he did earn 2 saves with the club. He would appear in only 5 games with Tennessee, going 34 innings with a 2-1 record and a 2.12 ERA. In Syracuse, he pitched in 2 games and 14 innings, was 1-0 and with a 3.21 ERA. As he had demonstrated that he was himself once again, he made it back to Toronto, where he pitched in 17 games, 105 1/3 IP, 5-3 with a 3.16 ERA.

For the next few years, the Doc would stay with the Blue Jays. He pitched in 34 games in 2002, going 239 1/3 innings, 19-7, with a 2.93 ERA. In 2003, he won the AL Cy Young Award, going 22-7 for a wonderful .759 winning percentage, pitching in 36 games and 266 innings with a 3.25 ERA. In 2004, he only appeared in 21 games with Toronto, going on the disabled list from May 28 to June 12, and again from July 17 to September 21. He did pitch in 133 innings, going 5-5 with a 4.20 ERA. He started 2005 on fire, going 12-5, 2.41, in 19 starts but was injured in a game against the Texas Rangers on July 8 and missed the remainder of the season. He came back with four consecutive outstanding seasons with the Jays, winning between 16 and 20 games with excellent winning percentages and ERAs between 2006 and 2009. He finished in the top 5 in the Cy Young Award vote each year. Overall, he was named to the All-Star team 6 times during his stay in Toronto.

Around the 2009 All-Star Game, trade rumors started swirling around Halladay, as the Jays, who had started the year extremely well, were in a tailspin. General Manager J.P. Ricciardi had talks with the front-running Philadelphia Phillies, Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees about trading his ace pitcher for prospects, but could not come to a deal. The talks were very public, and Ricciardi received much criticism for leaving Halladay dangling in the wind for some three weeks. Doc's pitching was affected by the constant distractions, but once the trading deadline passed without a move, he settled down to finish the year on a strong note. He was 17-10, 2.79 with 208 strikeouts in 239 innings when the season ended. Ricciardi was fired with a few days to go in the season and new GM Alex Anthopoulos set to work to reach the deal his predecessor couldn't close. At the winter meetings, he completed a complex four-team deal that had Halladay move to the Phillies, with the Jays receiving three top prospects, P Kyle Drabek and C Travis d'Arnaud from Philly and 3B Brett Wallace from Oakland. The Seattle Mariners were also involved, as they received Phils' ace Cliff Lee in exchange for other prospects, allowing Philly to make the trade.

Doc would leave Toronto a fan favorite; as a token of his appreciation, he took out a full page ad in a local newspaper thanking the fans for their support, passion and devotion since 1995. However, he immediately established himself as the new Phillies ace in 2010, lining up the shutouts and complete games in the early weeks of the season. Then, if an exclamation mark was needed, he pitched the 20th perfect game in major league history on May 29 against the Florida Marlins. The gem came only 20 days after Dallas Braden's, accomplished on May 9, making it the first time two perfect games were thrown in the same season since 1880.

On October 6, Halladay pitched a no-hitter in Game 1 of the National League Division Series against the Cincinnati Reds. It was only the second no-hitter ever pitched in a postseason game in Major League play. The first was Don Larsen's perfect game in the 1956 World Series. There was also a post-season no-hitter in a Negro Leagues World Series in 1926, but it is not recognized as part of Major League canon. Halladay became the 5th pitcher to throw two no-hitters in a year, following Johnny Vander Meer, Allie Reynolds, Virgil Trucks and Nolan Ryan. No one had done it since Ryan 37 years earlier. After the season he was a unanimous choice for the National League Cy Young Award. He also won the 2010 GIBBY Award for Starter of the Year, voted on by fans at MLB.com. He would finish 2010 with 21 wins, a 2.44 ERA, 219 K's and a WHIP of 1.09, in addition to his 9 complete games.

Halladay was back in dominating form for the Phillies in 2011 anchoring a starting rotation that had been strengthened by the signing of Cliff Lee as a free agent in the off-season, and the acquisition of veteran Roy Oswalt late the previous season. Doc was still the master though, taking the early lead in wins and complete games in the National League. In his return to the Toronto for the first time since his trade on July 2nd, he pitched a typical 5-3 complete game win to improve his record to 11-3. He was given a warm reception and a standing ovation by his old fans, appreciative of the great years he had put in for the Jays, and of the class he had always shown. He was named the starting pitcher for the National League in the 2011 All-Star Game, becoming the fourth pitcher after Vida Blue, Randy Johnson and Roger Clemens to start the game for both leagues; he had one of his typical great performances, retiring all 6 of the batters he faced over the first two innings.

Over the years, Halladay has developed a reputation as an old-school pitcher, with his propensity to lead the league in complete games. He does not have one outstanding pitch, but his control is exceptional, and he can locate three pitches at will in any situation, all of them above average: a fastball, a slider and a change-up, keeping opposing batters continually off-balance. He has been called the best pitcher in modern baseball by some in the media, and one can certainly imagine him being named to the Hall of Fame one day.

He was given the nickname "Doc" by the late Jays' announcer Tom Cheek.

He is married to his wife Brandy and has two sons, Braden and Ryan. "Doc" was actively involved with the local children's hospital in Toronto. Starting in 2005, he and his wife Brandy hosted "Doc's Box" at Rogers Centre (in conjunction with the Jays Care Foundation) where they invited children and their families from the Hospital for Sick Children into a private luxury suite. The lucky guests were treated to a fun-filled day of baseball where they receive their very own Doc's Box t-shirt, a hat, a program and other Jays goodies.

[edit] Notable Achievements

• 8-time All-Star (2002, 2003, 2005, 2006 & 2008-2011)
• 2-time Cy Young Award Winner (2003/AL & 2010/NL)
• 2-time League Wins Leader (2003/AL & 2010/NL)
• 4-time League Innings Pitched Leader (2002/AL, 2003/AL, 2008/AL & 2010/NL)
• 7-time League Complete Games Leader (2003/AL, 2005/AL, 2007-2009/AL, 2010/NL & 2011/NL)
• 4-time League Shutouts Leader (2003/AL, 2008/AL, 2009/AL & 2010/NL)
• 15 Wins Seasons: 8 (2002, 2003 & 2006-2011)
• 20 Wins Seasons: 3 (2003, 2008 & 2010)
• 200 Innings Pitched Seasons: 8 (2002, 2003 & 2006-2011)
• 200 Strikeouts Seasons: 5 (2003 & 2008-2011)

[edit] Sources

• most stats taken from the 2005 Who's Who in Baseball
• some info copied via the GFDL from the Wikipedia article Roy Halladay contributed to both wikis by the same author

[edit] Related Sites

• Roy Halladay on mlb.com
• Details on his Gibby award